Road the Calling is

Of course, the list doesn’t stop there. Other topics can include:

• Lakes, in general. Until you’ve stood on the shore or launched a boat on the Great Lakes, you just don’t know what you don’t know.

• Speaking of lakes: The phrase “lake-effect snow.” It’s us and the folks in western New York. That’s it.

• The colloquialism: “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” People in other regions deal with summer heat and high humidity, of course (looking at you, Florida and the South.) And others (Shout out to Arizona!) may have heat, but airborne water vapor remains merely a rumor of far-off lands (Where be dragons!) But for us? We know there’s difference between a high of 90 and a high of *90*.

• Speaking of far-off lands (with or without dragons)…

Midwesterners understand better than most just how big and beautiful the interior of America actually is.

For sure, Americans from all regions love to travel, especially in the summer. According to a survey published by online travel magazine, The Vacationer, as many as 85% of Americans planned to either hit the road or take to the skies this summer. And the vast majority of that travel will be to locations within the U.S., the survey said.

But when it comes to travel, there is one aspect that generally separates Midwesterners from our peers on the coasts or elsewhere in the country:

Our willingness to drive. And drive.

And drive.

Ask any Midwestern dad about upcoming travel plans. It won’t be long before you find someone who utters a sentence that sandwiches a numeral between the words “only” and “hours,” followed by some variation on the phrase, “so it’s not that bad.”

As in: “So, I’m taking the family down to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee in a couple of weeks. Yeah, we’re driving, but it’s only about 13 hours or so, so it’s not that bad.”

Bonus Midwestern points can be awarded if the response includes some version of: “It’s actually a pretty nice drive.”

(And if you’re guessing that those exact words have escaped my lips, you can pick up your prize on the way out, and thanks for playing our game!)

There are a great many reasons underlying this choice. First, we can do math. Airline tickets are expensive. Those of us residing in the middle of the country can transport our entire family to just about anywhere in the lower 48 states for the cost of one or two airline tickets.

Sure, it’s also going to cost time. But for a true summer vacation, that’s only a drawback if you don’t believe the journey is also part of the fun.

For my household, no summer is complete without a solid road trip somewhere in America.

This year? The road was Interstate 90. And the X on the map was the Pacific Northwest. Stops on the journey included the Portland, Oregon region, and along the far northern coast of Washington – so far north, we literally could see Canada from our back door. (NOTE: “Literally” was used factually in the preceding paragraph. Thanks for your concern.) n Jonathan Bilyk writes about the triumphs and travails of being a modern-day dad who legitimately enjoys time with his family, while tolerating a dog that seems to adore him. He also doesn’t really like the moniker “Superdad” because it makes it sound like he wants to wear his undergarments on the outside of his pants. (Also,the cape remains on back order.)

Was the trip exhausting? For sure. But the sights along the way? Unequaled.

From the Black Hills of South Dakota to the rolling green hills and towering Rocky Mountains of Montana, the Swiss mountain lake vibes of Couer d’Alene, Idaho, the wide and deep Columbia River Gorge and the snow-capped Cascades of Washington and Oregon, capped off with the raging waves and mists of the rocky Pacific coast – we could always count on another jaw-dropping, soul-stirring, dazzling view around just about every bend and over just about every ridge.

But perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the trip for this car-loving Midwestern dad was knowing that a great many of these sights would be all but impossible to take in if we had chosen to travel by other means.

Of course, we know all of these places have airports. But there would have been so much we would have missed along the way as we deepened our connection together, not to mention the connection between our souls and our vast home sweet homeland, replete with fruited plains, verdant valleys, purple mountains majesty and oceans white with foam.

With the memories of this trip still vibrant, we’ve already started charting out possible options for next year. And we’d encourage you to head out on trips of your own, too.

Summer may be drawing to a close. But there’s always next year.

The road is calling. And I promise: No matter how far you drive, you won’t fall off the map. And you won’t find dragons – just mile after mile of stunning scenery and new adventures.

So, just two questions remain: Where are we headed? And when do we leave?