Parent to parent: Covering ground together

The car is washed, the gas tank is full, the snacks are packed strategically within reach. A few hundred miles of desert lay ahead, and I can’t wait to blast out of the city traffic.

Road trip to Vegas? No, something better — a road trip with my daughter Katie to check out Arizona State University. But the destination isn’t important. It’s the time you get to spend with your college-age student, and for that it’s hard to beat a good, long drive.

One thing I’ve learned with my two kids who are already in college is that the opportunities to spend quality time with them get scarcer as their own lives get busier.

This past year was a welcome exception, as I was able to sneak in both a five-day backpacking trip with my son Kevin and a drive halfway across the country with my daughter Kelly.

Looking for quality time

As for Katie? While I see her every day, we haven’t had quite as much quality time together as I would like. So when we learned that she was accepted at Arizona State, I immediately suggested we sign up for a campus tour.

Flying would be out of the question, at least this time. Visiting the university was only half the reason for the trip; the other was to talk about the college experience and how to make the most of it.

Like most young women, Katie loves to talk, although not necessarily to her dad. No problem; I figured that after two to three hours of monotonous desert driving, we’d be gabbing like cellmates the rest of the way to Tempe.

Granted, I hadn’t factored in Katie’s penchant for listening to her own music through earphones, tuning out the rest of the world. And technically, me shouting “DO WE NEED TO STOP AT THIS REST AREA?” and “DID YOU SEE THAT CACTUS? WOW!!” doesn’t count as conversation.

Making it happen

Somehow, though, between gas stops and breaks for meals, and during the rare interruptions in the music, we managed to cover most of the ground I wanted. And after touring the campus, talking with students and faculty, and getting a glimpse of what college was like, I was glad we had a long ride home to kick a few things around.

Even if you don’t have a college tour day of your own on the calendar, I highly recommend looking for some excuse to get out with your student on an excursion. Maybe drive your son or daughter home for the next quarter break or look for a chance to take in a game, a concert or an attraction in a city that’s outside your usual orbit — preferably one down the road apiece.

And if you can figure out a way to temporarily misplace the kid’s iPod, even better.