The Adventurous Travels of a Young Girl From Maine to Georgia

Chapter One

I am so excited but feel weird inside. Dad has just gotten Mom to agree to drive instead of flying. I’m afraid of flying and ending in a crash. Driving to me is much safer.

My brother Daniel is in the Army at Fort Benning in Georgia. Mom and I are planning to go see him graduate from boot camp. It will be two months since I've seen him last, and everyone has been saying it will change him but I don’t know how.

I’ve jokingly written him and asked him if his muscles are his best friends now. His letter talks a lot about always running, sit-ups, and pull-ups. If he’s not getting smarter he’s sure getting stronger.

My relatives are all giving me ideas of places to see and things to keep in my journal as we make the trip. Like seeing if I can find all fifty states license plates before I get to Georgia.

We have two only weeks more to wait before we go. Dad has talked Mom’s friend Joyce to take the trip with us to share the driving. Joyce couldn’t sleep all night waiting to get to work and see if the boss would let her take the time off, and buy break time, she called mom and told her yes. Joyce is always a lot of fun to have around and will make the drive go buy fast for sure. It’s bound to be a fun trip.

Moms excited to. She’s got us just about all packed and mapped all out. Were leaving Friday May twelve at noon were Joyce will be out of work at eleven. And planned on a stop in Washington D.C. for my benefit. I want a picture of me in front of the capital building. I decided to e-mail the president and the first lady. I told them who I was and where I live and how old I was. I told them I was traveling to Fort Benning in Georgia, to see my brother Daniel’s graduation from the Army boot comp. Though on our way we plan on stopping in Washington D.C. on May 13th for the day to visit. I told them I was keeping a journal of our trip to put in a book for my collage trust fund. I hope to be a Doctor in the pediatric field. My question is do you think that on May 13th at noon I could get a picture of you both and I? It will be for my book and to share with my classmates.

My reply said:

"Thank you for writing to President Clinton via electronic mail. Since June 1993, the President has received over 2.8 million messages from people across the country and around the world. Online communication has become a tool to bring government and the people closer together.

Because so many of you write, the President cannot personally review each message, though he does receive samples of his incoming correspondence. All responses mailed via the U.S. Postal Service. This is the only electronic message you will receive from Whitehouse, government. No other message purporting to be from the President or his staff with an address at Whitehouse. Gov. is authentic. If you have received such a message, you have received a " spoof."

We appreciate your interest in the work of the Administration."

If we do good on our driving down Mom say we may get a chance to skip over to Walt Disney in Florida. Someone where Joyce works told her we would only be an hour away. Joyce is one who loves fairs so I bet she’ll do her best to make it there.

Family day is Wednesday at two in the afternoon and in the letter the service sent mom we can’t see him until then. On the Internet it says twenty-seven or twenty-eight hours of straight driving and close to fifteen hundred miles there. That’s allot of driving for two old people. I still don’t know what to say to my Brother when I see him. I know he’ll cry when he sees mom. He’s written her and told her nothing would please him more, then to see her on family day. He hopes she gets there in time and worries about our safety going down, but knows Joyce will be a good protector.

In the Mail today I got a picture of Mr. & Mrs. Clinton. I wonder if that means there to busy or won’t be there on the 13th. There was no letter with it.