On the Road with Mallory Read online

  For Adam, the best son

  a mother could ask for

  —L.B.F.

  For my husband, Josh, who keeps me

  laughing through it all

  —J.K.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Laurie B. Friedman

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

  Darby Creek

  A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  241 First Avenue North

  Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

  For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com.

  Cover background images: © iStockphoto.com/drmakkoy (Route 66); © iStockphoto.com/leadlciceraro (cow crossing); © iStockphoto.com/duha127 (café); © iStockphoto.com/professorphotoshop (boot).

  Main body text set in Swister Regular 17.5/20. Typeface provided by Chank.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  The Cataloging-in-Publication Data for On the Road with Mallory is on file at the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4677-5029-5 (lib. bdg.)

  ISBN 978-1-4677-9567-8 (EB pdf)

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  1 — BP — 12/31/15

  eISBN: 978-1-46779-567-8 (pdf)

  eISBN: 978-1-51240-487-6 (ePub)

  eISBN: 978-1-51240-486-9 (mobi)

  CONTENTS

  A Word from Mallory

  A Change of Plans

  Ready. Set

  Off We Go!

  Oklahoma!

  On the Road Again

  New Mexico!

  Van Troubles

  The Grand Canyon

  A Family Feud

  Mule Madness

  A Wrap Session

  Going with the Flow

  Memories

  Souvenirs

  A Word from Mallory

  My name is Mallory McDonald, like the restaurant. Even though we’re not related, we have more in common than just a name: McDonald’s is always busy and so am I.

  At least I have been this summer. From the moment fourth grade ended, I haven’t stopped.

  First, Chloe Jennifer left for the summer to go stay with her Grandma. Then Mary Ann and Joey moved to a new house on the other side of Fern Falls. With no friends left on Wish Pond Road, I thought for sure I was going to have the most boring summer ever.

  But, I’ve been helping Mrs. Black in her garden. I took an art class. And Grandma came to visit and taught me how to bake a peanut butter pie and a chocolate fudge cake.

  This summer has turned out to be really fun, and it’s about to get even more fun.

  In five days, my family is going on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, and I can’t wait! Even Max says he’s excited too. My parents have planned tons of fun activities.

  We’re visiting a petrified forest, going white-water rafting, and taking a mule ride down into the Grand Canyon. Mom has been making snacks for the past week, and Dad took me to the mall to buy Mad Libs to do on the way there, plus a new journal so I can write about all the fun stuff we do on our trip.

  I’ve been waiting all summer for this vacation to get here and now that it almost is, I’m so, so, so excited! NOTHING can get in the way of the most amazing trip ever!

  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

  A Change of Plans

  THREE DAYS TO GO … AND COUNTING!

  Dear Trip Journal,

  We’re not leaving on our trip for three days but I already have something to write about in my journal, and it’s NOT GOOD! Mom, Dad, Max, and I aren’t the only people who will be together on this trip.

  My cousin Kate is coming too!

  I was SHOCKED when I found out! Even though Kate’s mom and my dad are brother and sister, we don’t see that side of our family very often. Aunt Julie, Uncle Mark, and Kate live far away in Chicago, and my aunt and uncle are both busy doctors.

  And when we do see them, it doesn’t go well. Last year, they visited us for a few days over winter break, and each day that they were here, Dad said less and less to Aunt Julie. I think the problem was that Aunt Julie said a lot of things that annoyed Dad.

  It’s kind of like how Max says things that annoy me, and (according to Max) I say lots of things that annoy him (even though I don’t think I do that very often).

  I asked Dad about it after they left, and he said he and Aunt Julie just don’t have a lot in common. I get that, because Kate and I don’t have much in common either. Even though we’re almost the same age, we’re COMPLETELY different.

  Here are just a few examples of how we’re different:

  The last time she and her parents were here, I was watching Fashion Fran and I said to Kate, “You really should watch Fashion Fran because it is probably the best TV show ever made.” Then I told her that Mary Ann and I have never missed an episode.

  She shook her head like that was something she would NEVER do and said, “Mallory, watching TV makes your brain shrink.”

  Then she said, “Mallory, given how much Fashion Fran you’ve watched, your brain is probably very small for a girl your age.”

  It’s not that I eat junk food all the time. But Kate says she doesn’t eat it AT ALL.

  One day during that same visit when Kate told me watching TV makes your brain shrink, I ate a doughnut in front of her, and Kate made a face like I was making a HUGE mistake. Then she said, “Mallory, DON’T eat that! Doughnuts are full of trans fat.”

  I wasn’t even sure what trans fat was, but by the look on her face, I figured it wasn’t good. I knew if I asked what she meant she would give me a long lecture on why I shouldn’t be eating the doughnut.

  So I did the only thing I could do: I pretended like I didn’t hear what she’d said (even though she’d said it pretty loudly), and kept eating my doughnut.

  She always says she’s SOOOOO glad she doesn’t have any of those things.

