Roll Out, Y’all: My Cross-Country Trip for Love!

Remember when our forebears traveled cross-country in the name of better jobs, new life, freedom, and opportunity? I did the same recently in the name of love and motherhood.

When my daughter graduated with her B.A. degree at the end of 2024, she intended to stay in her college town far, far away in another state and continue her post-graduation job hunt. That plan lasted 4 whole weeks. 

“Mom, I can’t do this.” 

After coming home that Christmas, my baby’s return to a place without family & few friends hit different. Deep down in my mother bones, I felt her cry of distress. What was my response? I booked a one-way flight for mid-February, and prepared to help my adult child drive her car cross-country so she could relocate to stay with my mother in Texas. Loving train travel, I would treat myself to return via Amtrak. Then, horror of horrors, two planes crashed in one week here in the U.S., killing precious many. That left us hyper cautious and unsure about my flying to North Carolina. Insert prayer and strategy. My daughter decided to drive to Atlanta from North Carolina and treat herself to a Galentine’s weekend before saying farewell to the region. We brainstormed and landed on my meeting her there in the ATL. And that’s how I wound up riding across country on Greyhound!

Eight states, y’all! California. Arizona. New Mexico. Texas. Louisiana. Mississippi. Alabama. Georgia. Then back to Texas. Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. I did that because my daughter needed me. And that was my mother love in action. It was a trip I planned and orchestrated, one that felt wholly independent. Adventurous. It was exciting. Even liberating. My love went rolling, rolling, rolling. Literally.

I took my laptop, intending to write. I didn’t. Instead, I relaxed and took copious notes of a living, breathing, whole cast of characters! I saw situations, comical and curious, that will certainly make an appearance in a future book. Such as an unforeseen 9-hour layover at the Greyhound station in El Paso, TX; my daughter & I rerouting of our drive to avoid floods and torrential rains; and baby girl and I praying during a nighttime 47-mile stretch on an unlit, two-lane back road in Mississippi in the pitch black. When I write this novel of voyage I promise to include the hilarity, humanity, and hold nothing back.

All is well. God be praised. My daughter and I safely drove her car from Atlanta to Texas; and I enjoyed a smooth, event-free return to California via train. I’ve yet to track the number of miles I traveled to help my daughter relocate. Regardless of their number, rolling in the name of love made every mile worth it.

PRIZE TIME: Comment below, telling me about your wildest road trip in 50 words or less by 11:59 PM PST Thursday March 13 to enter a drawing to win one of my brand pens. The winner will be announced in my April newsletter. RULES: Limited to participants in the continental U.S. Must be a verified newsletter subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe here.

*I made the above map to provide a visual of my journey: California to Georgia and back again. If you count each time I stepped foot in a place, that’s 15 states!