"So how are we going to get there?" Alex asked.

Lydia turned her head to one side and said, "I was thinking we could fly."

Crysta snorted and choked on her drink, laughing.

"You ok?" Max asked, looking at Crysta.

Crysta just nodded her head, unable to speak.

"What? What's so funny?" Lydia asked, looking at Crysta.

"Last time you flew you got smashed." Crysta said, the laughter finally subsiding.

"It's not my fault, the stewardess kept shoving them at me. What was I supposed to do? I'm a nervous flyer for crying out loud, I needed something to relax me." Lydia replied.

"Yea, relaxed you to the point where you couldn't walk a foot without falling."

"Ok, so flying's out of the question; what about taking my Bug?" Max asked, getting them back to the topic at hand.

"No way…four girls in a hatchback plus all their crap? That's just asking for trouble." Alex replied.

"What about a bus?" Crysta threw out.

"Sure…sharing a bathroom with twenty other sweaty people and no personal space to speak of? No thank you, I'll pass." Lydia said, shuddering at the thought.

"I thought you liked taking the bus." Max said, looking at Lydia.

"Yea…as much I like taking a psych evaluation." Lydia snorted.

Max sighed, this was going to be complicated. "Ok…so we can't fly because Lydia'll be a nervous wreck, we can't take the bus because it creeps Lydia out, and there's no way in hell we'll hitch-hike…so that leaves driving. We'll rent a car since none of us has one big enough to fit us and everything in it."

"What kind should we rent?" Alex asked, picking up the empty dishes.

"How about we plan the rest of the trip first before getting a car?" Crysta suggested, leaning back in her chair.

Max shrugged and picked up her dishes. "Fine with me; the three of us will have to share driving 'cause someone refuses to drive."

Lydia just stuck her tongue out at Max who then replied, "Oh real mature."

After they had finished washing the dishes and putting them away, the four roommates and friends sat down with a map to plan their trip.

"So what day is Bruce going to be on?" Crysta asked Lydia looking at her calendar.

"He's gonna be on a Thursday…the 24th." Lydia replied, consulting her laptop screen.

"And today's the 9th…so yea…in about two weeks."

"Ok…so I was thinking-"

"Really? You thinking?" Lydia cut Max off with a grin.

Max just sighed and continued, "that we could take I-25 North up to I-70 East and then take that up to St. Louis. From there we hop onto I-55 North until we get to I-80 East then take that until we hit I-81 North. I'm pretty sure that will get us to New York."

"Pretty sure? I'm gonna need more than 'pretty sure'." Lydia said, raising an eyebrow. " 'cause I mean this is Bruce Campbell we're talking about…he's GOD in my book."

"Ok…how about really pretty sure?" Max said, flashing Lydia a grin.

"Whatever." Lydia muttered.

"Glad you approve. Now what about tickets?"

"Uh…there's a number we can call to get them." Lydia said, looking at her laptop again. "We can get up to four tickets for Thursday…they start at 4:15pm."

Max nodded her head, "Good, gives us time to chill before then."

"I can call and have them send the tickets to the hotel...and have the hotel hold them for us...that is if they'll do it."

"What about sight-seeing?" Alex asked. "Do we want to plan for stops along the way or just wing it?"

"Well, there's not much to see in Kansas…unless you count boring flat prairie as a sight. But there's the St. Louis Arch, the AF Museum in Ohio…other than that not much." Crysta said, recalling what she could off-hand.

"I think we've had enough Air Force to last us awhile." Alex stated and the other girls nodded their head in agreement. "So how about we wing it? Drive as far as we can each day without falling asleep at the wheel. That sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan." Max said, standing up and stretching. "How about we leave on Friday? Get an early start so we beat rush-hour traffic."

"I hope he wears a yummy tie." Lydia said, out of the blue.

"Who?" Crysta asked.

"Conan…I want to eat his ties." Lydia stated.

Crysta raised an eyebrow while Alex said, "You want to do what?"

"I can't help it...back me up on this one, Max."

"That's true...so do I." Max admitted.

"You guys are hopeless." Alex said, shaking her head.

"Why thank you." Max said flashing a grin.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"You know, maybe we should take separate cars...and not sit together...in case security for...some reason decides to keep an eye on you two..."

"Why would they want to do that?" Lydia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You want to eat a man's tie...that's not exactly what the general public considers sane."

"You just don't get it. Conan would get it!"

"He would." Max said, giggling at the thought.

"Are you sure you two aren't from the same gene pool?" Alex asked.

"We never did trace our family lines, did we Max?"

"Maybe you should."

"Maybe..." Max mused.

"Oh great...give them ideas why don't you." Crysta groaned. The last thing they needed was for the two of them to find out that they were related.

"What? This has to be the result of some kind of in-breeding."

"Hey, I resent that!" Max protested.

"Just because my mother is from the south! And...married her fourth cousin..." Lydia trailed off when Crysta and Alex began to laugh.

Lydia sighed and looked at Max, "I'm not going to win this argument, am I, Max?"

"Nope."

"Dammit."

"Getting an early start is fine with me." Crysta said, stifling a yawn. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. We can plan more tomorrow."

"Yea…I am pretty tired." Max admitted. "I think I'll hit the sack as well." Looking at Lydia she asked, "What about you Lyd? Has Mister Sandman hit you yet?"

"Hell no…I'm good for another five hours." Lydia said, grinning.

"Good for you…see you in the morning." Max said, yawning.

Lydia just shook her head and logged on. "The girls on the BCO fanlisting are going to freak when I tell them."