Amelia Bedelia's Road Trip

Amelia Bedelia's Road Trip is the third Young Amelia Bedelia book.

Roamin' Holiday

Mr.Bedelia comes home from work in a good mood, kisses his wife, scratches Finally Bedelia and tickles Young Amelia Bedelia, which starts a family tickle fight. After the tickle fight, he announces he earned a vacation, and they are going to roam. Young Amelia thinks they mean Rome and dances happily around the room as Italian food is her favorite. Mr.Bedelia is surprised at how excited his daughter is and asks if she ever has been roaming, and Young Amelia asks how she, an American-born human, could be ''Roman. ''Upon hearing that they are not going to Italy, she is sad, but perks up when they have an Italian dinner. They look at a map, which dizzies Young Amelia and Mr.Bedelia says they will roam in their own backyard, which Young Amelia, until explains, takes literally. That night, Young Amelia has nightmares, as she thinks she will miss Finally.

Packing It In

The day they leave, it is sunny. Mr.Bedelia packs. Young Amelia, due to being told to pack light, almost packs a lamp. She also makes a list of checks instead of a checklist, and packs her backpack inside her suitcase. Mr.Bedelia then says dads pack, moms ask and give directions and kids ask "Are we there yet?". Finally gets dropped off at the Paw Palace. They run out of fuel, but are right next to a gas station. The sign says "Pop: 1,007". After learning the "pop" means "population", Young Amelia crosses out the seven and puts a four. The Bedelias joke about the meaning of "ometer" and talk about thermometers, odometers and speedometers which measure and count things, and they say mom-ometers count how many treats their children have.

Neither Here Nor There

Young Amelia asks "Are we there yet?" and Mr.Bedelia says yes, as they are roaming, so everywhere is "there". Young Amelia asks how she could entertain herself, and Mrs.Bedelia hands her a journal. Young Amelia at first is confused, but is explained what a journal is. A lot of questions rush through Young Amelia's head and a little boy sticks his tongue out at her. Mr.Bedelia starts singing Off We Go Into the Wild Green Yonder, and they drive past farmland. They then stop for a picnic. Mr.Bedelia announces a blanket will stop the ants from joining them, which Young Amelia mishears as aunts, which she doesn't get as it would be nice to have Aunt Mary or one of her uncles or cousins with them, and wishes for a sibling (she would later get one named Ike Bedelia). Mrs.Bedelia takes a nap, leaving Young Amelia in charge. The latter gets confused by map symbols and terms like "symbol" and "key". In the car, she has fun figuring out map symbols. She guides her father onto a dirt road. They flip a coin.

To Get There, Go Backward

They drive a long way, Mrs.Bedelia calls Mr.Bedelia a regular Daniel Boone, and Young Amelia learns about Daniel Boone. She then spots a farmer, as Mrs.Bedelia says they are in the middle of nowhere. They ask the farmer for directions, but he has none. However, Young Amelia suggests going backward. She gives them directions, having made a map of her own. Her father declares her a Danielle Boone. That evening, they check into a motel, and eat Chinese food with fortune cookies. Young Amelia's fortune is "Learn to fish and you'll never go hungry." Mrs.Bedelia's is "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Mr.Bedelia can't find his so he makes up one: "So far, so bad" and complains the trip was no good. However, the female Bedelias enjoyed it. They hug. Young Amelia finds her dad's fortune. It says "Follow your dreams". She writes, dates, and signs in her journal "HELLO to  me  in the FutuRe. (which would be the protagonist of the classic Amelia Bedelia stories). This was Mom's idea to write this. Today, we went on a vacation, to roam. Not the pizza-and-pasta Roman Rome. This Roam means :

* stuck in the car.

* driving around confused.

* getting lost and MORE lost until we wind up somewhere.

'''This was all Dad's idea. So far, it's been really weird. '''

One-Horse Town

The next morning, at breakfast, Mr.Bedelia hums and tells about a tiny town he heard of, which is historic and celebrating its three-hundredth birthday. There, they are lost. Lots of parades are playing, and Mr.Bedelia calls it a one-horse town. The mayor shows the Bedelias a statuette of Andrew McClary, then gives them a key to a cabin on Lake Largemouth. They have fun at a picnic, and eat apple pie, honey biscuits, sausage and cornbread.

Fish Story

The family see the fishing symbol on the map and talk about fishing on their way to Lake Largemouth. They see a humongous concrete fish and buy eggs, bread, milk, butter, coffee, tea and sugar, a.k.a "staples", at a cozy general store. Mr. and Mrs. Bedelia drink coffee and Young Amelia writes to her friends.

