Adding Aunt Katie to your road trip is like putting extra hot fudge on your sundae: her presence ensures the right amount of sweetness and she's always funny, so you are guaranteed to have a good time.

On the drive from Delaware to the wedding in Western Massachusetts, we were so engrossed in the captivating story of Katie's new boyfriend that we went West instead of East on the New York Thruway. Before we new it we were commenting on the beautiful mountains and trout streams as Katie described her and Darrell's first date and how they have already discussed future plans. Like squawking chickens commenting on all of the positive signs Darrell possesses, we didn't even notice that we were not nearing our exit 21A, as exit 185 passed, then 160, all we wanted was more "juice". Three hours had gone by before I insisted that we stop and check our GPS...we had gone 150 miles the wrong way and drove almost completely around the Catskill Mountains! Even though we totally missed the rehearsal the wedding party fortunately still fed us dinner.

Although we had better direction on the trip back home, there were other obstacles to overcome. We had been packed in the car for several hours after eating a very large breakfast at the local diner when Katie mentioned from the backseat "You better roll down the windows and air out the car for a second." Kim quickly rolled down all four windows as we laughed in the front.

Senia Mae, who was sitting in the rear third row seat, felt as if she was going to get sucked out of the window with all of the sudden force coming from the wind gusts as we drove 70 miles an hour down the highway.

"Shut the windows...shut the windows..." Senia Mae yelled from the backseat in a panic.

"We just needed to open them for a minute because Aunt Katie farted" I said through fits of laughter. The humor was coming from a place so deep inside of me that I felt the seat vibrating each time my body went into a hysterical episode.

"Shut the windows..." Senia Mae said said again then the last statement dawned on her. "Aunt Katie farted?" she said. "She's a farter? I thought we drove by the chicken farm."

"No, we just needed some fresh air for a moment" Kim said. "Everything should smell fine now.

Senia Mae's four year old brain must have been thinking about every little comment we have ever made to her about farting because she said, "Well Aunt Katie I guess you have to do a poop."

If the scenario was funny before, the level of funniness went up ten notches. Everyone was laughing, but I was laughing so hard that I was struggling not to pee in between breaths.

"No, I don't have to poop" Katie responded, trying to sound serious and looking out the window so Senia Mae wouldn't see her smiling.

"Well I think you should at least try" Senia Mae said, the exact words we tell her when she says she doesn't have to go to the bathroom. After that the car shook with laughter for the next fifteen minutes even though Senia Mae had no idea what was so funny.

By the end of the drive it was hard to tell if we had more fun at the wedding or during our many hours of car travels. One thing I know for sure is that the trip is always more fun when Aunt Katie tags along.