The Rules of the Road:
The trip started with a number of loft goals or rules as our parents used to tell us. They were as follows:
1. No 4 lane highways.
2. No chain restaurants
3. No chain hotels
4. No connectivity to work

So can we follow the rules??:
Rule 1......Well, obviously with the modernization of the highway system rule number 1 is nearly impossible to follow. The article that gave me the idea for this trip was about 3 guys that had nearly a month to journey across country. Our band of three doesn't have that luxury. The realities of work, kids and the fact that none of us has won the lottery or invented something to replace the internet means we all have to return to work in a reasonable amount of time. We shall endeavor to take every 2 lane version of Route 66 possible.

Rule 2....This one should be easy. Route 66 is filled with small towns with little bars, little cafes and hometown restaurants. Anyone that knows me knows this is the way my family travels...no frickin Pizza Hut please!!!! If you are in Colorado(or wherever) you ask around to find out what is the local specialty or what one restaurant you should visit while you are there. Guaranteed, the answer will not be, "make sure you hit the Pizza Hut down the street."  My family and I have found some absolutely amazing spots, foods and people by following this rule as often as possible  I'm sure our reviews on this trip will be filled with numerous exotic concoctions made from armadillo, jackalope and who knows what...I can't wait.

Rule 3....this one may prove to be difficult but doable as there have been numerous hotels renovated to old time standards.  Won't break my heart to skip Motel 6(light on or not) or your average Holiday Inn where you wake up and can't tell where the hell you are because the bed spread in Tucumcari looks exactly like the bed spread in Ames, Iowa. As we have no schedule, I truly hope we have some luck here since there will be no reservations.

Rule 4....well, this blog is the obvious give away that we won't be completely disconnected. It's amazing and a little sad that we as individuals can't disconnect for more than a day or so but its the reality of life. Dennis and I own our own businesses and Scott is a mucky, muck ad guy whose firm just did a Super Bowl Commercial this past year. Now, I'm sure the world wouldn't stop if we all three went dark for a week BUT given we all have kids in college and our jobs pay for that college as well as this trip, complete 100% disconnection is impossible. We all are committed to keeping it to a minimum and limited to a set time and time limit each day. Guaranteed that I will at the very least have a cocktail in my hand whilst checking the 450 e-mails I get per day on average...not exaggerating!!!

Enough for now.....nearly one day closer to departure.

Out for Now..

TJ