Well hello there, happy Saturday!

My few days at home in between trips this week were full of Pilates, reading, lots of foot miles around home, naps, and life maintenance tasks that I had to get done before I headed out again.

Oh, and texting with the moms of my son’s friends … our three 19-year-old boys went on a road trip out to Grand Teton National Park together this past week and oh my goodness are we proud of our independent, adventurous sons. Kids who we raised to GO and DO all on their own? What more could we ask for!?

Yes, I know 19 is technically adult, but this is their first road trip all on their own, and it was a big one! Also, remember when I dropped my daughter off a week after high school graduation a few years ago to live in the wilds of MAINE??? EEEEEK. I’m still recovering. Hope and pray, hope and pray is what this stage of motherhood looks like.

By the time you get this, I will already be 24 hours into a westward-bound camping & family visit road trip with my girls ~ I can’t wait to share it with you on Tuesday, July 21st, assuming I make it home on time! Note that I have a piece ready for you on Tuesday, July 14th, but I will NOT be in your inbox on Saturday, July 18th.

In the spirit of our trip, today I’m sharing some recent road trip reads as well as some past somewhat-related reads that I want to recommend over and over…

I read Monster of a Land by Lauren Hough while my oldest daughter was with me and part of my love of this book was because I know that she was going to ADORE IT as soon as I finished and handed it over. I had to hold myself back from just telling her every single thing as I was reading. This is a new release road trip memoir that is both dryly hilarious and heart wrenchingly hard. You won’t look at our country or anyone living in a vehicle the same again after reading this book.

I listened to Grandma Joy and Me by Brad Ryan on a VERY long hike and a long drive, which were the absolute perfect places to have this memoir in my ears. I adored Ryan’s account of taking his elderly grandmother to every single National Park, as well as the family history and reckoning that was mixed into the narrative. A beautiful and inspiring tale.

And the one fiction pick, You, with a View by Jessica Joyce, is a book that I’m kicking myself for waiting to read for so long! I think I avoided it because of the “enemies-to-lovers” label, but oh my goodness is it so much more than that! It’s really an intergenerational National Parks road trip romp that yes, also has a romance. I adored it.

I read all three of these books in the past month and have already recommended them over and over again!

In addition to those recent reads, here are some of my somewhat-related favorites from past years that I was reminded of while perusing the travel section at Barnes and Noble recently ~ I loved all of these as well!

America the Beautiful? by Blythe Roberson ~ a tongue-in-cheek but also heartfelt National Parks solo road trip memoir that made me want to GO

We Came We Saw We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan ~ for anyone who just wants to leave it all behind and take the family on the road

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko ~ one of my favorite nonfiction reads of all time!

Check out even more related reads in this piece from last summer!

Okay, that’s it for today! Send me positive vibes for my trip that is predicted to be SO HOT in parts and incredibly smoky in others ~ I have planned many pivots to adapt for safety/comfort if needed, so we shall see what transpires. I hope you enjoy the roundup I have scheduled for you on Tuesday, and I’ll fill you in on the trip when I return. Take care!