Just about the time gas is predicted to creep to $5 per gallon, we plan to hit the highway.

When school lets out in June, six of us, cozy in one rental van, are heading to California for a week of amusement parks and relatives.

We are already talking about ground rules. My husband and I are merely the ride-along babysitting Grammie and Grampie with benefits — a debit card. My daughter and her husband will set standards for their daughters, Kelbi and Peyton.

I will be allowed to pack car activities for the girls.

I may bring TableTopics.

The “game” was offered through an Avon catalogue. My Avon lady loves me. I do adore moisturizers, mascara and home products offered each month. I picked up a clearance item called “Family Dinner TableTopics to go.”

It turned out the set was illuminating.

At our family gatherings, too few and too far apart, there is never a lack of conversation. Like at your house, we catch up on the kids, our jobs, Egypt and “American Idol.”

At my son’s house in Woodinville, we recently enjoyed an Italian dinner and red velvet cake. We talked, some with their mouths full, and giggled.

Asking if everyone would spend a few minutes with what I pulled from my chest pocket, they agreed. I produced TableTopics, a clear plastic box that held about 40 cards, each with a question for the crowd.

Cristy Clarke, TableTopics founder, wrote on the back of a card that the set is meant to enrich our relationships and connect us with the people we care about most.

“Every conversation has the potential to be a great conversation,” Clarke wrote.

Here are some of the questions in the box:

Which wild animal would you like to tame and keep as a pet?

What would you like to change about your school?

How are you different from everyone else?

What do you say when someone gives you a gift you already have?

What do you enjoy most about each of your siblings?

What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done for someone?

Does your life feel too busy or not busy enough?

Maybe those questions sound dorky to talk about with family, like trying to manufacture chitchat. Frankly, I didn’t know how the game would go over at our table. I simply tossed out a query to the group and let anyone answer. What amazed me is that I learned things about my family that I never knew, and probably would never have known.

There are some questions meant to draw responses from youngsters, too. Kelbi is in kindergarten and was asked her favorite thing to do at recess.

“Chase my friends,” Kelbi said.

We all knew that.

There was a question about what three things you would grab from your home in case of a fire. My son, Brody, immediately said his computer, then stopped to think. I would grab photographs on my walls. My daughter, Kati, said she would grab three things in this order–her kids, her husband and her cats.

When I read a card about volunteering, my daughter-in-law, Lisa, told the group that she and Brody made a donation to buy animals through Heifer International. In the program, folks purchase farm animals for those living in poverty around the world.

I don’t think that topic would ever have come up in casual conversation at a gathering.

Maybe there was value to this box of questions.

My son-in-law, Miguel, is the quiet one in our crowd. We have more boisterous members who want the floor. When the volunteer question came up, Miguel piped in that he would love to give time to a Shriners Hospital. Miguel explained that his only nephew, Gehrig, 9, gets free help with medical issues at a Shriners hospital in Texas.

The table got quiet.

I paused, feeling bad that it had been ages since I asked about Gehrig. I was tickled Miguel took the floor and we got a chance to chat about his side of the family.

Mission accomplished, I slipped the pack of cards back in my pocket. It was nice that our usual chatter evolved in memorable way, thanks to TableTopics. We adjourned to the game room and took turns dancing and river rafting with Microsoft’s Kinect that is good exercise and silly fun.

TableTopics has many different topics of card packs, including a travel edition.

It just might be tucked along for a trip to California.

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.