Away We Go!

The green line charts our course!

Nekos and I will be blinking into the darkness at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning, getting up to leave for our Southwestern adventure. Nothing gets me out of bed faster, or in a better mood, than having a plane to catch.

We've plotted an 812 mile trip -- that's 13 total hours of driving time -- with a nine-month-old little girl who tends to cry in the car even when I'm on the two-mile trek to Kroger. We are probably nuts. There will be plenty of stops along the way though!

We fly in to Tucson, where we're staying for two nights with our friends Molly and Rocky. We actually introduced these two a couple of Bonnaroos ago, and they've been lovebirds ever since. It was literally like: Best Girl Friend, meet Best Guy Friend. And they fell almost immediately in love. It works out great for us because Nekos and I get to log major hang time with both of them at the same time.

We visited them in Tucson last July, when Tessa was only four months old. It was my first time out west, and I fell in love with the romance of that barren topography and have been aching to get back since.

Nekos, me, Tessa, Molly and Rocky in Tucson in July. Source: Kind Stranger

The "Bicycle Church" in Tucson. Source: Nekos Barnes

Saguaro in Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ Source: U.S. National Park Service

Then we're renting an SUV and heading on to Sedona, where we're staying for two nights at a hotel and spa alongside the red rock formations the town is famous for. I want to do lots of hiking and to see Montezuma Castle, to be sure. Someone told me that Sedona is where all the freaks live, that they sell tickets to space ships on mountain tops. I'm so pumped because I love freaks.

Montezuma Castle was one of the first four National Monuments dedicated in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Source: U.S. National Park Service

Next up is Las Vegas. Our dear friend April lives there with her husband and daughter, Piper (who's a few months older than Tessa). I went to Vegas a couple of years ago and was surprised by how much I loved it and how pretty it was. Pumped!

After that we're headed to Los Angeles. I've never been (only once to nearby Anaheim and Newport Beach), and I can't even begin to tell you all the places I want to visit. We're staying in Santa Monica at this place called The Georgian Hotel that looks so friggin' Old Hollywood and adorable.

The Georgian Hotel

In the meantime, I have so many deadlines to meet, clothes to pack, and errands to run. But I'm not complaining. This is the longest road trip I've ever taken. Nekos, on the other hand, used to follow Widespread Panic around the country like it was his job. (He once told his mother he was going to summer school at UT-Knoxville and took the money she gave him for college to fund his summer-long trip around the U.S. He's a disturbingly good liar.)

Some road trip paraphernalia before I peace out ...

A great road trip song: 





A great road trip movie:

A great road trip wardrobe:

Anthropologie has just debuted a collection that they're calling "Road Trip," featuring "Vibrant, Mile-Marking Looks." This is a good reminder for me to tuck a few sweet dresses into my suitcase.

Source: Anthropologie

A great set of road trip wheels:

Source: www.snailtrail.co.uk

Source: www.snailtrail.co.uk

Source: www.snailtrail.co.uk