Mike Leonard is a lucky man. It’s not everyone who gets parents like Jack port and Marge. At eighty-seven, Jack is a pathological optimist with an inexhaustible present of gab. Marge, Jack’s bride of sixty years, though cut from the same rough bolt of Irish immigrant cloth, is his polar opposite-pessimistic and pleased with it. That which was their son, Mike, considering when he had taken a sabbatical from his work with NBC News therefore he could pile both of these world-class originals along with three of his produced children and a about The Trip of Our Lives: Roadside Lessons of the American Family members daughter-in-law right into a couple of rented RVs and hit the road for a month?

Mike was thinking that he wished to offer his parents the ultimate family reunion. Therefore, one February morning hours, three years of Leonards set out on their journey under the dazzling Arizona sky. Thirty minutes later, among the humongous recreational vehicles has an unplanned ending up in a concrete isle at a convenience store. Thus begins the adventure of the lifetime-and a complete gem of a book.

Throughout their humorous, frequently poignant cross-country tour, through the desert Southwest to the brand new Britain coastline, the Leonards reminisce about their loves, their loss, and their wealthy and heartwarming (and occasionally heartbreaking) lives, while encountering a veritable Greek chorus of roadside people on the way. The home extend discovers the clan race back again to Chicago, wishing to capture the appearance of the next generation, Jack port and Marge’s 1st great-grandchild. Through it all, Mike pieces together acentury of family lore and lunacy-and discovers surprising edges to his parents that enable him to see them in a complete new light.

Mike Leonard has captivated millions of television viewers along with his wry and witty feature tales for NBC’s Today. Right now he brings that same interesting charm and eager insight towards the foibles and passions of his own blessedly unique family members. By converts uproariously funny and deeply moving, The Ride of Our Lives delivers an eternity of laughs, lessons, and priceless memories.