The Torres family was driving twelve hours to visit their cousins. Rosa and her brother Leo had never been on such a long car ride before.
By hour two, Rosa had already asked are we there yet four times. Dad turned on a playlist of funny road trip songs. Leo and Rosa sang every word.
They stopped at a diner for lunch. Rosa had pancakes for lunch, which felt wonderfully silly. Leo got a grilled cheese bigger than his head.
Back in the car, they played twenty questions, the alphabet game with road signs, and tried to count how many red cars they passed.
As the sun got lower, Rosa pressed her face to the window and watched the farms and fields roll past. It was peaceful and a little like a dream.
Then Leo spotted something. Look! An actual castle! he yelled. It turned out to be a water tower shaped like a castle, but they all agreed it still counted.
When they finally pulled into the cousins' driveway, Rosa could not believe how fast the last few hours had gone. She had almost forgotten to ask if they were there yet.
The cousins ran out the front door before the car stopped. Rosa jumped out and was immediately pulled into a huge group hug. The long ride had completely been worth it.