Thanks to everyone who sent me such awesome reviews! I'm having fun with this story, and it's good to know other people are, too.

Chapter 3- Stuck in a Truck with the Gilmore Girls

It's the day of all days, Saturday, and time for the road trip-

"Mom, you gotta get up," Rory whined for the eighth time already that morning. "Version number 2 of this trip was your idea, and that does sort of make it imperative that you actually come with us."

"Ooookay," Lorelai rolls over and faces her daughter, "but shouldn't that also give me the right to change the time of the trip to say… later?"

"Mom, Maine is far away, and if you want to have any time to actually spend there we need to leave in like 15 minutes."

"Oh alright. You win, but I am going to be grumpy all day because of this." Lorelai finally tumbles out of bed, scowls at Rory, and then makes her way down the hall to the bathroom"

"Fifteen minutes!" Rory sighs as the bathroom door slams in the distance.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, thanks to a promise of coffee and a lot of nagging on Rory's part, the two step into Luke's diner. Luke looks up when he hears the bells ring and takes in Lorelai's obvious attitude about being awake at this time of day.

"Well, if it isn't little miss sunshine."

"Oh, shut up you." She sits down at a table and lays her head in her arms.

"It's okay Luke, she'll be fine once we get some coffee in her." Rory walks up to the counter.

"I hope so, 'cause I don't know if I can spend a few hours in the car with that."

"Try living in the same house." They grin at each other.

"Here's your coffee." He hands two full mugs to Rory who walks them over to the table where her mom is sitting. Lorelai doesn't look up.

"Do you think there's a way you could just shoot it straight into my blood? It would require a lot less effort on my part.

"Nope. Until the science of coffee injection is perfected, you are just gonna have to make it work and drink it."

"Fine." She sits up and downs half the cup in one sip. "Ahh, feeling more normal already."

"Are you ever normal?" Luke walks over to their table and Lorelai just glares at him.

"So, what do you guys want for breakfast before we get going?" Rory and Lorelai smile at each other and start listing...

It was a long time before the three of them climbed into Luke's truck to start their journey. This was partly because the girls insisted on eating the largest breakfast possible, much to Luke's chagrin, to prepare for the day ahead, and partly because Taylor came in to consult with Luke on something. What the something was, Luke wasn't really sure because he never really paid attention when Taylor was talking anyway. But there they were, finally, their picnic lunch tucked away on the floor, Rory squeezed in between the two adults. It was at this point that Luke chose to bring up the subject he had been dreading.

"Lorelai, do you have any idea how to get to this camp?" Like you don't already know the answer to that one, Danes.

"Uhh…" Lorelai just looked sheepish. Luke shot her a look. "Well.. I haven't been there since I was 15."

"Oh, jeez. So what do we do now?"

"Calm down, calm down. I can solve this." Rory leans over and rummages through her bag and pulls out a piece of paper. "Ta-daa! I mapquested it last night in preparation for a situation such as this." She hands the sheet to Luke who looks it over.

"You have no faith in mommy." Lorelai pouts to Rory.

"No, I have no faith in mommy's sense of direction. There's a difference."

"Well, this doesn't look too hard," Luke assesses. "Guess we should get going." He puts the truck in gear and they're on their way.

They're driving through Massachusetts. Luke has listened to Rory rattle on about Paris and Chilton. Lorelai has told several amusing anecdotes about Sookie and her misadventures at the inn. He comments when he feels he has something to add, but otherwise is content to concentrate on the road. Suddenly, Lorelai spots a sign for a roadside rest stop.

"Oo oo oo, Luke! Next exit get off!"

"What, why?"

"Cause I want to find my next boyfriend among the available truckers. Why do you think?"

"Well, I don't know."

"She has to pee. It's all the coffee." Rory clarifies while looking between the people on opposite sides of her. Why does it sometimes seem like the two of them communicate in a different language?

"You could have just said that." Lorelai rolls her eyes at him as he steers the truck up the exit ramp. She then proceeds to jump out of the truck the second they stop and disappear in the direction of the restroom. Luke and Rory get out to stretch their legs, and a semi-awkward silence ensues. Both of them are thinking about the last time they were alone together. They've walked halfway around the parking lot before Luke breaks the silence.

"Hey, you wanna go get a snack or something for the rest of the ride up?"

"Sure, why not?" She starts to head in the direction of the mini-mart before she remembers. She turns around and looks at Luke. "Uhh, Luke. I don't have any money with me." She lets out a nervous giggle.

"Oh, hey that's okay." He reaches for his wallet and hands her a few ones. "Just don't spend all of it on junk." Rory smiles.

"I won't." With that, she walks off leaving Luke standing by himself, hands in his pockets. A few seconds later, Lorelai joins him.

"Ugh. I hate highway bathrooms." She throws her gum wrapper away in the trashcan next to her then realizes Rory is missing. "Where's my kid?"

"Oh, Rory, she went in to buy a snack. She should be back any minute."

"Oh." Lorelai looks at her feet then back up. "Wait, she didn't have any money 'cause I have it all." She gives Luke a questioning look.

"I gave her some, just a few bucks." Lorelai lets loose one of her mega-watt smiles.

"Ooohhh Luke. You know I really appreciate everything you're doing for Rory. I'm sure coming on this trip with us isn't exactly your idea of a super Saturday, but Chris isn't the most…involved dad, and she's just been beaming ever since you said you'd come. So.. Thanks, just thanks for this." She smiles again.

"Hey, it's no big deal- really." They smile at each other until Rory walks up with her purchases grinning at the look on both adults faces. Well, well, well what have we here?

Rory hands Luke an apple and shoves some high in sugar chocolate bar at her mom while they're climbing back in the truck.

"Hey, what did you get for yourself?"

"Umm," Rory looks through her bag, "this!" She holds up an apple identical to Luke's. Luke looks a little surprised, but Lorelai just smiles at her daughter's newfound healthy eating habits. That's so cute, she wants to be like Luke on her father/daughter day. It still creeps me out that she thinks of him that way, but I can deal. Really, I can. I think.

The rest of the ride Lorelai and Luke have a silent argument over which radio station they're going to listen to. Every few seconds one of them switches it to their preferred music, until Rory gets frustrated and turns it off all together.

"You guys are two." At this point, Lorelai gets very excited and starts bouncing in her seat again as she strains to take in the landmarks around her.

"Hey, I recognize that house! We're almost there!" Sure enough, two minutes later, they are driving under the wooden gateway of Camp Indian Hill.

Sorry, this got a little long. I know the plot didn't really get very far in this chapter, but I wanted to show some of the car ride, and it just kept getting longer. Next chapter- Lorelai acts as official tour guide for Luke and Rory. I know you can't wait.