I think my first road trip was in 1991 at the age of 17. I say "I think" because becoming a road tripper was not a plan or a goal by any means. I am not really sure how I arrived at setting the goal of seeing the 48 contiguous states before my 30th birthday. I got to Alaska and Hawaii before by the time I was 35; thus the title to my blog 50 by 35, 50 states by the age of 35. But I digress...
In 1991 I took a trip with my Cousin Jenny to visit some colleges that she was interested in attending. Don't ask me which college it was. I do believe it was in Ohio though. And I am sure it was in February because while we were sound asleep on some girl's dormitory floor the phone rang and on the other end of the line was her father telling Jenny that her brother Zach had just been born; the 5th child and only boy. In the morning we both thought it was a dream; her dad doesn't make boys - - but he did!
Back in 1991, I did none of the driving because I did not yet have a drivers license. I don't know why it was but I did not get my license until I was in my second year of college. I am not sure if I was 19 or 20 but it was not long after that that I did take my first road trip as a driver.
I think that first "REAL" road trip took place in January of 1994. Real in that the trip was a vacation. A friend from high school and I set off for Memphis, Tennessee. Unbeknownst to her parents, she was off to visit a boyfriend who her parents did not want her to see. After graduating, he had joined the military and was stationed in Mississippi or Alabama or somewhere south of Memphis. He had agreed to meet us there.
I do not recall spending much time with her beau. I don't even remember her spending much time with him. What I do recall, though, is one hell of a trip.
Not more than 3 hours out, I lost the brakes in my car. We spent the next half of a day in a service station. It is worth noting that my father is a mechanic. Doesn't matter how maintained your car is, when road tripping you must be prepared to throw your plans out the window should your vehicle decide to make a pit stop.
After leaving the service station, the next event came in the form of an emergency broadcast warning. Oh yes, there were tornadoes spotted in eastern Pennsylvania. We never saw any but it added another layer of anxiety to the traveling.
This was back before the Internet, back before everyone had cell phones, and back before I knew making hotel reservations was the wisest thing to do. After dinner at some roadside mom and pop place, my friend and I opened the restaurant's yellow pages and picked a hotel. We called from the pay phone in the restaurant to learn their rates and make our reservation. When we got there it looked just like the Bates Motel; a house with a row of rooms behind it. We thought nothing of it.
When we got into our room it was the most god-awful thing I had ever seen; mismatched bedspreads, orange shag carpet; broken furniture. We didn't care. We were exhausted. I just wanted to go to sleep.
My friend went off into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I had just finished inspecting the sheets and laid down when she called to me, "April, come here." Ugh. What?!?! I thought to myself if I go in there because she sees a spider or something I'm going to be furious. I'm tired. The day has worn me thin.
It was not a bug though.
There she stood in front of the window, wide-eyed. I stared at her blankly as she extended her arm through the window; through where there should have been a pane of glass. WHAT!?!?! She did it again. There was NO glass in the window frame. After upon further investigation we discovered that none of the windows along the back of the room had any glass in them.
We were out of there!
The hotel clerk couldn't understand why we would be leaving. He was concerned we had "used" his room. First though he tried to put us up in the house; a room without any phone.
Ugh, now I had psycho hotel clerk on my hands.
We left though. Found another hotel at a rate that far exceeded our budget but better safe than shacked up with Norman Bates.
Then when we finally reached Memphis I was overwhelmed by just how many Elvis impersonators we saw there. There as old Elvis, young Elvis, think Elvis, fat Elvis, wheelchair bound Elvis, black Elvis, Asian Elvis. I know that was where he lived but really??? Until I learned that we just so happened to be there during his birthday week. It is not always riddled with Elvi (the word for multiple Elvis).
After relaying this tale I am often asked why I would have ever bothered to take another road trip.
Um, because that was awesome. I lived to tell and retell these tales over and over again. I wouldn't have had these stories or experiences if I had just stayed on my couch that week.
Eh, road travel is not for everyone. But it is for me.
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