A Great Sport.

At the cabin, a man introduces himself as Dr. Stan Piltin and says that his granddaughter Audrey will get along with the Bedelias as she is a good sport. Dr.Piltin then invites the Bedelias for a boat ride, so Audrey could teach Young Amelia to fish. The boat runs out of gas, so Mr.Bedelia uses a pole, which reminds him of Venice, so he sings in a fake Italian accent. He sings "O sole mio, please serve me pasta, With extra sauce and a ton of cheese. Then bring me a plate of pastries, with an espresso as strong as me. Buon giorno, gelato, Arrevederci, lasagna, ciao, minestrone". Then Audrey, in a boat, tells Mr.Bedelia to be quiet lest he scare the fish. She reveals there is a fishing contest coming up. Young Amelia tries to climb into Audrey's boat but a gust of wind comes and she falls into the water. When she is fished up, the sun dries her off.

Hook, Line and Stinker.

Audrey teaches Young Amelia how to fish and about the fish and the tackle. Young Amelia catches a fish, then gets confused about Grandpa Doc's line "I could kick myself" (for not checking the gas). Audrey nicknames Young Amelia Soaky, and shows her her family's lucky fishing shirt, which smells bad as it is dirty so Young Amelia nicknames Audrey Stinky. They gut the fish, grossing each other out.

Miss Bigmouth

Doc's wife Darlene Piltin, or "Mrs.Doc". They have a fish fry and Mrs. Doc confuses Young Amelia by calling her salad appetizer awful good. She then talks about the Miss Bigmouth fishing contest, which Mrs.Bedelia and Young Amelia joke about the name of. The prize is five hundred dollars. Young Amelia writes fishing info in her journal and then supper is ready. Young Amelia wishes Audrey would win, or be her older sister.

Life at the Lake

The Bedelias have fun in the cabin, Audrey and Young Amelia make good friends, and Young Amelia writes to Diana: "Hi, Diana. Thanks so-o-o-o-o-o much for walking Finally. Today I saw a dog with REALLY long hair. They said it was a rushin' wolf hound, but he was in no hurry. Hug Finally for me!, amelia bedelia. She also writes the schedule: 9:00 Wake up, 9:30 breakfast, 10:00 Dad fishes with Doc, Mom walks with Mrs.Doc, I fish with Audrey, 12:00 Lunch, 12:45: Nap, 2:00 Ride bikes, 3:00 Get ice cream! Try new flavor every day. Dad's favorite: Really Rocky Road with walnuts the size of boulders, My favorite: Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Crunch. Mom's favorite: Triple Berry Smash. 3:30 Read, 4:30 (approximate) ANOTHER nap. 6:00 DINNER, 7:30 Go to town. Hear live music (beats dead music!) 9:30 Write in journal (like I'm doing now) 10:00 Mom or Dad reads me to sleep.

Fishing Versus Catching

By Friday, the day before the Bigmouth Festival, the town is fish crazy. The Bedelias look at the measuring and weighing zone on the dock. Later that morning Young Amelia and Audrey fish in a quiet place. That night, on remembering it is Puppy Pizza Day, Mr.Bedelia takes them out for pizza. Mr. and Mrs. Doc make a thin-crusted Roman pizza with olives, peppers, mushrooms, sausage, meatballs, zucchini, beans, onions, anchovies, pineapple, extra cheese and broccoli. They put leftovers in a box for the next day's lunch and (with lemonade) toast to fishing and catching.

Stumped

On the contest day, there are lots of boats, and Audrey is grumpy as her lucky shirt has been washed and she worries the luck washed off. They also break the engine on the stump. They fish, but Audrey loses a few lures and quits. Young Amelia skips a slice of pizza, which a fish eats. Audrey catches the fish in the nick of time and wins.

Miss REALLY Bigmouth

The fish is crowned King Bigmouth, and escapes. It gets into the news. Mrs.Bedelia bakes blueberry muffins and Mr.Bedelia fixes the leaky taps. Young Amelia picks wildflowers. Audrey and Young Amelia say goodbye and wish to be sisters. They hug and then the Bedelias set off.

Roam, Sweet Home

In the car, Young Amelia draws the winning and writes. She then takes a nap. Rain rights the population sign. They pick Finally up. At home, they talk, and Young Amelia believes she has changed (she has also grown.)