Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Road Trippin’ with Jess Riley

You know how taking a road trip can be so much fun? You pack your bags, grab a shitola-load of snacks, the best tunes E V E R, turn ‘em up sooo loud, and just hit the open road? Well, that’s what we’re talking about here on Manic Mommy today! Fun road trips! Cuz this week, my pal Jess Riley has her debut book out, Driving Sideways, and in honor of it FINALLY arriving, we’re giving away two copies! Currently, one of them is signed. Currently, one of them is NOT signed, but I shall rectify that situation, and NO, that does NOT mean I will plagiarize her name. I will get it signed FOR THE WINNER.

I’ve taken a few exciting road trips in my day. Like the one when I drove from NIU to Daytona Beach with my girlfriends in a bus with about 50 other drunk students freshman year of college, and I let a guy shave my legs in the back of the bus and then made out furiously with him. (Stever, where are YOU? I still have a thing for you, you hottie boy with the long hair who later in the semester LICKED MY EYEBALL—SO HOT!—and yeah, for the record, after he shaved my legs on the bus, WITH shaving cream, and AFTER we made out in the back of the bus, the bus made a pit stop, he got off the bus and yakked his brains out.)

So memorable.

But yeah, that one in particular comes to mind.

Or the next year’s trip, same destination, different bus, same crew of drunk co-eds headed to Daytona, and I was loaded BEFORE we get on the bus, because we girls thought it would be a riot to do shots and drink beers while we waited for the bus to arrive. So I’m throwing UP before the bus takes off for a 24-hour non-stop road trip (granted, come on, the bus was LATE!), and here I was already nicknamed “PUKER” by all the passengers, and called that the whole week. I guess it beats some of the other names they could have called me.

So, yeah.

The next year we decided NOT to take the bus to Daytona and instead drove down to Florida; six of us gals in a Jeepy sort of car. And yeah, we broke down on the way to Daytona, and yeah, I got a speeding ticket at 4 a.m. on the way home from Daytona.

Not fun. But boy, the memories will last ya a lifetime.

There are other more mature, grown-up road trips like the time when Mr. Manic and I drove with the three kids from Philadelphia to Tampa straight through 18 hours when Tukey was just four months old and we were on such a mission to get there, that when Tukey crapped his diaper, we wouldn’t even stop to change him. Instead, I’d whip him out of his car seat, fling him onto the top of the cooler, and change him right there as Mr. Manic sped down the highway. Looking back, because now that I’m in my late thirties mid-thirties, I find I am maturing nicely and can deal with “looking back” on perspective and can understand the stupid, idiotic, asinine things I used to do error of my ways. It’s all a part of maturing and growing up.

But road trips offer us a chance to do this. And Jess's book, Driving Sideways, takes a great look at a woman who has a second chance at life, literally, and she’s taking it by the balls I tell ya! She is grabbing her world by the kahonas and living it large and in charge and doing things she never thought she could!

And it all starts with a road trip!

So, if you want to read Jess’s awesome debut, and I know ya do, and if you want a chance to win a copy of it here, simply leave a comment with a story about a road trip you have taken. It can be an amusing story that will enlighten or make us laugh, or vomit, or spit out my Pool Boy (you know, that summertime concoction I love: champagne, cranberry and pineapple on ice with a slice of lime—because summer officially starts at the Manic house TOMORROW!). It can be a story that’ll make us pee our pants or crap in our capris it’s so funny. You choose. You tell it!

And Jess is choosing the winners so make it a good one! Good luck, and happy road tripping! I cannot wait to hear what you all come up with!

Peace UP!

31 comments:

Michelle said...

Awww Manic, I wish I'd known that you were going to give this book away (actually I should have known!). I entered this contest on a different site a couple weeks ago and won. (Thanks again, Jess -- I'm almost afraid to ask if mine is signed. That would just be way too cool, and I don't think I'm cool enough for that!).

Had I known, I would have saved my story for you, Steph!

justme said...

seniors in high school driving down to the shore for a week of fun. we all had our beat up cars, mine was a blue toyota corolla hatchback. we were pulling out of a toll (yes before ezpass folks) and we heard something fall off the car....the car keep going and so did we, and my main concern "was it the lasagna my mom made ???"
as if that would fall out. no it was the muffler. oh well who needs a muffler - not us....roar down to the shore.

Kristabella said...

Too funny, I'm writing my Pimp Driving Sideways and Jess Riley post right now!

Count me out, since I have my own copy already! :)

mamashine said...

