Jeff built this website, so I wrote a quiz for our first post. #marriage
Best road trip snack?
Jeff: Bananas or Kind bars. Bananas are easily edible.
Betsy: Clementines or salt and pepper pistachios from Trader Joe’s.
Best first song for a road trip?
Jeff: “Freewheelin'” by Blue Scholars
Betsy: “Inna Gadda Da Vida” by Iron Butterfly, with “The House that Heaven Built” by Japandroids as a close second.
Best road trip game?
Jeff: “Mitch, Give Me the Ball, Mitch”
Betsy: I like collaborative playlist-making. [On our road trip from Boston to Durham, we built an alphabet-based playlist that still holds up.]
Best road trip podcast or audio book?
Jeff: “Hardcore History with Dan Carlin”
Betsy: Mystery novels, preferably Laurie King or D.L. Sayers. Or “Planet Money.”
Most important co-pilot virtue?
Jeff: Clear, simple and accurate navigation instructions.
Betsy: Excellent conversation at a reasonable volume.
Worst co-pilot sin?
Jeff: Late, urgent demands to turn. Close second: Thinking they control the music.
Betsy: Playing on a phone when they’re supposed to be keeping the driver company. Close second: Abnormally loud talking.
What are you most looking forward to about our road trip?
Jeff: Seeing family.
Betsy: Yes, family, but also daydreaming car conversations and letting Penny out for walks to smell new places. It makes her so happy.
Jeff specifically wanted to stop in Asheville, North Carolina, and in Jackson, Wyoming. What do those things have in common (besides the obvious: being on our route, being in North America, etc.)?
Jeff: Spectacular outdoor views. Great beer.
Betsy: I actually tried to come up with a data-supported answer for this and it is: About 42 percent of the population of each city is married, which is below the national average. But they’re statistically pretty different in terms of income, cost of living, industry, race, religion, education and … well, everything. Especially weather.
WITHOUT LOOKING, please tell me how many total hours of driving you expect to have on this trip:
Jeff: About 90.
Betsy: Forty
(Actual answer: Forty-nine hours.)
And how many of those hours do you expect to control the radio?
Jeff: Eighty.
Betsy: I never control the radio. I influence it for everyone’s benefit.