The Trip by Robin Alexander

The Trip
by Robin Alexander
Pages: 183
Date: July 13 2015
Publisher: Intaglio Publications
Series: None

Review
Rating: 5.0
Read: October 28 2016
Three old women - a grandmother and her 'sister' (a long time next door neighbor who both see the other as a sister) and a third friend of similar age, set up a 'meet up' between two lesbians involving relatives. As in, the grandmother's granddaughter, and the third friend's niece. Neither of the younger generation set knows what's going on.

Book starts immediately with three people (a fourth is there as well, though not immediately obvious - she's sleeping) driving along in an RV ('not a bus'; - that joke? I did not get. Who the hell would call an RV camper a bus? Have you seen an RV Camper? Have you seen a bus? They do not look the same. Sure, both can be relatively the same shape and size and length but there's no mistaking one for the other). Apparently the two oldest in this foursome have decided to have a 'trip', and because they are super old, they 'get their way'. Even if others have other stuff to do at work (Jill - new accounting software system at work) and at home (Jill - currently has a girlfriend); or, because they are currently out of work and have just moved back to the state - work on getting a job, and 'fixing up' their currently messed up nurse license (Shay).

Anne and Ella, the two super old people who went on the trip (Chloe, I believe it's Chloe, stayed home), tricked Jill onto this trip - mostly because they wanted to use Jill's fathers (and Ella's son's) RV, and the father didn't trust anyone to drive it except for himself and Jill, and he wasn't going to go on the trip. Well, that's how they tricked people into allowing them to have the RV, and got Jill along for the ride. The trick part, though, was supposed to be referring to how they dragged a fourth member onto the trip - to set up with Jill unbeknownst to either Jill or Shay.

It's been a really long time - I forget now what they said to Jill about Shay's presence. But Jill is a massive bitch to Shay from the get-go, because she suspects that she's being set up on a really long 'blind date' type situation - really long because it will last the entirety of a RV vacation (2 weeks I believe I recall). Shay, I know, got tricked because she's a nurse and her aunt, Chloe, told her that she could go along to help because Anne and Ella are feeble and/or could use the use of a nurse.

Well, so - old wacky people, grumpy crotchety younger people - a mix common in Alexander books. Roadtrips are also something seen before in an Alexander book, though not as common. Here we go from Louisiana to Tennessee to West Virginia then back again. (Tennessee and Louisiana do not touch? Well . . . um . . obviously some time was also spent in either Arkansas or Mississippi, though I do not recall if either was actually mentioned; probably – one of the weird and wacky side trips was probably in one or the other state; maybe the hunting bigfoot part).

As expected, this book was filled with humor, people older than 30, mixed up with people older than dirt (or, say, 70; I mean as a side character, I do not mean in one of those May-December thingies because that’d be gross, having the 30+ year old granddaughter dating her grandmother, eww).

Unexpectedly, see I can also use the word ‘unexpected’, I rather enjoyed this book and grew to like all four main characters (you can’t share a RV camper for 2 weeks – have that be the entirety of the book, and not have all four people in that tin can be anything but main characters. Heck – the old people even sleep together (as in share the same bed, though both joke about being lesbians)).

I liked the book. I liked what occurred in the book. I still remember the book all this time (3 or 4 days) later. I do not really have much more to note. And so . . . I won’t.

October 31 2016