As whacked out as my schedule has been this Spring, it really gets cranked to 11 starting this weekend when the races and events really stack up on each other. That being the case, my wife and I noticed a sliver of light in an otherwise airtight calendar and threw caution to the wind and planned a banzai road trip to Florida for a couple of days of warmth, family fun, tractors, and a good old fashioned adventure on the road. Our kids are certified road warriors and loved the idea especially because the major destination we were spending some time at was Disney World. With a few days of planning, some rooms booked, snacks packed, we hit the road in the middle of the night to try and miss major traffic centers down the east coast at rush hour. We did a nice job of it if I may say so myself, losing only about 20 minutes in Washington D.C. during their morning commute.

Rather than give you a blow by blow account of the trip, I’d like to share some observations, thoughts, and other fleeting memories from the many hours we spent on the road. You get lots of time to think staring out the windshield, especially when the kids are sleeping and your wife is deep into her book in the passenger seat.

Keep reading for a trip notebook from our rip-roaring family blast to the Sunshine State –

Spirit of adventure – When I was a kid we did the Route 95 boogie to Florida a couple of times and we always left very early in the morning for the same reasons we did with our tribe. From my front door you can get to New York in about three hours if you are hustling. I saw the same thing in my kids that I remember experiencing myself back when I was their age and that is the manifest sense of adventure in leaving on a trip in the middle of the night. Even today as a grown man I can tell you that when I head off on an adventure to a show, a race, anywhere, if I get up at some terrible hour, I am always a little more excited than I probably should be.

You gotta have decent wheels – One of the things that worked in our favor was our mode of transport which was this 2015 Nissan Murano Platinum. While it is not something I’d ever go running out to review for interested BangShifters, it was a heck of a road tripper delivering 28mph at speeds of over 75mph down south. It had a 260hp V6 and a CVT transmission (bleck). The kids had lots of room and overall it was a good car. Automated cruise control was nice in areas where there was heavy traffic as it managed speeds to keep us with the flow of traffic. The navigation system sucked out loud and I informed Nissan of that. Styling-wise it was a split decision. Kids and wife liked it, I am not a big fan. Seems like a little too much of everything. The good news is that it got us there and it got us around with no issues and with the price of gas, it was an insanely cheap option as compared to flying.

Regional foods –  One of the things I really love about zipping around the country (in the general sense) is the regional foods but there are some big losers out there as well. For those of you living in the Southeast, the whole boiled peanut thing is one of them. My kids were goading me into buying some to try and I remembered my dad making the same mistake in listening to my sister and I decades ago. He bought his from a guy making them in a literal cauldron on the side of the road. They can now be found canned, for sale in pots inside gas stations, and generally everywhere.

Hermie finally gets top billing – While we did not have time to stop and eat at this fine establishment, it was a bit of a surprise to see the Sadler brothers had gotten into the buffet restaurant business. Seems like lots of NASCAR guys have car dealerships and other businesses but we’re not sure of another pair of NASCAR brothers that operate a joint like this. We’re glad to see Hermie pushed Elliot out of the limelight for this one.

Nailed it! – We were tearing along during our adventure TO Florida when up the road I saw a guy driving a hearse. Since my pal and fellow NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart recently bought a classic Cadillac hearse for a project I thought this would be a fun photo to send him. I gave my wife about 3 minutes and all kinds of angles and this is the photo she nailed of the hearse.

We’ve clearly lost our minds – South of the Border is a legendary tourist trap/dive/indescribable place along Route 95. It is located just over the border from North Carolina in Dillon, South Carolina. For hundreds of miles each way coming and going there are billboard encouraging you to stop and see “Pedro” for numerous things from food to fireworks. There is a hotel there, some “attractions” that include a reptile park, restaurants, public bathrooms, and a giant sombrero hat you can go up into and see all of the natural splendor of Dillon, South Carolina from. This is the type of place you need to enter with a smile and a sense of humor and that has apparently all but left the public consciousness. People respond with how icky and weird the place is and that is kind of the point, right? Our world now is all about the flash and dash of things the gleaming white facade of something that isn’t really up to the billing you’re being sold. South of the Border is EXACTLY what it claims to be. It is a funny place that is worth stopping at to take a photo, take a leak, eat an ice cream, get cheap gas or otherwise stretch your legs. Get out of your own way people and have some fun!

Paradise in red – Over the next few days I’ll be showing you my photos from Paquette’s tractor museum and International Hall of Fame in Leesburg, Florida. We took a day trip up that way during our time in Florida and it was an amazing sight to see. The Paquette collection is one of the biggest, nicest, and most historically full gatherings of “Red Power” anywhere in the world and the place was as you’d expect it. Tucked off the main road a mile or two, staffed by cool old guys who know every inch of the tractors, and packed ceiling to floor with history and historic iron. It was a place I will never forget seeing and best of all the kids really loved it. Kerri tolerated it and enjoyed talking to the older guys who were showing us around but the kids were really into it. They’re as far up the creek on tractors as I am!

Road beer – My wife and I enjoy trying new kinds of beer and always try to order local beers when we stop somewhere to eat after a day on the road. Obviously we save it for when the car is parked for the night, not when we’re getting ready to put a few more hours behind us but sometimes the best beer is a huge beer and that was the case at this Mexican restaurant we ate at after stopping one night outside of Savannah, Georgia. When presented with this swimming pool of Modelo, the long day on the road melted away. As a side note, is there better road food than Mexican food? It is cheap and it is very rare that you run into a junky Mexican restaurant anywhere in the country, at least in my experience.

Hey kid, you made it….you can spend it any way you want – The kids both had a pretty good stash of money from saving their allowance and they were allowed to take it on the trip and buy stuff with it. By far their most voluminous investment came at the hotel’s video arcade and again, it was reminiscent of being a kid their age as well. The place was teaming with driving games and since they can both reach the pedals now, yours truly was not pressed into gas and brake duty anymore (sniffle). Jack’s still getting there in terms of size but he was able to at least manage this bizarre photo for the video camera in the game that takes your picture before you start driving. This photo will probably come back to haunt him when he gets to dating age. Does anyone else remember the unbridled joy of being a kid in an arcade with money to spend? Big fun!

Cruel irony – The crummy thing about this style of trip is coming home. Leaving in the middle of the night allows us to blast down through DC before things get terrible but coming home is running the gauntlet no matter what you do. On the way down once you get into the open space of Virginia, the speed limits come up to 70mph and you can really make some great time. The opposite happens on the way back up. We drove through torrential rains all the way up the east coast and the last 200 miles took us more than 5 hours. We were all envious of people who live in the middle and western parts of the country who don’t have to literally slash their way through junk like that.

Things with wheels that make noise – Being in the car with the kids for so long was great if only because getting concentrated time with them during the weeks of racing season is tough. We talked cars, we talked more cars, and we talked cars until my wife begged for a change of subject…which we managed to steer back to cars after just a few minutes of other extraneous conversation. One of the things Tom really wanted to do was sit on the chopper that is on display at the Harley Store at a place called “Downtown Disney”. He hopefully enjoyed this experience because the only time he’ll own a motorcycle is long after he’s left the confines of the Lohnes manse.

Is there less weird out there now? – Maybe it was my exaggerated kid memories but doesn’t it seem like roadside weird is on the decline? This upside down tractor trailer has been on a hill in the Carolinas for decades and it was one thing I was telling the kids to be on the lookout for a hundred miles before we saw it. It seems like there was more of that stuff to see back in the day. Going on trips like drag week that get you off the major interstates provides a different and more exciting experience but overall it seems like the sides of the highway are getting more and more tidy and less weird which is a shame.