Mike Dixon, Senior Director, Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles

We took many great family road trips while I was in the Army. When we were far from home, there were always wonderful things to see and explore. Since returning to Colorado, my wife and I have made quite a few trips throughout the Centennial State, but the most memorable road trip recently was one with my wife, youngest son and two sisters to a ghost town in North Dakota where my mom is buried. Neither sister had the opportunity to travel to the cemetery after our mom’s passing when we were younger. It was an event-filled trip with a stop at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on the way to Sims, North Dakota. Founded in 1883, the only remaining remnants of Sims include a Scandinavian Lutheran Church and parsonage, a dilapidated brick home and cemetery. On our way home, we stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and then Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming before picking up another son along the way who was stranded due to vehicle maintenance problems while returning from National Guard duty. Something about driving with family on longer road trips is always special!

Allison Raymer Gardner, Director of the Tennessee Department of Revenue, Vehicle Services Division

When I was 10 years old my family packed into the car for the annual summer vacation road trip. The plan was to drive from our home in Louisville, Kentucky, to New Orleans, Louisiana, a trip we had taken many times to visit with family friends. After a few hours on the road, my brother and I started complaining about going to the same place every year. Amidst our backseat boredom and lack of gratitude, which, as a parent now, I can only assume was testing the patience of our parents, my father made a sudden move for the exit ramp somewhere in Tennessee to turn the car around. Dad said, “Let’s go see something new!” Needless to say, my brother and I were thrilled. That amazing trip included traveling to Washington D.C., New York City and Martha’s Vineyard. My family still reminisces about it often. I always looked forward to summer road trips as a family and am continuing the tradition with my family now.