  When she’s around, if Max and I start fighting (which is unfortunately quite often), she says things like, “I’m SOOOOO glad I don’t have to waste my time arguing with someone I live with.”

  And when she sees me doing something for Cheeseburger, like cleaning out her litter box, or if she sees Max feeding Champ, she wrinkles her nose and holds her stomach and says, “I’m SOOOOO lucky I don’t have a pet that I have to take care of.”

  It’s not like I mind that Kate and I are different. It just means we don’t have a lot to talk about when we’re together.

  And we’re about to be together for a LONG TIME!

  Tonight at dinner, Mom and Dad told us that Kate is going to fly to meet us in Fern Falls, and then she’ll be with us for our entire vacation.

  “WHY?” asked Max, like he couldn’t think of one reason that Mom and Dad could think it would be a good idea for her to come with us.

  But Dad had an explanation. “Uncle Mark and Aunt Julie are busy with work, and they want Kate to be able to do something fun with family this summer.”

  Max shook his head like he thought this was a lame reason. But he didn’t say anything else—at least not until later.

  After dinner, Max and I sat on his bed and talked about it.

  “I don’t like how Kate acts as if she’s so much smarter than we are—and how she’s always trying to teach us stuff,” I said.

  Max nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s really annoying. But the worst part is t
hat whenever she’s around, we always end up getting into trouble.”

  Max reminded me about how he tried to show Kate how to play basketball the last time she was here. “Remember how she kept reading the history of basketball to me and I told her to stop reading and start playing? She got mad and told Aunt Julie I pushed her. I got in trouble even though I was trying to be nice.”

  I nodded. “And remember how Kate told me we should secretly open my Christmas presents? Then, after she helped me tape them all back up and said no one would ever know, she told Mom that she saw me in her closet secretly opening them all by myself!”

  “How could I forget that?” said Max. “You got into so much trouble.”

  Even though Max and I don’t always agree on things, we do agree that having Kate coming along on the trip is probably not the best idea.

  But hopefully, we’re both wrong.

  Mallory

  Ready. Set.

  ONE DAY TO GO

  Dear Trip Journal,

  We’re not leaving until tomorrow, but we have a lot to do today. At least according to Mom.

  She says Max and I have to finish packing this morning because Kate will get here this afternoon, and she doesn’t want us packing when we should be spending time with our cousin.

  When Mom said that, Max rolled his eyes and shot me a look. I could tell spending time with Kate wasn’t exactly at the top of his to-do list. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly at the top of mine either.

  Even though Max was the one who did the eye rolling, Mom gave both of us a speech about being nice to Kate, and how this trip should be a “good growth experience” for her.

  Then she looked at her watch and said time was of the essence (an expression I learned in school which means you don’t have a minute to waste, which isn’t even the case because we have a whole morning to pack and only one small suitcase each to pack in.)

  Mom just said, “Go pack. Now!”

  G.2.G. (Got to go.) G.2.P. (Got to pack.)

  Mallory

  IN MY ROOM PACKING

  Dear Trip Journal,

  The answer to the question above is NO! All my stuff can NOT fit in my suitcase.

  For the last hour, I’ve been trying to fit the clothes I need for this vacation into the suitcase Mom gave me. I tried folding my clothes and shoving my clothes. I even had Max sit on my suitcase so I could zip it shut.

  But no matter what I did, my suitcase would not close.

  So I went to get Mom and told her I need a bigger suitcase. I thought it was a pretty smart solution, but it didn’t work. Mom told me we have limited luggage space so I need to, “narrow down my wardrobe choices.”

  G.2.G. (Got to go.) G.2.N. (Got to narrow.)

  Then I have to drive to the airport with my family to pick up Kate.

  Mallory

  HOME FROM THE AIRPORT

  Dear Trip Journal,

  We just got home from the airport and you won’t believe what happened!

  Once we got Kate, we went to baggage claim to get her suitcase which was HUGE!!!

  I couldn’t believe how big it was!

  Right when I saw it, I said to Kate, “We have limited luggage space. You’re going to have to narrow down your wardrobe choices.”

  I thought for sure Mom was going to say, “That’s right, Kate. Mallory already narrowed down her choices. Now it’s your turn.”

  But all Mom said was, “Kate’s suitcase is fine.”

  You probably can’t believe that’s what I just wrote. Join the club. I couldn’t believe it was what I heard!

  Mallory

  BEFORE DINNER

  Dear Trip Journal,

  I don’t mean to complain, but since the whole point of having you is to write what I’m feeling, I’m going to be honest and write that I’m not all that happy that Kate is coming on this trip with us.

  Ever since we got home from the airport, I’ve been trying to be happy about it, but Kate hasn’t made it easy.

  I asked Kate if she wanted to paint her toenails. “We can paint them the same color so they match on the trip.”

  I thought it was a really good idea. Mary Ann and I love to have matching toenails.

