Road Trip 2025: Day 1

It is 5:55 and we are off. Our intention was to leave as close to 5 as possible, but we were delayed with last minute things we forgot to do. Kati cut Tyvek to line our tents. G3 asked me to pack gloves and a baseball. And then we had to say goodbye to our fur babies. I feel so bad leaving them behind. This is the first time I am going away and feeling guilty about it. I missed my boys when I was in Philmont, and this time I will be away even longer. I know they will be well cared for in our absence. A friend of mine and her daughter will be taking turns with our neighbor to make sure they are fed and not completely starved of human affection. Still, Bean looked really depressed last night. It’s incredible how expressive his face was. Plus, he was very mopey, his whole body look deflated as he sat perched on Kati’s dresser.

The drive through Pennsylvania is eternal. I know it’s only about five and a half, maybe six hours, but it feels never ending and tedious when you are on I-80 the whole way through. Ohio is also long, but at least the drive is prettier—lots of farms—and we were not on the same highway from start to finish. We stopped for breakfast half way through Pennsylvania at Dutch Pantry Family Restaurant. The food was good, especially the home fries. Halfway through Ohio, we slammed into a storm. The rain came down fierce and strong, and so Kati pulled into a rest area to wait for the storm to let up and for visibility to improve. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long.

While in the car, I suggested we make a Jaeger Road Trip playlist on Spotify. It was lots of fun, especially since G3 was comically critical of many of my choices, as well as my ignorance of Spotify. But we all took turns selecting songs, so while we might dislike some songs, we are each guaranteed to like a third of them. The final product is an eclectic mix of classic rock, country, folk, metal, and rap.

My gosh! How old do I look? Seriously, I know I have gray hair and crow’s feet, but do I look like a senior citizen? On the road,

eating is often a problem because we all eat such different food. Rarely do we agree on where to stop. However, today, our first night on the road we all had the same craving. Yep, you guessed it. We haven’t had Culver’s since last summer so we were way overdue. We took turns placing our order and as I held out the debit card to tap it, I noticed the guy behind the counter gave us the 5% senior discount. As insulted as I was, a discount is a discount, and as a teacher I was too poor to object.

I miss my babies. The further we get from home the more I miss them. My friend sent me pictures of her visit. Dante and Bean welcomed the company. They were happy to have some attention, but Kramer—our little skittish ninja—hid and refused to come out and play. Even though Beanie had company, he still looked heartbreakingly sad. I really wish I could have brought the kitties with us.

With fewer than thirty miles to go, a big rock smashed into our windshield. It hit with a loud bang and we watched as a crack spread across the surface. The crack is at least a foot long, perhaps a bit longer. If that’s the worst that happens on this trip,

I’ll consider us lucky. But the windshield will need to be replaced.

After fifteen hours—nearly thirteen in the car—and exactly 800 miles, we reached eastern Illinois. Since we knew it would be a long day of driving, Kati made a reservation at a Super 8 in Mokena. How many miles will we drive between now and when we return? We each took our best guess and will see who is closest without going over when we get home.

Kati—8,000 miles

Elizabeth—9,000 miles

G3–9,500 miles

Apparently, the new season of Dexter dropped today. It is one of G3’s favorite shows, so he has been looking forward to it for a while. During the entire day in the car, he couldn’t wait to get to the hotel to watch an episode with Kati. Sadly, the Paramount Plus app was not being cooperative. Neither Kati nor G3 were able to sign in on their phones. G3 is disappointed, but he’s semi-content watching one of the Jurassic Park movies.