Our family is taking a "once In A Lifetime" cross-country and back road-trip this summer.

My husband often tells me of the trips around the country he took with his family when he was younger . They would pack all the kids in a station wagon and set out for wherever his dads' next assignment was ( he was a career military man ) or back to see the family while on vacation.
My husband, his father (driving) and his brothers once drove from Alaska to West Virginia !

We are planning to travel I-40 from California  across the US and into Tennessee before turning north for the Hodge Family Reunion in Spring Creek, WV.
After that, we will head back across I-70 through the Rocky Mountains.
We plan to stop and sample some of this nation's better cuisine.
My husbands wish list for this starts with : Texas BBQ , Memphis BBQ , North Carolina BBQ, Kansas City BBQ , St Louis BBQ (hmmm......I'm beginning to see a pattern developing).

I am planning to bring along some food packed in dry ice so we don't spend too much on meals and have more cash for things like: refrigerator magnets, coffee cups and various thing-a-ma-jiggits from across this great nation of ours.