The Leisure Seeker

Book Bag Rating: Not for everyone.

I rushed through this book because I needed to get to the inevitable end (no pun intended). I liked this book and the author's style is engaging and readable. However, this is not a book that will speak to everyone. There are moments that are funny but it is pretty depressing for the most part.

This is the story of one last vacation road trip in Ella and John's faithful Leisure Seeker camper. They will drive from their home in Michigan to Disneyland following Route 66 as much as they can. Ella and John married more than 60 years set off on what will be their last vacation together due to her terminal cancer and his advancing Alzheimer's. Both their doctors and children tell them not to take the trip but Ella knows it is the right thing to do.

So much of their road trip was familiar to me which is just a little bit disconcerting. When Ella and John stop at Stuckey's for a pecan roll I was there with them. As a child Stuckey's was "the" place on the road second only to South of the Border. We all like to think how different our lives are but as the author points out we're all essentially moving in the same direction.

I like the relationship between Ella and John. Despite their diseases things are normal. They bicker, make up, share inside jokes and secrets and just know they are loved by each other.

The ending is perfect for this story. Strangely, I can imagine my last trip being a road trip to Disney World. I wouldn't mind my ending to be like theirs.