Road Trip!

The cover art for the copy I once owned!

As many of you are aware, Marilyn and I left very early this morning to go visit family and friends in North Carolina for a week before going to Myrtle Beach with her family next Monday - Friday. It's good to get away for awhile to the "nearest faraway place," and though I won't see as many old friends as I would like it will still be a fun trip. There will be lots of great times with old friends in a little over a month when we head back to the beach for a reunion. So I hold on until then...

We are driving to NC this time around, a trip that takes us around 11 hours including stops. While not good for things like stiff knees and fanny fatigue, long road trips provide a unique opportunity to jam out to great music! I have nearly 2000 songs on my iPod now, and our Hyundai came equipped with a special plug just for that device. I have many of the songs broken down into the 21 playlists I created; or we could just go with shuffle. In keeping with my July celebration of The Beach Boys I now have over 300 of their songs, including my newest addition, the Stack O' Tracks album. It's a bunch of great Beach Boys songs without the vocals- just the instruments. I owned a rare copy of the vinyl years ago and it was awesome. And now I'm ready to hear it again.

But it is entirely possible (GASP!) that my lovely wife will not want to listen to Beach Boys for 11 hours, so there is a wide variety to choose from. There will be Buffett. There will be Billy Joel, and quite possibly some Beatles or some Herman's Hermits. What other traveling music do I have ready for her? Here's a sample playlist that we might be listening to even as you read it!

1. Dreams Come True - Brandon Flowers
2. Shut Up and Dance! - Walk on the Moon
3. Walkin' On Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
4. Hey Soul Sister - Train
5. Honey I'm Good - Andy Grammer
6. Don't Bring Me Down - ELO
7. On the Road Again - Willie Nelson
8. Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
9. Raging Fire - Philip Phillips
10. Feelin' Stronger Everyday - Chicago

If you have suggestions for traveling songs, text me (813-919-3755). I'd love to hear your ideas. And know this as well- the greatest "on the road song" ever recorded is one many of you have probably never heard. It's called Rose of Cimarron, it's from the band Poco and it WILL be played! Back me up on this, Steve Semmler! Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow from beautiful NC!!!