Christmas on the Road:

I left Minnesota on Christmas Day around 3 PM, with the car packed up and my 95-pound black lab, Charlie, as my road trip buddy. It’s always been my dream to head south, and we set off full of excitement. We made it all the way past Wisconsin before needing to stop for gas and to let Charlie stretch his legs.

As night fell around 10 PM, we found a rest stop. Charlie had another good run, and we settled in to sleep right in the car. I was listening to a rain meditation on YouTube to relax, which is why my phone ended up dying overnight. That gave my parents a bit of a scare in the morning when they couldn’t reach me and thought something might have happened!

Charlie, despite being a big boy and a pretty intimidating black lab, was the perfect guard dog. He growled and barked at every car and passerby, making sure we were safe through the night. In the morning, he had a blast running around the truck stop again. We both got ready quickly and hit the road by 7:30 AM. Now we’re rolling along with about thirteen and a half hours to go, and Charlie’s having the time of his life—no whining, just pure adventure.

I can’t think of a better way to start this next chapter. Stay tuned for more updates as we make our way to sunny Florida!