DRIVE ACROSS THE USA
Mr. McClafferty is on the case- the road trip safety case that is. I have come to accept that it doesn’t matter to him that I am almost 30 (and can hopefully take care of myself at this point) because he will always be my pops and on the case about my safety. When I was a little girl he used to drive me nuts with all his precautions but as I have grown I now find it sweet, thoughtful, helpful, loving and ok sometimes a little frustrating.
Even this year he had a little “moment” (it’s actually rather funny when I look back at it now) when I tackled my second goal for 365 til 30– spend one week at a Buddhist monastery. When I first told him I was going to Tassajara, he was worried I was going to some religious cult in the mountains and that he was going to have to perform sort of rescue mission. I assured him Tassajara was a very nice place and not a religious cult in the mountains. The second problem he had with the whole thing was the drive. For those of you that don’t remember…there was a somewhat treacherous 14 mile road leading into Tassajara. The website did make it sound pretty horrible…I will give him that. I was sorry to learn that he went to the site before my departure and saw the precautions. I had been trying to keep them a secret because I knew it would just eat him up inside and I didn’t want him to worry. But he saw and it wasn’t good.
On my drive up we were in constant communication and right before I turned down the last road leading into the buddhist monastery (where I would lose reception for good for 7 days) I called him and told him everything was ok, that I would be fine and that I would call him as soon as I got reception again…in 7 days. He said ok, that he loved me and to have fun. I thought we were good. I thought it had ended and that he was good and that we would speak in 7 days. Cut to 3 hours later…I’m in a Buddhist monastery, chopping vegetables in silence and a Buddhist monk walks over to me and says “Are you Kate?”. I was surprised by the fact that a monk was speaking to me. What did the buddhist monk say to me, you ask? He said I had a phone call…that my Dad was on the phone. I was mortified. Everybody around me stared at me. One girl even tried to silence a laugh.
Now we have come to my cross-country road trip and as you can imagine Mr.McClafferty is getting a little anxious again. In the last few weeks I have received many calls from my father about his concerns…
Two women driving across the country by themselves…just not ok in his book. He’s just not happy about this…enough said.
He’s worried because I don’t know how to change a tire and that I am not handy with car maintenance in general. Ok, so maybe he’s right about this part and I should learn a few things before I depart.
In a perfect world he would like to have a detailed itinerary of everywhere we will be sleeping, moving, eating and peeing. I have tried to explain to him that it is just too hard, considering things may be changing constantly and that that is part of the adventure. I don’t know when the mood will strike to pee!
He is also not too happy that we have chosen April to make the drive…he thinks it will still be too cold and cause the roads to be dangerous.
Oh and tornadoes…they are a problem too
Clearly, the man has concerns. But because I love him to death and would do anything to ease his fears…I’m thinking maybe I take a few car maintenance classes before I leave? Do such things even exist?
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“You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.”
Charles Kuralt
365til30.com 
Dear Kate,
You have no idea how many Buddhist Monks got on the phone before I found one who would talk to me?
Your Dad, Mr. McClafferty
ahaahhahah! Mark you’re hilarious!!! ❤ Hi to you and Pamela 🙂
Dear Mr. McClafferty AKA the Original “M&M” and/or “Eminem,”
I totally relate to your concerns. As the father of two daughters, I know from whence you speak. When my older daughter was driving back to Spokane, WA for college, we sent one of her girlfriends from high school with her and my wife booked them at a bed and breakfast in NoCal. Turns out this B&B was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY off the beaten path, like on a dirt road, no street lights, etc. Needless to say, we were more than a little apprehensive. Fortunately, they survived and now that same daughter is living in Guyana, South America serving in the Peace Corps. You might need to lighten up a little bit…but not much. Kate will always be your little girl.
Rodney
P.S. Did your dad tell you that he finally had to call his friend, the Dalai Lama, to get through to you!
xoxo PEM
I love your Dad!! Simple a sweetheart… I imagine you are always his little girl in his heart, so it comes with the territory