Road Trip! | Reading Update 10.11.21

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

It seems like Octobers the past few years have just been full of things to do. Last year I went to California to take care of my (now) late grandfather, and this year my dad and I will be road-tripping to Minnesota to see his side of the family. We usually fly but this time we have Mochi with us, so we'll be taking the long way and driving the 1,700 miles to my dad's hometown. Much farther than the 450 miles it takes to get to California. It'll be four days of driving, each day about eight or nine hours in the car. It'll be completely brutal, especially since Mochi gets horrible motion sickness, but it will definitely be an adventure! 

We'll be gone at least two weeks, so you know the drill: no posts until I get home. I won't be taking my laptop with me, but I will be taking plenty of pictures, and when I get home I'll be sure to do a long post about the trip. I'm excited to see my dad's side of the family, they all live in Minnesota so I only get to see them every few years. Last time I was there was January of last year, for my cousin's wedding. 

Book time! I am blessed to be able to read in the car--I don't get any sort of motion sickness, unless I have a migraine, so I'm able to do pretty much whatever when I'm a passenger; read, watch tv, listen to music, play video games, etc. I'll be bringing plenty of entertainment to keep myself occupied on the long drives. And then we'll be staying in a hotel every night until we reach my aunt and uncle's house, so I have to make sure to keep myself from getting bored, otherwise I'll get crabby around my dad, and we can really fight if we are frustrated. Anyway... 

I'll be bringing a formidable stack of books along the way. I probably won't get to all of them, but it's nice to have options. The physical books I'll be bringing are: 

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (this is a library book that I'm currently reading)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Horns by Joe Hill
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Servant of the Crown by Duncan M. Hamilton

Those are the ones I'll be bringing for sure, though I might add others on as I pack, depending on the mood I'm feeling. And of course I'll be bringing my kindle with me, with access to my library's e-book collection.

Like I said, it's quite possible I won't get to all of these, but I can see myself flying through at least the YA, and probably Middlegame too. The others will most likely take a little longer for me to get through, especially the nonfiction. 

I might also be bringing my Nintendo DS with me, as that is the only portable video game console I have. I only own Pokémon games, but I'm not complaining about that. Who knows, maybe I'll even end up beating a game during the trip? It's not like a DS requires an internet connection to play Pokémon games. We'll see. 

Once we get to Minnesota there isn't anything special planned, we're just going to see my grandparents really (both are getting older, and my grandpa isn't doing so well. Plus Gram just got diagnosed with breast cancer, so she's starting chemo tomorrow). I know my aunt wants a good family photo, so that will be a nice keepsake. None of my cousins on that side are my age, unlike my mom's side, so I'm a little out of place, but I do miss them all. And I get to see my sibling as well! They're flying in on Saturday and leaving on Monday, so they're only there for one full day, but at least I can see them. We haven't been together since last October with my grandpa. 

Okay, I think that's all I have for today. I'm sure I'll be posting on twitter regularly, so if you want to stay updated with the trip, you can find me @AllyEmReads, or click the "Twitter" link in my More Media tab on the left of the screen. 

See y'all in a few weeks!