Queen of the Road- Doreen Orion

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus With a Will Its Own- Doreen Orion

From Goodreads:

A pampered Long Island princess hits the road in a converted bus with her wilderness-loving husband, travels the country for one year, and brings it all hilariously to life in this offbeat and romantic memoir.

Doreen and Tim are married psychiatrists with a twist: She’s a self-proclaimed Long Island princess, grouchy couch potato, and shoe addict. He's an affable, though driven, outdoorsman. When Tim suggests “chucking it all” to travel cross-country in a converted bus, Doreen asks, “Why can’t you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?” But she soon shocks them both, agreeing to set forth with their sixty-pound dog, two querulous cats—and no agenda—in a 340-square-foot bus.

Queen of the Road is Doreen’s offbeat and romantic tale about refusing to settle; about choosing the unconventional road with all the misadventures it brings (fire, flood, armed robbery, and finding themselves in a nudist RV park, to name just a few). The marvelous places they visit and delightful people they encounter have a life-changing effect on all the travelers, as Doreen grows to appreciate the simple life, Tim mellows, and even the pets pull together. Best of all, readers get to go along for the ride through forty-seven states in this often hilarious and always entertaining memoir, in which a boisterous marriage of polar opposites becomes stronger than ever.

If you're looking for a good, funny memoir to pick up, may I suggest, Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion? From the beginning Doreen Orion described herself as a "pampered Long Island princess", so I knew I was going to be in for quite a bit of laughs. It's about two married psychiatrists that go on a year long trip, traveling around the United States on a custom prevost bus.

They travel to not so common tourist sites, and I loved that she would give some background, and historical insights to the places they would visit. Many of these places I have never heard of, and its great to read about places off the beaten path, instead of stopping at the most common tourist attractions. As I mentioned before this book was hilarious, Doreen's witty observations were the heart of this book. I found the section about staying overnight at the nudist RV park, side splitting.

Doreen suffers from a bus phobia, and she has no faith in her husband when it comes to driving the bus. She is certain no good will come of it, and totally believes in voicing her opinion about it, which leads to some entertaining banter between her and her husband.

Queen of the Road is good book to pick up when you're in need of a good laugh. Doreen Orion is someone I would love to sit down and have a conversation with, she seems fun.

Rating: 3.5/5