I’d like to share a few pictures from my trip from Indianapolis to LA! My family has stayed behind for now, and will join me here after the school year ends. Do I look teary-eyed getting into the car? I’m saying goodbye to my wife, Lisa. It wouldn’t be the only time I’d cry on this trip.

I was thinking I was going to “eat healthy” on the 4-day drive, so I stocked up the car with whole-wheat bagels, carrots and fruit. Oh, what the heck, how about this big package of Target brand Oreo-knockoffs? One or two wouldn’t hurt, right? Result:  well, keep reading.

I followed roughly the same route as the Griswolds did in “Vacation,” which parallels the old Route 66 across the Southwest. In fact, that “Route 66” song got stuck in my head, and I’d sing it every time I’d come near one of the towns in the song.  I went through St. Louie and Joplin, Missouri. Oklahoma City looked mighty pretty. Hey, there’s the Arch! Remember, kids, don’t try to take pictures while you drive a car!

In Oklahoma City, I paid a visit to the site of the 1995 bombing, now a very moving memorial. The building was behind those trees where the “Empty Chairs” now sit, one for each victim. A friendly park ranger was telling me about that day, and I was doing fine until he told me about all the kids who were in there. Okay, confession time; we were standing right there where it happened and as a dad myself, it really hit a soft spot, and I got teary again, enough to embarrass the park ranger.

You know the line in the Eagles song “Take It Easy” about “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona?” Well, I’ve got to hand it to the people of Winslow, who were savvy enough to recognize a way to get tourists to stop! They put up this statue on a downtown corner. It worked on me and I spend my tourist dollars there on gas, some postcards for my kids and a grande vanilla latte.

By the time I rolled through “Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino,” I was hip to this timely tip, and had gotten off the freeway and onto what’s left of Route 66. Oh, and I highly recommend the Target Oreo-knockoffs, which I finished in under 2 days. As for the whole-wheat bagels and carrots; I’ve got lots of leftovers. You want some?