Friday, May 9, 2008

Road Trip

It would be irresponsible not to mention the extended QLE vacation, so first, my apologies Deeks, I know you've missed us.

But, you have to figure it was only a matter of time before we wrote something about gas prices. I mean yes, I understand that on a global scale, we are still getting some relatively cheap fuel - but that doesn't make it any easier to come to grips with it! I remember driving 20 minutes each way simply to find gas for under $1.00 - and this wasn't THAT long ago!

I digress, the point here is not to get political or tell more sob stories about high gas prices, but rather to mourn the eventual passing of an American rite of passage: the pointless road trip. Driving hundreds or thousands or miles in vehicles with less than stellar fuel economy - mostly with the point of just doing it!

One college spring break we drove about 3,000 miles on a bumbling odyssey that saw us having freak outs in Reno, almost freezing to death on the Wyoming plains, getting hopelessly lost in Arches and breaking down twice. It was the best...

So what brings all this up? Check out these yahoos from Utah who decided to set the unofficial world record on the fastest to drive to all lower 48 states. Despite being a little goofy (see: use of a Scion, quoting "On The Road" - a bit obvious don't you think - and the pure insanity of spending 106 hours in a car) you've got to respect the idea and just getting out there. Life's a journey, right?

UPDATE: Gotten some good road trip stories. Add yours in the comments section! Here's one from Deeks.

One random Wednesday night around 9-10 pm, my roommates in college were being lame and said they were not going to go out during the upcoming w/e. I asked what it would take to get them to change their minds ... they said drive to Vegas and bring us back a few of the famous 99-cent foot long hot dogs from the "slots-of-fun" casino. So ... I did. 7 hours later I was back in LA with hot dogs for each of them. Best road trip of my life. Oh by the way ... they still wouldn't go out that week-end ... NERDS!!!