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When Sarah Kendzior packed up her family for a road trip across America, she made sure her kids kept their eyes wide open. She wanted them to see this country’s wonders 

,” recounts the dozens of drives she and her family have taken since 2016. They leave their home in Missouri and crisscross the country, even as earth-shaking events remake it.

Along the way, she disentangles venerated American ideals from the mythology of American exceptionalism. She gapes in wonder at the majesty of the national parks and celebrates the forethought that created them — while acknowledging the threat facing them today.

Even the great St. Louis Gateway Arch in her hometown represents both “a triumph and a tragedy,” she writes. It’s “a gateway and a memorial, a monolith with no practical purpose that looks dramatically different depending on where you stand.”

Kendzior joined host Kerri Miller in July 2025 to take us all on a road trip across America — which is a fitting conversation to revisit now as we close our 2026 road trip series. Grab your favorite snacks, buckle your seatbelt and come along for the final leg of our travels. 

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Sarah Kendzior wanted to show America to her young children. So she and her husband crisscrossed the country to visit national parks and historical sites, even as political upheaval and the pandemic remade the landscape. Her memoir, “The Last American Road Trip,” is the finale to our July road trip series. 

Our road trip series concludes with 'The Last American Road Trip'

Sarah Kendzior, author of "The Last American Road Trip."

Our road trip series concludes with 'The Last American Road Trip'

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