I'm bummed! I can't think of a good road trip story just now. Oh wait... I went to Mardi Gras Galveston with a bunch of girls in college~ my roommate's boyfriend pissed off the balcony onto a cop's head and then tried to get him to believe that we were pouring out some flat Mountain Dew. And then we had a sweet boy with us who'd never been drunk before and we fed him Everclear for breakfast and got him so plastered he couldn't sit up and we all had to take turns sitting with him because we were afraid to leave him by himself. And on the way home they shoe polished our friend's cell number onto the back window with a big arrow that said "she's single! call us!" and then had to field calls from truck drivers and idiots for the six hour trip home.

There, I do have a story. I don't know if it's a winner, but I'm having fun remembering that weekend now. :)

yaya said...

Okay here's mine:
About two years ago me and my family (my dad, mom, my sister, her 5 years old daughter, her 3 years old daughter, their babysitter plus our driver) took a road trip by car going from Jakarta to Yogyakarta.

I have to say the trip took ages and very long (it seemed) because that was the first time our family ever gone road trip by ourselves. FYI, the trip from Jakarta to Yogya took almost 24 hours! The amazing thing was none of us realized that we didn't bring any maps until we reached east Java :D

Can u imagined what trip was like?not to mention my nieces that kept on asking:"are we there yet??"


From:Yaya
Jakarta, Indonesia

Amanda said...

Hmmmm road stories....driving through BC, camping in the back of a van and being too scared to get up for a pee in the night because that there is bear country and us Brits don't have wild life bigger than a deer. What was even more scary was the row we got from my very VERY dear friend for being late back - what? it was only a day and a half, who's counting? Or driving along the Cascade Highway and finding an AMAZING B&B with a hot tub looking out across the valley from half way up the mountain - that was really surreal, sitting in a hot tub sipping a glass of wine and watching the wildlife. Or zipping around Kos on the back of a scooter sitting side saddle because I didn't want to screw my skirt up - *sigh* those were the days, when the most important thing was not having creases in your skirt...Thanks for dredging up so many great memories Manic! Now all I have to do is get over the depression it was all so long ago, I'm feeling my age!! (which is the same as you Steph)

Anonymous said...

We were seniors in high school and were going to visit a college boyfriend for the weekend at his school. We take off and are half-way there and stop to eat/take bathroom break. When we are at a stop light and next to us is a old (granpa) on his motercycle. I look over and he has his ( you know what) out of his pants!! Talk about a shocker---we laughed the rest of the trip!!

Tink said...

When I was sixteen, my best friend and I decided to spend the weekend in Orlando. But the problem was, we only had $100 to our name and there was no way our parents were going to let us go alone. So we lied and said we were going on a church retreat! I am SO going to hell for that one. Then we spent the majority of our money on gas and a hotel room which we were too young to rent. I actually had to pay off the clerk with my phone number for him to wave seeing our IDs. How's that for disturbing? No worries. I gave him the number to the movie theater instead. Maybe he found a LEGAL date to take there.

We spent the rest of the weekend chilling out around town and eating soggy sandwiches we'd packed in a cooler on the way down. It wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be. Especially since that number thing doesn't work anywhere else, especially not to get into Pleasure Island. I got food poisoning from the mayo and ended up spending the second day laid up in bed and puking. For all our troubles, we ended up having to go back home and lie about what an awesome time we had learning about Jesus. I felt so bad that I later broke down and told my Mom the truth. She felt so bad for us that she didn't even bother to punish me!

Laura ~Peach~ said...

my best road trip ever was a spur of the moment thing, I used to baby sit for this biker and super jam was happening in St' Louis and at the last moment his ex wife said she would keep the kids so I got to go to super jam on the back of a harley! WHOOOO HOOOOOOO
My dad was not too pleased as we did not come back for three days~
Can we say SUPER PARTY! oh yeah this was 1980 and I was 14

Unknown said...

When on Maui for a family reunion, my husband and I decided to drive the Hana Hana highway. For those of you that don't know, this is a very skinny road, completely curved, and you can only go about 25 - 30 miles on it, and one way to the end takes about four hours.

About two hours in to the trip, I started getting sick. I had NEVER been motion sick before in my life. I was curled in a ball in the back seat and we had to pull over quite often so I could puke out of the side door. Now, this is a BUSY road because it seems all tourists want to drive it. I puked in front of more people that day than I probably have ever even spoke to in my whole life!!!!!!!

And yea, don't even ask about the trip BACK. It's one way in, and one way out. Must be why they have tee shirts that say, "I survived the Hana Hana Highway". And no, I didn't get one of those. It would have been a lie!!!!!

Unknown said...

By the way, here is a link describing the highway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hana_Highway

Michelle said...

Hee hee! I've been driving and seen someone with something out and in his hands being played with. Mine was on Lake Shore Drive, however... and we were both going about 60 (yes, it's 45 but no one goes 45!). Sick sick men on motorcycles, really.

Cata63 said...

