The Revenge of the Tic Tac Toe Chicken

Yes, I was a Nancy Drew girl growing up, but that’s not where I came up with that title. Rather, it’s about a certain tic-tac-toe-playin’ chicken found in a glass cage in Reptile World in Rapid City, South Dakota. Four years ago, that chicken beat my 8-year-old daughter’s butt in a game of x’s and o’s, and this weekend, she’s getting a rematch.

It’s time for our annual family vacation (cue “Holiday Road”). I come from a family of teachers, and the summer road trip is sacred to us. This summer, my kids and boyfriend and I are spending two and a half weeks in a car: first to Mount Rushmore for the 4th of July (and a chick tac toe rematch), over to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, down to Colorado for some whitewater rafting, through Nebraska and Iowa because they’re in the way, to Indianapolis to visit family, back through Wisconsin Dells, over to Winona for a summer Shakespeare festival, and back home.

Phew.

This will be Steve’s first summer trip with the kids and me. His jaw clenches when he smiles and tells me how much he’s looking forward to it. He’s no dummy.

But I love the summer road trip. It’s the only time I don’t feel guilty about not cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, paying bills, exercising, or any of the daily chores that accumulate like woodticks on my back. I may do some writing, but I probably won’t. I’ll read, and my kids will play rather than watch TV, and I won’t halt any conversations because I have to get back to my computer to grade. Wally World, here we come.

Any suggestions for writing on the road, places to visit in the upper U.S., or smell- and tasteless over-the-counter narcotics to sedate children/boyfriend with? If not, I’ll take car game suggestions as a back-up.