I hope Alex is excited, too! As you plan the trip, including him in some of the decision-making can go a long way toward investing him in the journey and increasing his connection to and appreciation for the whole experience.

If he lives near you, you can trace your route together on maps in highlighter, and you can tell him that you'll be calling on him to help navigate while you're on the road. "Alex, we're in Little Rock right now, heading for Memphis, and we're on Route I-40. Does that look right to you?" Even at eight, he should be able to tackle some basic map reading, especially if he's looked at the maps with you before the trip. He'll feel like a real contributor to the journey.

You can also Google up some websites he can visit to read about and see pictures of places you'll be visiting. Going to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green? Let him cruise the museum online and pick the cars he most wants to see "in person." The Air and Space Museum in Washington? What planes or spacecraft would he most like to see? Let him research and read about the people who built or flew those craft and about their missions.

Building a child's ownership in a trip increases the likelihood that he or she will enjoy it, retain it and maybe even learn a little something.

You should be collecting good state road maps at this point. If you're a AAA member, you can get them free, along with state-specific Tour Books. State tourism offices also have good free road maps. Find state tourism offices online and order free maps and brochures to be sent by mail. (Typing something like "Virginia + tourism" will get you a list of sites, and it's easy to pick out the state's official tourist office or bureau from there.)

I've started my summer trip planning. Dana and I are going to Russia for a week. We're visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg and taking an overnight train between the two. I'm reading Harrison Salisbury's 1969 non-fiction work, "The 900 Days," about the nearly three-year Nazi siege of Leningrad. I've found that reading one good non-fiction work or a well-written historical novel can lay a good foundation for understanding a place.

And, I have to learn a little Russian. I've got two and a half months...