Christmas Road Trip: When Romance Meets a Dead End

＂Tonight would be a good time for him to ask,＂ Stephanie tells roommate Lani. But, Kevin, left at the curb three years ago by his wife of thirty minutes, is a little gun-shy. Down front at the Rigger Theater, with 200 witnesses in the audience, he is blind-sided and fails to propose when Stephanie draws a line on the stage. She accuses him of pining for Kylie, Ol’ What’s Her Name, and vanishes through the big red curtain! Stephanie moves her late-night call-in radio show to Sault Ste. Marie, 2000 miles away, in a struggling radio station. She is to start on Christmas Eve. Lani agrees to the road trip, and they drive Stephanie’s faithful Blazer, Old Blue, and a little luggage trailer full of all her stuff. At Barstow Station, Lani meets Wally, a good ＂catch,＂ and Stephanie meets Maury, a drifter ＂pest,＂ who ultimately lands them in jail, where Steph meets Deputy Rick. Lani takes ill and Steph has to go on with Gary (a hitch-hiking horsefly) and Ol’ Blue. Meanwhile Kevin, knowing nothing of Stephanie’s trip and what she’s going through, heads back east to visit relatives and attend a college buddy’s wedding. Kevin’s car dies in Albuquerque. He gets ＄1000 for Silver, his 1966 Mustang. He buys a new 4x4 SUV, ＂A real grown up car.＂ He meets a bouncy 20-something blond at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, who learns of his foot-dragging story and calls him a butt-head. In Nashville, he buys a ring trio so he’s ready the next time he meets the ＂right one.＂ In Lansing, at his college buddy’s wedding, Kevin dances with, and gets an answer from Kylie who is his old friend’s bride! He is satisfied that he is not carrying the torch for her. Ol’ Blue, Steph’s last companion, since Gary flew the coup, fails just as the 8:00 pm, Christmas Eve deadline passes. The rear end seizes just three miles short of her goal. She has lost her show, and her car, and she melts down. Her new boss, waiting at the station, sends his nephew to save her in his new SUV wonder car. She is an emotional wreck by time he arrives, lights blazing and engine idling up in the mud and snow. Exhausted, she sees only a black silhouette standing there, unrecognized till he comes closer. Armed with a ring, just as surprised as she is to see him, the ending is the biggest surprise. Filled with twists, turns, and surprises, Christmas Road Trip is fun and fast, just like a road trip should be.