I really dont have a good road trip story but i will certainly try to give you one.
The road trip that was very memorable to me was when my husband and i drove up to boston for the weekend. it was for a long weekend. We started off and it was suppose to take us about 7-8 hours total but it seemed like every lane we got in mark got behind the slowest driver ever. I mean this went on from the time we left my house until we pulled up to the hotel we were staying at. i guess it was memorable for me because after that long 10 hour drive we went out to dinner and he proposed to me. it was the best road trip ever. ANyway i know that this was not a great story but i needed to write something cause one of these days i will actually win a contest of yours.

Also I am sure you have read this book but I just finished reading a wonderful book by a new author. The book is called: PACK UP THE MOON by ANNA MCPARTLIN. I really recommend it highly. if you read it let me know what you think. I pick it up on a whim and finished it in 3 days.

AGF said...

Heeeyyyy!!! I am so excited to see you're still writing.. and what a bizarro coincidence that I log on today with all the Daytona Beach stories, because... I remember posting (and still have it up) about that guy you met in Spring Break (the one I called run around Stu). Also, Scot and I finally got married, moved out of San Francisco and moved to.... Daytona Beach (holy crap... the stories I have of THAT)... and now we have twins!!! WILD.

My craziest road trip: It actually was surrounding The Beast (my blog muse). I went on a road trip... alone. I went to Santa Barbara California. It was awesome... but horrible. I beach-combed, ate good Mexican food, took bike rides down State Street and I also managed to catch The Beast totally cheating on me by posing as some other girl responding to a personal ad. In his emails to me/the other girl, he continued to put me down and say terrible things about me. With all of this, I realized that I was stronger than he was, a better person and had more character and soul than he could ever hope. Although one evening I found myself sobbing in a heap on the floor of my hotel room feeling absolute betrayal and devestation, I also managed to pick myself up and carry on. I drove to Santa Barbara a wreck, sobbing and screaming along to Foo Fighters, my mouth pasty from the only I could eat: marshmallows. I drove back, elated and weight lifted, feeling triumphant that I caught him and knew he was nothing and only could dream of being a good person that I was. I felt so empowered. I got home and left his surfboard on the sidewalk of San Francisco. :)

For something a little moe fun: Let's just say, I know how to party hard enough to find myself in a Vegas hospital. LOL. My girlfriends and I went to the hottest nightclub where I proceeded to get more plastered from the previous nightclub. One blackout, a concussion on a toilet and an ambulance ride later, I awoke to friends looking over me like Jesus and calling me "Monkey" (I still don't get the Monkey part). THAT was a fun road trip, but a painful trip home. UGH.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Col--I haven't heard of that book but will check it out--thanks for the suggestion!

And Ex-Girlfriend's revenge--TOTALLY REMEMBER YOU! TWINS! WOW!!!!

And yep! That is the EXACT same Daytona trip where I met that jerky boyfriend "Stu!" hahahahahah

Glad to see you're around! Have to check to see if you're blogging; if you still have time!

Texasholly said...

I have a love-hate relationship with the road trip!

Martini said...

Long story short......

Girlfriend and I go parking on a lonely country road in the middle of nowhere. One thing leads to another and we are completely naked inside the car, enjoying the moonlight and everything else that was happening :)

Suddenly headlights turn onto the lonely country road headed right toward us. Have you ever tried to find your clothes when you are in a hurrying in the back seat of a car?

So being the quick thinker I am.....I jump into the drivers seat and take off driving naked. We drove for 5 miles or longer before the vehicle stopped heading in our same direction.

Me still naked driving.....girlfriend still naked in the backseat. Whole new meaning to "streaker" invented on that night!

MaBunny said...

Hopped in the car to go to Oklahoma with a friend of mine. We were young and stupid, she was 19 and I was 20. She CLAIMED we were going back to her home to get some of her stuff she had left there. What she was going for was a booty call. I swear her boyfreind showed up at the house maybe an hour after we got there. Nobody else was home, so the three of us visited for a little while, then they disappeared into her old bedroom, left me in the living room ALONE for the next two hours!! I was like umm, hullo?? anyone still in there alive? but of course when I got to close to the door about to knock after the first 30 mins, I heard the unmistakable sounds ( insert your imagination here)... I was soo mad. We did wind up all going out swimming and to a cookout at the lake later that day, but drive me two and half hours to somewhere I didn't know , to get a booty call, needless to say not much was said on the way home, because I wanted to kill her. We came back the very next day, such a fun two day road trip NOT!!!!

Cat said...

MM-you are always giving away such KEWL stuff :) ok, i've read some of the comments and my best road trip is not even close to the wildness i've read here... but the most memorable trip i've had was the three day cross-Florida car trip my husband and i took on our honeymoon 22 years ago :)

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Martini--

You NEVER cease to amaze me. Any time you pop in you've got something interesting to share!

