Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1

Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Turkeys are jerks and other observations from an American Road Trip is a road trip romp from the Chicago area to San Diego and back. Theresa Goodrich grabs her laptop, her camera, and her journal and makes (asks, she means, asks) her husband, Jim, to drive 6,479.5 miles through thirteen states so she can fulfill a childhood dream.

Starting at the most important archaeological site in North America, their journey takes them through sand dunes, forests, plains, and mountains. They stayed in haunted hotels, a rustic cabin, charming bed and breakfasts, and the oldest motel in Arizona. They camped in canyons and deserts and were visited by deer and surrounded by turkeys (jerks). They met a World War II vet, learned how to grow a date, and had a beer in the lowest bar in the Western hemisphere with a bartender named Scheherazade.

They also:

• made a wish at the Center of the World


• toured an abandoned mountain lion zoo


• rode a vintage train with a singing engineer


• ate schnecks


• touched goblins


• did not get blown up by unexploded ordnance


• did not kill each other

Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1 is an uplifting, inspirational, and often humorous love letter to America. From cliff dwellings to buried cars to more hoodoos than you can shake a switchback at, this tale follows their round-about journey to find the country’s treasures.