Time to Load Up the Family Truckster.......

Ahhhhhhh yes....... the good ole family road trip!   Back in the day my family would use our summer vacations to load up the family truckster and hit the road to travel to the next family reunion or out to California to visit the Grandparents.... and it did not matter where we lived....... we were going to California...... and we even did it when we lived in Kentucky.  My Dad was active duty military so we were all over the country and the world!

I have good memories of the family road trip... once we reached our destination.  The actual process was not as much fun.  My brother and I would start out the trip with eager anticipation of getting to Grandma's as it meant a summer in the pool and visits to Disney Land.  We did not have electronics like the kids today have, no built in dvd players with drop down movie screens!   We were armed with a book, madlibs, hangman invisible ink books, the Rand McNally road map highlighted with our route so we could look forward to the nightly stop at the hotel.  (My parents always selected hotels with a pool in them, just so we could burn off some energy.)  It was after about four hours in the car of a 4 day road trip that my brother and I would start our..... "how long until the first stop?"... "how many hours is 300 miles?"...  "he is on my side of the car"...... oh yea....... good times!  My parents decided to brave one final road trip when my brother and I were teenagers........ the ultimate trip from hell.  We were teenagers......... the last thing we wanted to do was be away from our friends during summer vacation for a month!  Technology had advanced to the walkman..... and my parents bought a car with a cassette player.... things were a little better.  BUT, we were teenagers!  

I had my learners permit...... I was excited about the opportunity to help drive.  Now, keep in mind the national highway speeds were 55 MPH back then.......... my father was the ultimate RULE follower and when my Mom finally convinced him that I should drive for a while.... she put him in the back seat!  Afterall, what could go wrong?  We were in the middle of TEXAS!  Have you been in the middle of TEXAS?  Yea... there is nothing in the middle of TEXAS but dust, tumbleweeds..... rattle snakes.......... and you!  You can drive for hours and not see another car... let alone a police car. Seemed logical to let me have a chance at driving.  My Mom instructed my Dad to close his eyes and take a nap...... "okay, but don't let her go over 55mph".....*enter the dramatic teenage girl eye roll*  I managed to handle the task for about two hours..... peacefully....... despite the occassional peek from my Dad to make sure that my Mom wasn't allowing me to go over 55.   We started to get to a more populated area....... let's say a one horse town with a gas station..... I actually got to use the blinker to pass a car........ whoo hoo!  and then another one............... blinker use... mastered!  My Dad actually woke up long enough to tell me...... "Don't use the blinker too much.... you will wear it out".......... That line has been the family joke since that very moment in 1985!!

The visit to the Grandparents was fun....... but, three weeks went by and it was time to head home....... we start out on the road back home to Fort Knox Kentucky from Redlands California.......I know you are trying to calculate the math on this one....... let me help you out!  That trip is 2,063.6 miles... EACH way!!!  Somewhere in the middle of no where....... we had a flat tire.  We went through so many road construction sites along the way..... with hot tar on the roads... hot asphalt rocks... aaaannnndddd they found their way around the wheel.  That tire was not getting changed by us... it would not come off!  Again, no cell phones!  So..... all you can do at this point is wait.  We did.... we waited and waited.  Finally a tow truck came into the horizon and he stopped to help us.  Confident he could take care of that wheel.. he set to take it off.  Nope....... not happening.  He went back to his truck and grabbed a sledge hammer.   He proceeded to swing that hammer like he was going for the teddy bear!   

He got it!

Once we arrived back in Kentucky.... we all made a silent family vow..... one that was never spoken out loud...... there was no need...... as we quietly walked back into our house....... we all knew..... next time we fly!

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