Roadtrips, family, etc.

I've mentioned that I'm thinking about road tripping out to the west coast this summer to see some friends out there and on the way.  Road trips have always been a big part of my life, especially in the summers. 

E.g.: 

• reminiscing about some of the road trips of my youth


• a roadtrip I took up to MA for my friend John's wedding
  


• a research roadtrip I took around the state of Illinois a few years ago


• brainstorming for a roadtrip that never happened


• and the description of what we did instead: driving from LA to Vegas and back


• several roadtrips undertaken before I had a blog (or a car for that matter), including an unauthorized one to West Palm Beach, FL (lots of good stories came out of that one)

At any rate, it's pretty obvious I like to drive.  It clears my head.  And I could use some head clearing.

So I've been thinking about what route I would take, how many days I can realistically be on the road, etc, etc. and was reminded of my uncle's website detailing his year-long roadtrip all around the US, New Zealand, and Australia (if you ever get bored, definitely check his website out...lots of interesting stories).  Can you tell road tripping and wanderlust runs in my family?

And while checking out his website, I came across this memorial to my paternal grandpa (scroll down to where it says "Donald
J. Leu  (1923 - 2002)" and read on).  Figured I'd link to it in honor of Memorial Day (no, my grandpa didn't die in combat, but he was a veteran, and he's now dead). This is my grandpa who instilled a love of cards in me, as there was not much else to do on his boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean besides read, play cards, and stare at the sea.