A few of the essential ingredients for a killer road trip are 1) cool car and 2) even cooler tunes. When we were planning our 10- day trip around California, I let The Husband have his way and we rented this BMW Z4 from City Rent A Cars in San Francisco (by the way, its nearly impossible to find a high-end rental car company in SF”¦ And as an FYI it's cheaper to rent a luxury Audi or Lexus SUV than a sports car, but that's another story). Even though I was only allowed to drive the car for a grand total of TWO HOURS over the 10 days, I have to say I did enjoy driving it. The BMW clung to the road and handled corners beautifully- although there is no passenger legroom which meant that I had our bags piled on top of my legs for 99% of the trip. My verdict? It's a fun little car but I would have preferred something bigger for all my stuff (yes, I know, its such a chick thing to say). Plus, it's no fun being in a little car when you're on the road surrounded by Monster trucks.

And now to the music. As The Husband is a Scot, I felt it was my duty, as a Yank, to introduce him to the greatest American classic rock. While in San Francisco, I rummaged through the $10 bin at Virgin Records and found Journeys Greatest Hits, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and Credence Clearwater Revival ("Fortunate Son"? How good is that?). While these may seem like odd choices, I am a Boston girl, and in Boston, seventies rock has never died. After all, this is a place where the local radio stations have a nightly program called “Get The Led Out” as an excuse to play three Led Zeppelin songs in a row. I was a bit depressed when the sales clerk picked up the CCR album and asked, “Is this a new band?” The tunes got a thumbs up, but now that I'm back home, I find myself popping on Journey every day for a little taste of “Any Way You Want It” and “Don't Stop Believing” and the gloriously non-sensical lyrics of “Wheel in the Sky.” If this continues for another week, I will have to seek professional help.