It felt as if it never would come. But right as rain (do people still use that phrase?), it’s finally here: Jeff’s 2008 Vacation.
Unlike last year, I didn’t break my leg two days before my big vacation (knock on wood, there’s still 12 hours left).
But this year’s break will be much different and more work than last year’s.
Tomorrow, I fly to Missouri with Brother #2 to meet up with Brother #3 who’s graduating from college with a degree in Criminal Justice. Shortly after the ceremony, Brother #2 and #3 and I will partake in many fine spirits while we move Brother #3’s crap out of his suburban St. Louis house.
Then the three Wilson Brothers will depart Missouri on what I hope will be an epic, college-style, I’m-31-years-old-but-still-feel-23 type road trip across these great United States of America. Papa Wilson is footing the gas bill. 
We’ve planned stops in KC, Denver, Las Vegas (who could forget Las Vegas?) and finally home sometime late next week. Or we may decide we want to tour Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona (and Vegas of course). I don’t know exactly how we’re going to get home, and I don’t really care. I’m not even going to bring a GPS device or an old-fashioned paper map. I know which way west is, and us young men will go that way.
Along the way, there’s talk of stopping at a few National Parks, roadside curios, redneck watering holes, hot springs, ghost towns, mining towns, rodeos, carnivals, and so on. We’re also going to meet with Midwestern relatives at various places along the way, so it should be a fun time.
As much as I love the SCV, it’s going to be good to get away from it for awhile. I’ve got a bunch of stories in the queue on this website but I’ve lacked motivation to finish them lately. I don’t know that I deserve the lofty title of “writer,” but I know I’ve got that symptom known as “writer’s block.” So maybe our great road trip will bring some new perspectives on life and shake the cobwebs off my creative side.
Anyway, there’s no one else on the SCVTalk staff to take over the Daily Brief or write other SCV-centric content while I’m gone, so don’t expect this website to be updated much, if at all. If I do get internet access along the way, I may post pictures and stories from the road.
I’ll be back. See you on May 27!
- Jeff