As most of you know by now, when Tim announced that he wanted to "chuck it all" for a year and travel the country in a converted bus, I demanded to know, "Why can't you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?" What you may not know, is that my other favorite whine during the years it took to convince me to do "the bus thing" was, "Why can't your dream include the best state?" Of course, I meant Hawaii, so was thrilled to call in to my first Hawaiian book club. (The only other time I've revealed this was during a radio interview in California. There was a moment of silence and then the host responded, "We're the best state." I think if you're trying to convince people you live in "the best state," one of the prerequisites is a sense of humor. But, maybe that's just me.)

Allison selected the book after reading about it on Bookmovement. (I'm not one to brag... well, OK. I am: The webmaster of Bookmovement emailed me the very next day after I called in to Allison's group, with congratulations that QUEEN OF THE ROAD made it to #1 on their "Book Club Bestseller List." Aloha spirit at work? You be the judge.)

To accomodate my Queenly need for beauty sleep (Hawaii is on H.A.D.T., that's Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, ie four hours earlier than MDT where I am), the gals graciously met an hour before they usually do and at a workplace, rather than in one of their homes. I very much appreciated this supreme sacrifice, as it of course meant no libations could be served. (And, let me tell you, with the fruity drinks they have in Hawaii, that was quite a sacrifice, indeed.)

I asked the gals to take a picture of themselves in front of some gorgeous Hawaiian background. I'm sorry I did. It snowed in Denver the night before I called them. So tell me: Why couldn't Tim's dream include the best state? (From left to right: Lauren, Hollie, Stephanie, Dani, Allison, Anastasia, Jean, and Kristen.

This was quite an ecclectic group: They work as teachers, environmentalists, for a non-profit, for a shrimp company, in genetics research and one is in the Navy.

Like many of the book clubs I call in to, this one asked what my favorite place from the trip was. It was nice, for once, not to feel bad that I didn't answer "Your state."