A Long Road Trip with My Son

When my son was 18, I made the difficult decision that he needed to find somewhere else to call home. He was bullheaded, I was tired and I didn't want to fight anymore. To say our relationship was "strained" following that would be putting it mildly.

One and a half years later, my company was looking for extra help, he was out of a job and the fit seemed to be there. After my son had been with the company for a few months, I took a transfer to Louisiana for a few weeks in order to train new staff.

After two weeks, we had no staff in Louisiana, but contract commitments to fill. One of the owners of the company drove to Baton Rouge with my son and our seven month road trip began.

During the course of the next few months, we hired, trained and fired a few people in Louisiana, but my son and I were there through it all, building a relationship on a long-term road trip.

Even though we were working, there were so many aspects that were similar to a vacation. We had sufficient free time, and explored the region.

My son and I, on our long-term road trip, were evacuated from Gulfport, MS due to Hurricane Ivan. We attended the 10^th Annual Swampstock in Tim McGraw's hometown of Rayville, LA. We found the location near Shreveport where Bonnie and Clyde were killed by Texas Rangers. We visited New Orleans many times, as much for the culture and history as the party.

There was one more important thing that occurred during that 7-month road trip.

My son and I talked. We talked every day and we were able to salvage our relationship.