Memories - Family Trips

Some of my fondest childhood memories surround family vacations. My mom, dad, and I would take car trips each summer. In July of 1975 we drove from our house in Long Beach, California to Dowagiac Michigan and back, a total of 5,000 miles round trip in eleven driving days. I have trouble staying awake driving the 12.5 miles home from work. This gives me a new appreciation for my dad's tenacity as well as the strength of truck stop coffee.

Most trips were less ambitious, but equally as exciting. We drove to the top of Oregon to the Columbia River Gorge, Yosimite, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain, Monterey and Carmel - Many great memories.

I didn't have much appreciation for the scenery along the way back then, but I sure loved the Best Western hotel rooms. I was usually allowed to be the first to open the hotel room door and peer inside. While I'm sure my parents looked at each room as yet another in a series of steps to our destination, I felt as if each one WAS our destination. Perhaps only Howard Carter could relate to my exuberance as the shafts of early-evening sunlight shot from the opening door and pierced the dark chamber. "Can you see anything?" "Yes, wonderful things."

Each morning before hitting the highway my dad would have his cup of coffee and examine the route from one of a half-dozen road maps he'd carefully chosen for the trip. He'd show me points of interest that we'd pass along the way, but I was more interested in the AAA Lodging Guide which showed a single, small photo of the next hotel I'd get to explore, some 500 miles and ten cups of strong coffee down the road.