Chapter 1

"It's Wednesday for God's sake. Who starts a trip like this on a Wednesday," my husband asked. Before my road trip ended Jeff would be my ex-husband. the papers were filed and only one of us needed to go to court. He wanted the divorce, so let him be the one. That was my thinking. Since our kids were more or less grown, there was nothing holding me in town.

I had read two or three books about road trips and I wanted to do it before I died. So what if I was 46 years old. People much older had done the easy rider thing. Okay, they usually were on big ass Harley or Triumph choppers, and I was leaving town on a Tomos Sprint 50cc moped. I would even be dragging a trailer, made by a man who smoked weed all day, to add to my stupid looking quotient. Yes he smoked weed as he made his bicycle trailers, they were supposed to be the best though. I had paid two hundred bucks for the stars and stripes decals which covered the little bike. I looked like a wanna be hippy nerd but I was still looking forward to the trip.

The trip was to be financed by my half of the house. Jeff was forced to buy it from me at market value. It would have been two hundred thousand before the housing bubble burst, but the hundred and twenty five grand would work. I was in fact doing it on a debit card with twenty thousand dollars in the account. I had purchased a tiny one bedroom downtown condo with the other hundred thousand. I planned a fold out sofa just in case one of the kids visited. That seemed most unlikely since their dad had had all the goodies.

I made the road trip decision after a lot of soul searching, but what the hell? I knew that it was my last chance. Once I returned I was going to be forced to settle down and earn a living. Not an impossible task for the former junior partner of my ex-husband's sleazy criminal law practice. It was a true family business since his dad had started it.

My share of the law practice would pay for the start up of my own business, whatever I decided that it would be. I had to leave the BMW in the parking lot of the Jeff's practice since it was a lease. Leasing in the company name made a lot of sense, when I was married to the senior partner. It made much less sense at that moment.

Jeff cringed as I worked the moped from the trunk of the car, where it had hung over the edge of the trunk It had probably scratched the paint as I drove from my new condo to the practice's parking lot to deliver the BMW. From the back seat I removed the Weed smokers's trailer.

Since the chances of damaging the car were greater with the trailer, Jeff rushed to help me unload it. "Are you sure this is safe?" he asked.

"No, but it's a blast to ride. I figure with a tail wind I can do a hundred and fifty miles a day. The coast to coast road mileage is 4500 so it would seem that I am going to be gone pretty close to two months give or take. That is one way of course. I might just decide to turn around and come back the same way."

"At least you are leaving with lots of good weather in the forecast, " practical Jeff stated.

"Fair skies right up till it rains on me," I said laughing. I hooked the trailer up to the non chain side of the Sprint. I was ready to go by 10AM.

"Do the kids know you are doing this crazy road trip?" he asked.

"They have my Phone number and yes they know I'm going on the road. Charlie thinks I'm nuts, but his friends on face book think it is just the coolest thing they ever heard of a mom doing. I think I could get a date with one of them when I get back. As for Cindy, she asked if I would buy her a Tomas, so that she could come along. Of course, I would have to wait till school was out and take her boy friend as well. So the short answer is yes they know." I said.

"Please be careful. I will feel terrible if anything happens to you," Jeff said.

"Not terrible enough to put our life back the way it was," I suggested.

"No, we have gone too far now," he said.

"No Jeff, you have gone too far," I said I was ready so I slipped on the lightweight bicycle helmet, that at a glance looked like a motorcycle helmet. I kicked the easy to turn kick start and the 49cc engine caught immediately. I revved it up, smiled and waved goodbye to Jeff, then off I went, roaring along at about twenty miles an hour.

I got out of town in about ten minutes. The GPS thingie directed me to a county road, which in turn connected to a state highway. That state highway was one of those which was also the main street of half a dozen small town. Probably more, but there were only three of any interest to me. I made it through all three before I was tired enough to stop for the evening. The GPS thingie listed restaurants and motels, but they were only ones that were new enough or large enough to be of interest to most travelers. The ones I wanted were not in the GPS.

It turned out not to be a problem. Those small towns along the highway had at least one hometown cafe. I had my very late lunch in one that was so old the grease on the wall had changed the color of the paint significantly.

"So sweetie, what you gonna have," the chubby blond waitress asked.

"What's good?" I asked.

"Most anything, if you want a dinner the beef stew is good. If you want a burger, I'd go with the beer joint cheese burger," she said.

"Then make it sweetened iced tea and the beer joint burger. I haven't had sweetened ice tead in years, or a beer joint style burger since I was a kid traveling with my dad," I said.

"You got it," she said with a smile. then after noticing my bike helmet. "You on a motorcycle?"

"No a moped," I said.

"Ah my boyfriend rides a Harley," she said smugly.