Road Trippin' - Now and Then

Right now I'm in hotel room in Macon, Georgia.  We left Orlando just after lunch, deciding to break the trip into two days rather than drive all day.  As we drove along the highway, I couldn't help but think of the trips my family took from Mississippi to Florida when I was little.  How things have changed!!

These days I have my computer, a DVD player in the car, and somebody's iPhone to find the nearest Starbucks, Redbox, or just some random trivia game to play along in the car.  We look at exit signs for something to eat that we like.  We have cruise control to keep our speed steady - whatever that speed may be.    We keep the temperature regulated and can tell you the temperature exactly - both inside and out.  If we get lost or need to figure out where to go, we just cue up various GPS devices and off we go.

Back in the day, the trip was carefully planned.  My father had to milk the cows first, but we were ready to go as soon as he was finished - usually at dark-thirty in the morning.  First we had to get dressed - in our "vacation clothes."  We usually got two new outfits for the trip (now I just throw in whatever still fits - usually my "grass-cuttin'" clothes).  Once dressed we were given our "meds."  This consisted of a Dramamine tablet (little yellow tab) that my mother tried to break up in a spoon with water.  To put it mildly, it was horrible.  I think it would have been better if she had just rammed it in the back of my throat and then held my jaws shut until I swallowed it - like when I pill my cat.  The bitter taste of Dramamine giblets still sticks with me to this day.  I'm still not sure if she gave us the pills for motion sickness or so that we would go to sleep quickly in the car.  The only good thing after the pill-age is the scrambled egg sandwich that was our breakfast.  Hmmm - scrambled egg sandwiches after a dose of anti-nausea?

Anyhow, once our Chevy Impala was loaded, we (two parents, three kids, and an extra aunt or grandma) were off.  The temperature and speed were whatever our father wished it to be.  We had no radio in the car, not that there were any stations that anybody could have agreed on.  The windows were probably open, probably because the ac might slow down the horsepower, and my dad needed a place to air out his cigarettes.  Seat belts - those were just those things you moved over when you got in the car.

Entertainment was really exciting.  Before the trip, each of us kids were treated to two magazines each - my older sister got her teenage magazines, and my brother and I each got two comic books.  Two comic books to last a 12-hour drive.  We had pretty much read through them by the time we left the driveway.  Anyhow, by that time we were getting sleepy, so by the time we woke up in time for our packed lunch of fried chicken (at a roadside picnic area), we were ready to read the comics again.  And again and again.  By the way, we didn't get new comics for the trip back.

Navigation consisted of a massive map that had to be unfolded and refolded when you crossed into another state.  Maps provided some entertainment for the kids, as we watched the "interaction" between the adults ("Turn back there!"  "Where are we?"  "No, where on the map are we?")

Anyhow, eventually we arrived in Florida to visit with my aunt, uncle, and cousins and play at the beach.  After a few days, it was time for Dramamine and the trip back home.  Too bad we never brought the cows any souvenirs!

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Today's blessings:  Maribeth and crew's safe trip back home; safe travel to Macon; Steve bringing dinner and ice cream to hotel