10 Reasons To Plan A Cross Country Trip

1) To Say You Did It. So many people who have heard we are going cross country this summer have confessed that they, too, have always wanted to do this.

2) To Bond. If we don't kill each other after 3 weeks in the car, 9 states and about 3,500 miles, we WILL be much closer as a family.

3) To Record It. Journaling, blogging, FBing, twittering and of course, many many photos will be involved.

4) To Eat. We have already started watching episodes of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives to find great little eateries. We love to eat local foods.

5) To Stimulate the Economy. If we are going to spend money on a vacation this year, it will be in the U.S. It's our contribution to the nation's recovery.

6) To Meet Family. Two of the stops will be in those uncommon places that relatives live. Ya know, the ones you wouldn't really ever get to if they weren't "on the way." My daughter will meet an uncle, cousins and a great uncle she has never seen.

7) To See Friends. There are at least 4 states on our trip where about a half dozen old friends live that we will get to lunch or dinner with on our trip.

8) To Learn. What better way to know our country, its history, its varied cultures and the unique characters that make it up than to experience these places first hand.

9) To Be Adventurous. This is the trip of a lifetime, the one in which we will do the things we don't normally do - white water raft, ride a donkey down a canyon, and maybe take a helicopter ride. Who knows!

1) To Unplug from Infomania. Sure, we will make sure we have our blackberrys and laptops for necessity, but its the one time of year we look forward to information underload.