A picture from a road trip we took years ago, pre-baby. Weird.

In a few days, Toyin and I will embark on our first really long road trip with Annika.

First, before anyone gets too excited, no, this doesn’t mean anything. For those of you may not realize just how bizarre our relationship is, yes, we do travel together.

Since Annika was an infant, we’ve made several airplane trips together so he and Annika could visit his family, without making her sad and crying for me.

We’ve also taken a handful for short road trips together within Texas and once to New Mexico. That was the longest drive we’ve made with her so far. That trip was about 500 miles and should have taken 9 hours. It took 12. But we made it. At the time, she was only 18 months and we drove mostly at night so she slept for a lot of it.

For this trip, we will drive from Austin to Detroit. which is 1400 miles and according to Google, takes about 22 hours. In my experience it takes about 24 hours.

After about a week in Michigan, we’re driving to New York city and then Washington DC, then back to Austin. We will do this trip in two weeks.

I think that with some good preparation and a few tricks up my sleeve for the car ride we’ll do fine. We also plan to drive mostly at night. And by we, I mean Toyin. I am not a good night driver. But he loves it. And honestly, I’ve made enough night trips with him now that I’d say if you want make long treks with the best time, it’s the only way to go. There’s less traffic on the road. It’s quiet and peaceful and Annika sleeps for most of the driving.

One of the few things Toyin and I do well together is travel. And honestly, the actually traveling part is the only thing that we do well together. We argue about logistics of the trip every step of the way. We disagree about how long we should stay where and what kind of food to eat.

I like to take snacks in the car and splurge on one or two nice meals. He likes to hit up drive thrus.

He likes to make as many stops and get face time with as many people as possible. (Hence the tri state tour.) I like to visit one or two people and laze around a lot.

So anyway, this week I’m in search of good car games for a 4-year-old and thinking up ways I can entertain Annika when she’s not sleeping.

We’ll probably also play a lot of imaginary games, which will be thrilling for Annika and make me want to shoot my brains out.

For the most part I’m looking forward to this trip.

There’s just nothing like the open road for me. I feel more relaxed and happy when I’m driving along, toward a destination, with no daily worries. That part will make it easier for me to deal with the 4-year-old in the back seat.

I’m hoping to blog more while we’re on the road, not less. But who knows what I’ll do. I might spend a lot of time writing in the car. Or I might just stare out the window and fondle a paperback, which is pretty much par for the course when I travel by car.

So, by next week, check in. You may just get a blank screen for two weeks. Or you might get a blow-by-blow of our trip.