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The Great Road Trip, Day 1: North Carolina

Writer's picture: Tracy Gaskins, CHWCTracy Gaskins, CHWC

Updated: Aug 11, 2020

Twenty-two years ago, I loaded up the twenty foot rental truck, my dog Kahlua and moved two thousand miles across the country to Salt Lake City, a town where I didn't know anyone, but had fallen in love with the beauty of the great west and the Rocky Mountains. I had just graduated from college at Clemson University and earned my bachelors degree in special education. I landed my job on a less than one week visit out there and knew in my gut it was absolutely the right move and what I needed to do at that point in my life. I got questioned how and why would I move all the way across the country with just my dog.


There are certain challenges we must encounter for growth. That was my challenge then. Here I am years later, determined to check off an item on my vision board that I placed on it three years ago. Truth be told, I put it on my bucket list shortly after becoming a mom. I decided that I would need to take my daughter on a cross country road trip and show her what could be done. Little did I know when I would finally be able to do it, it would be in the middle of our government having massive concerns over a controversial pandemic, along with our country being torn apart with opposing political agendas. There are many who have once again questioned why I would do such a thing, "especially now." The answer is because there will always be a reason not to go for our goals. There will always be obstacles and part of my job as her mother is to teach her what can be done. I am here to teach her how to work through those hard obstacles, how to be smart in the face of controversy, and yet, never give up.


This road trip is about so much more than just the miles and going from point A to point B. We have so many points on the map, I quit counting them. We won't get to all of them, but we are going after them. I developed a basic outline of the route we're taking and then I had her find points of interest along the route. The amount of learning that took place in that one week of planning alone was more valuable than anything she learned in her sixth grade social studies class. This trip is about the ultimate field trip, but it's also about an amazing bonding opportunity as I watch my daughter grow up, change and I realize that those years seem so much shorter. Memories can be made, but we must put in the time and effort to make those memories, even when it isn't easy, even when there are big obstacles that seem to stand in the way, even when others tell you now isn't the right time. If you choose to listen to them, you should know that there will never be a right time. We are guaranteed very little in life and it is up to us to make those days count. So here I am, making these days count, bonding with my daughter, and knowing that on the other side of this trip, we will both have learned much. Thank you for going on this journey with us.


Today's travel log was only 172 miles, due to scheduling and a late start, but it's a start.

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