Road Trip
The drive from Covington to Vicksburg is only three hours. Last weekend, Barbara, LJ, and me made that trip and driving through the stormy Mississippi countryside stirred some memories from some of my childhood road trips.
Some of my earliest road trip memories are of our old 1950ish black Dodge station wagon. We made a lot of night trips, which was one way to beat the heat. In those days, AC was not available. I can remember lying in the back of that station wagon. Headlights from passing cars gradually illuminated the interior of the car and then it was dark again. The floor of the car was warm and the constant jostling from truck-grade-springs and bad roads rivals today's theme park rides. We drove with the windows down and the wind caused a constant roar we had to yell over to communicate. By the time we arrived at our destination, we looked and felt like something the cat drug in. I went to sleep many times listening to my parents talking in the front seat, while I was hypnotized by the sound of the wind, the intermittent whoosh of passing cars, and the headlights washing across the roof with each passing car.
We were a family of five and did all the clichés. "Are we there yet?" "Stay on your side." "He's looking at me." "She's touching me." "Don't make me stop this car and come back there." There were no fast food restaurants in those days. Folks brought their food with them. The photo above is a typical lunch stop. For a few years, we had a tent camper. As you can see, it made a nice table for meal stops. We usually had baloney and cheese sandwiches, chips, pickles, tea, coffee, and homemade cookies for dessert.
On long trips, around 2:00 or 3:00 PM we began hunting a place to get ice cream. There is nothing like a milk shake or an ice cream cone on a summer afternoon to provide a nice respite from the road. We also passed the time by playing games like 20 questions, I spy, and keeping a list of the states and provinces on car license plates.
Those family trips were great times. We were happy because we were together. Maybe having my own family together the other day going on a road trip is what conjured these memories. For whatever reason they came up, I am glad they did.
Until the next time
John Strain