Laughing out loud here!!! Wondering why the girlfriend wasn't trying to get dressed in the backseat though while you were driving??!?!?

B. said...

I tried to win this book on another blog, but didn't....so I'll try my next road trip story here. I can't believe I didn't write this one on the other site!

In college, my boyfriend (now husband) and I were going to visit my parents for the weekend. We packed up his car, and then stopped at McDonald's to get a quick dinner and then headed out on the interstate. About a half hour into our trip we were stopped for over an hour because of an accident. We were about 3 miles from the next exit when I really had to pee. I had already drank my large iced tea , and new I couldn't hold it. We moved about a foot every few minutes. Lots of scenarios ran through my head: I could just jump out of the car and pee alongside the road, I could pee in the empty McDonald's cup, I could just pee my pants; it was THAT bad. My stomach hurt and I just couldn't hold it anymore. So, I did what any normal(yeah, right) person would do. I climbed into the backseat of his car, pulled out my raincoat that I had packed, opened it up on the seat, and you guessed it! I peed in the raincoat!!!! Finally, we made it off of the highway and to a gas station where I once again did what any normal (!) person would do; I emptied the raincoat in the parking lot. My husband still makes fun of me for this incident and nobody knows this story except for him, and now whoever reads this blog!!! But, maybe it will win me another book. ;)

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

B--Bad, bad, bad move. I woulda peed in the ice tea cup all day long. No question about it.

A rain coat? Gimme a break.

Bwhahahaahah! These stories are CRACKING ME UP!

And actually reminds me that Mr. Manic had to stop the car just last FRIDAY to go pee outside while all four of us laughed at him and yep, I took a picture of him peeing on the country road with my camera phone!

I should so post that one!

Martini said...

Manic....you should know the answer to that question. I still laugh about it to this day......

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Martini--I GET IT!!!! You weren't DONE SATISFYING HER!!! LOL!

B. said...

Manic- Yes, that was "a bad, bad, bad move" but now it makes for a funny road trip story. I think I would have used the cup, but wasn't sure how I would maneuver it and not spill. With the raincoat I had much more coverage. :)
Yay for Mr. Manic peeing along the road!

Anonymous said...

What a great contest idea! On my most memorable road trip some friends and I drove all the way from North Carolina to Key West only to realize that I had booked our reservations a month off and we had nowhere to stay, it was Spring Break and every room was booked! We had to drive back to the mainland and stay at a super cheesy pirate-themed family resort. Thanksfully, they have all since forgiven me.

Monda said...

Oh my, let's see. Should I tell abou the family Disney World trip where Jiminey Cricket put his hands on my daughter and my 6'5" policeman husband caused a Magical Kingdom incident? Complete with mysteriously materializing Disney cops? Or should I tell about the hurricane we survived two days prior on the road trip down there?

Wait. I should tell about the New Orleans trip my college roommate and I took years ago. It was thwarted a bit in Bastrop, LA when a crooked cop pulled us over for speeding and demanded the ticket be paid right there on the side of the road. In cash. We refused and spent the night in jail waiting on our daddies to gather legal forces and retrieve us. After refusing a strip search and enduring lascivious police talk, we were rescued by my daddy weiling not one but two Arkansas state representatives.

Ah, youth. We never made it to New Orleans.

My Two Army Brats said...

I've taken many road trips. In fact since May 12th we (my two boys, my mother in law) flew from Saint Louis to Baltimore. Then we left the next day from Baltimore to drive back home to Missouri, about 1000 miles. We all survived. then my husband and I drove eight hours round trip to pick up my three nieces and nephew for the weekend a few days later. Then us and the boys left three days after that to drive to Ft Knox, KY. And we stayed there until today. Right now I'm on I64 east heading back to Fort Leonard Wood. We're supposed to leave Wednesday to go 8 hours away to a family thing with my husbands family.

I think our most memorable trip, roundtrip took almost 6 years. In October of 2000 Kirke and I drove from Ft Drum NY around 5000 miles to Ft Wainwright, Alaska. It was just the two of us and two dogs. Almost 6 years later, in June 2006, we drove out of Alaska with the two of us, a three year old boy, four year old boy, two dogs and a cat! We multiplied!

I like to read in the car pick me pick me!!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

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Trish Ryan said...

I was crossing the border to Montreal, and they stopped to question me about THAT DOG. They weren't worried about her shots being updated or her disposition. Rather, they found her so bizarre looking that they wanted to confirm that I planned to take her back out of their pristine country once we were done with our visit.

Clearly, they understand the importance of tight security...

Trish Ryan said...

ACK! I'm too late!!!

So sad....