At 5:00 p.m. sharp tomorrow, I’m going to walk over to Budget and pick up my car. I love driving on an open road.

Only, the road won’t be so open. It’ll be clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic. And I hate driving in the equivalent of a parking lot.

I needed a plan.

I’m driving to Massachusetts with my buddy John. He gets home from work at 6:30 p.m. – which ruled out the possibility of leaving on Friday night.

“So what time do you want to set out on Saturday?” he asked.

“Well… how about getting up extra early and leaving at 5:00 am?” I said.

“That’s good…” I could see calculations form in his mind. “But won’t everyone else who doesn’t leave Friday night have the same idea? Won’t we all hit the highway at the same time?”

“Hmmmmmmmm…. well anytime on Saturday will be bad. And heading out on Sunday is just too late. We’ll miss most of the weekend.”

“I was thinking of hitting the road at 2:00,” he said, cocking an eyebrow.

Bloody brilliant. Leave in the dead of night. I could drive all night and pull into my parents’ driveway at 10:00 a.m. Saturday latest…. counting caffeine and bathroom breaks.

So that’s the plan. For the long holiday weekend. Hang out with my niece. Go shopping with mom. Head to the beach. Grill with dad. Fireworks in Newport.

One big family affair.

What are your plans for the Fourth?