This all originated with my mom, who had this idea that I should launch a voyage of discovery (my cool way of putting it) and spend the entire summer exploring the world outside me and the world within (whatever that means) by driving a luxury camper from Los Angeles to my Uncle Marshall's in Atlanta. I am supposed to "court the unpredictable," she says, "travel into the uncharted, the mysterious, even the frightening."

So far, the most uncharted, mysterious, and frightening has been my traveling companion, Tyler, who is beautiful, smart, and (I sometimes think) homicidal. To say she's not too fond of me would be like saying foxes are not too fond of chickens. But you can find all you want to know about that in that first book, Were Off! Also, you can find out there all about our first weeks, where we bounced back and forth across California, Arizona, Mexico, and almost into New Mexico, facing hardship and danger. None of that's true except where we've been. We've had some hardship and danger, but lots of what's happened has been more embarrassing than exciting, to tell the truth.