It's the symbolic end of summer, but with that comes football (and more importantly, hockey), and what a weekend it was.But even though Summer '26 is pretty much over, I've saved one summertime ritual for September: a road trip.This will pretty much be my wife and I in a few days, minus two kids who look different every movie, plus a French bulldog.(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)My wife and I (plus another passenger I will get into in a moment) will be driving from Orlando, Florida, to Pennsylvania Dutch Country to celebrate my old man retiring after 35 years of service in law enforcement.Also, there's an Iron Maiden concert nearby, but that was just a very happy coincidence.I wouldn't miss it for the world, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to still try to save a few bucks.The original plan was to fly, and it was two things: inconvenient for when we were going and expensive.15 DOG ESSENTIALS THAT MAKE LATE-SUMMER WALKS AND ROAD TRIPS EASIERSo, I convinced my wife that it would be better to drive over two days.But I also convinced her that we could save even more cheddar if we brought our French bulldog, Carl, with us.Now, the numbers check out.
I stand by that.I'm also excited to give our newish Ford Bronco Sport a proper long-distance test.
However, I'm starting to sweat it a little because if this road trip doesn't go off without a hitch, I will hear about it for the rest of my life.And I mean, I won't get a break from "...remember how you made us drive to Pennsylvania?" ending any semi-heated discussion until I settle into a pine box for the ol' dirt nap.I think it'll be good.I've planned it out to avoid traffic in major cities and also to make sure we're on the road so I can listen to F1 practice on the radio (don't tell my wife that part, though).Hopefully, it's entirely uneventful, and the biggest issue we encounter is a free continental breakfast somewhere in the wilds of North Carolina with a broken waffle iron.Anyway, enough about my yap...