  But Kate didn’t think it was such a good idea. “Toenail painting is a waste of time,” she said.

  I wanted to say that toenail painting is not a waste of time, but I knew she would have lots of reasons for why she thinks it is. I also knew Mom would get mad if she thought I was arguing with Kate already, so I let it go.

  Since Kate didn’t want to paint her toenails, I thought she might like going to the wish pond. But when I suggested it, she said she didn’t want to do that either.

  “Mallory, you know there’s no such thing as a wish pond. It’s just a pond.”

  When Kate said that, I really didn’t want to do anything with her, so I sat down on my bed and started reading.

  I guess Kate thought that was a good idea, because she sat down beside me and we stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon.

  But to be perfectly honest, I didn’t enjoy it.

  Mallory

  AFTER DINNER

  Dear Trip Journal,

  Before dinner, I thought I might not be happy about Kate coming on this trip with us. Now I KNOW I’m not happy about it. She just said so many things at dinner that made it so hard to think that spending the next two weeks together will be fun.

  When Dad said, “How was your school year?”

  Kate said, “I didn’t get any B’s.”

  “Wow! You made all A’s?” Dad said, even though that seemed pretty obvious.

  “Actually, I made all A+’s,” said Kate.

  Max rolled his eyes. Mom saw him, but even she could tell Kate was being annoying so she tried changing the subject. “Kate, are you still riding horses?” she asked.

  Kate smiled. I thought maybe it was going to be a good topic to discuss with her, but I was wrong.

  “I won so many medals and awards competing this year that Mom and Dad are turning our guest room into a trophy room.”

  Max shook his head like he couldn’t believe he had to listen to this conversation. Then he started texting under the table with his new cell phone.

  “Max, please put that away,” said Mom. She gave him a be-polite-to-our-guest look.

  Since I don’t have a cell phone, I just tried to concentrate on my food instead of on Kate’s bragging.

  The rest of the dinner went pretty much the same way. When Mom brought out the special night-before-our-trip strawberry shortcake she made for dessert, she started telling Kate about all the fun things we have planned for the trip.

  When she was done, she looked at Kate. It was pretty obvious that it was Kate’s turn to say something like, “Wow! That sounds like so much fun!”

  But what Kate said was, “I’ve already been to London, Paris, and Hong Kong.”

  When I was helping Mom clear the table, I said (quietly and in the kitchen so Kate couldn’t hear), “Since Kate has already been to London, Paris, and Hong Kong, maybe she doesn’t want to go to the Grand Canyon. It might be boring for her.”

  But all Mom said back was, “Mallory, please stack the dishes in the sink.” I think that was code for “Like it or not, Kate is coming with us to the Grand Canyon.”

  At 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, the journey begins.

  Mallory

  Off We Go!

  DAY 1

  Dear Trip Journal,

  It’s not easy to write in a journal while you’re driving in a van, but there’s not much else to do. It’s only 9 a.m and I’ve already eaten breakfast (and a snack), drawn two pictures, read ten pages of my summer reading book, and done a Mad Lib with Kate (who wasn’t that much fun to do it with because I misspelled some of the words she used.)

  When Kate saw the finished Mad Lib, she announced out loud that I’d misspelled three words, and Mom asked to see them. Then she gave me a lecture about the importance of good spelling.

  I put away the
Mad Libs, but when I did, things went from bad to worse.

  Kate got out her tablet and said, “As we travel, I’ll be sharing lots of history and fun facts with you about the places we’ll be visiting.”

  First she told us several fun facts about the Grand Canyon, which were actually kind of cool to know.

  Then she started reading the history of the Grand Canyon. Since it has been around for millions of years, it apparently has a lot of history, and I’m pretty sure Kate read all of it to us.

  Even though I liked hearing about the Grand Canyon, Kate had been reading for a very long time, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

  I could tell it was annoying Max too, because he put his head against the window like he was trying to go to sleep. Then he put his sweatshirt over his head.

  I was trying to think of a nice way to ask Kate to stop reading. The good news is that Max beat me to it. The bad news is that he didn’t do it in a nice way.

  He pointed to her tablet and said, “If you don’t put that thing away, I’m going to throw it out the window.”

  “MAX!” Both my parents said his name in a you-know-you’re-not-allowed-to-talk-like-that tone.

  “Sorry!” said Max. “But it’s impossible to sleep while she’s reading.”

  When he said that, Kate put her tablet in her bag and said to Max, “Sorry if you don’t like knowing things about the places you visit. I like learning as much as I can.”

  Max just rolled his eyes and started texting on his phone.

  Then Kate added, “I guess that makes me a smart traveler.”

  Even though she was acting like what Max said hadn’t bothered her, I could tell she was a little hurt.

  I think Mom and Dad could tell too.

  “That does make you smart,” said Dad.

  “Yes,” said Mom. “But I think we all might benefit from doing our own things for a few minutes. I knew that was her way of saying no one should talk to anyone else until we had something to say the other person would like hearing.