There's something in a man that craves a roadtrip. Hard cement, the power of a gasoline engine under foot, the unplanned expanse of the future before us. It just makes me want to grunt. So when I suggested a roadtrip idea to Drew and our friend Josh, the guys were right there grunting with me. The proposal began to take shape: We would fly into Portland, Oregon and tackle the West coast from Astoria to Carmel. Along the way, sea kayaking, hiking, wine tasting, seafood dinners, beach sunsets, and lots of driving. (More grunts.) All this for the motley sum of: cheap. But, with hopefully few exceptions, luxurious.

Less than one month later, I boarded a transcontinental flight to Portland. Even after all my travels, this was the first transcontinental flight I had taken in over 15 years. By now, you've learned I'm not like some who would turn aghast at the thought of spending five and a half hours on an Airbus A319. Besides salivating at the 12,000 frequent flyer miles I would earn on the entire trip, I was eager to experience United's first class transcon dinner service. It did not disappoint. Dinner was served in courses beginning with the mesclun salad with Asian Ginger-Sesame dressing. We had a selection of main courses of Roast Rosemary Chicken with mashed potatoes, or grilled Mahi-Mahi in a light ginger cream sauce served with lime cilantro rice. The fish was tender and flavored wonderfully with the sauce. Dinner was topped off with hot fudge ice cream sundaes of vanilla bean, chocolate and strawberry cream. Two movies later, with a light rain running down its fuselage, the plane landed on-time in PDX. Get me to the road!

Unfortunately, Drew was not going to be able to make this trip, but Josh had invited another friend, Craig, to join in on our adventure. As long as he can grunt.