I feel kinda like Chevy Chase on vacation. Except there is no Christie Brinkley around. (I did meet a very flirtacious flight attendant on my flight out of Newark Sunday morning, but she was on the shady side of 40, I think, and actually looked more like David Brinkley.)

Anyhow, I am driving across the Eastern Seaboard, taking a summer football vacation. I've got Marcus Vick riding shotgun and his 280-pound left tackle sitting in the backseat, spilling a turkey-and-cheese sub on the backseat of the crappy Toyota Camry I rented when I landed in their hometown, Newport News, Va.

Marcus is Michael's little brother and he's pretty much considered the top high school recruit in the mid-Atlantic region. I got to know him when I came through Newport News for a story on Michael last summer. Marcus has bulked up about 20 pounds since then, and has blossomed into a pretty good prep QB in his own right, which is why I am and will be traveling with the Vick crew this week as they visit three colleges for summer football camps.

There are seven of us taking two cars, me in my crappy Camry and Vick's mentor, Tommy Reamon, cruising in a gold Grand Cherokee. Along for the ride are Brendan Hill, Marcus' star WR; Nathaniel Manning, the aforementioned big lineman; and Tommy's son and nephew, a pair of seventh graders.

First stop is Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, just a three-hour trip as Coach Reamon explained it. Of course, that's what they told Gilligan, too, and look what happened to him. Sure enough, seems we got into some stupid cell-phone discussion or I spent too much time looking for a radio station and we lost Reamon's car and ended up getting off at the wrong exit, thinking we were still tailing the right SUV. Apparently, Marcus is okay with running a 4.4 forty and throwing deep outs, but his navigation skills are a bit lacking. (Me: "You sure that's his car?" Marcus: "Yep." Me: "I don't think it is." Marcus: "Um ... you lost 'em.")

In the back of my mind, I kept thinking how bad this would look if we didn't make it to Charlottesville in time. Michael Vick's Little Brother Kidnapped ... Magazine Writer Takes Hostage ... Seth Wickersham Takes Over The Blitz -- and Left Field for ESPN Softball Team. Fortunately, the crappy Camry managed to go 85 and all of those things, especially the softball part, were averted.

On campus, everyone seemed to be looking out for Marcus. Especially the UVa coaches. Otherwise the school, and this town, are completely dead. The camp runs till Wednesday afternoon, and then we're off to Maryland. Hopefully, my co-pilot will be paying more attention to the road.

Bruce Feldman writes college sports for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.