Road Trip Memories

These days many of our travels are in our private vehicles rather than planes and trains. Researching drivable domestic destinations has stirred up fond memories of childhood family trips, and I've shared below a lovely story from my colleague, Kirk Anthony, about a special trip his family took - aided, as he came to appreciate, by the family's travel agent. 

Growing up in Chicago, one of my family's favorite weekend activities was "going for a drive" - sometimes we'd end up at the Indiana Dunes, or The Little Red Schoolhouse, or Bob's Farm Stand. The first long road trip I remember was to Washington, D.C. in 1967. My dad had a conference there; we drove together and then he flew home to get back to work, while my mom drove back to Chicago. Of course we had a progression of station wagons - first a Rambler, then a Dodge, and finally a Chevy - the kind with the backseat facing the rear window. Subsequently there was a trip to Southern Mexico - the plan was to visit my Aunt in Managua, Nicaragua, but my grandmother who frequently traveled with us, praying the rosary in a whispery voice in the backseat, wasn't feeling well, so we made it only to Villahermosa. There were a couple of trips to New England, including the one shortly before my parents knew (but had not shared with us) that we would be relocating to California. On that trip, after dropping my dad off at the airport for his flight home, my mom said "Who wants to go to New York?" We got a coke and a popsicle, saw the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, then headed West. Somewhere in the Allegheny Mountains, my mother thought maybe she could save gas by putting the car in neutral and coasting down the mountains. (Narrator: You can't.) We ended up in Beaver Falls, PA with a nice new transmission and, after time, a sweet memory that is truly representative of my mother's love of adventure and spontaneity.

These days my husband and I continue to enjoy road tripping - we did our cross country move twice - first driving a rented RV to transport our cats in comfort, and then driving a U-Haul and towing my car. Have you ever tried backing up while towing a trailer? Well, we made it all the way across country without ever putting the truck in reverse!

Do you have fond memories of a road trip? Or are you looking to have new adventures on the road, creating more memories? Drop me a note and let me know - I'd love to hear about your favorite times on the road. 

Keep on Trucking, 

Joan

Our Family Station Wagon & Gladys, The Travel Agent

 My father was so proud of our 1976 Ford Gran Torino station wagon. He’d hand-wash it at last once a week. I remember because every time he washed it, my mom would scream at him…yelling things like, “Glenn! For Pete’s sake! The lawn needs mowing! You need to get your work tools out of my dining room! The clothes dryer needs fixing! That car washing crap can wait!” Mom was a hot-headed Italian from the Bronx, NY…so, she used a lot of colorful language. (which I omitted)

You would have thought my daddy was completely deaf, because he’d just keep on washing that station wagon acting as if he could not hear a word momma was saying. That Ford was dad’s pride and joy. 

I was 10 years old when daddy bought that car, literally off the showroom floor. He gleamed with pride as he drove it off the car lot.  

I never mustered the gumption to tell dad…but I thought that was the ugliest car in the whole world. I hated it. I remember going to church and quickly getting out…practically running to get away from that embarrassing ugly car!

About a month after buying that grotesque thing…we took a family vacation in it to The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. The whole family…daddy and momma, my little sister, Alaina and my two older sisters, Gina and Glenda. Yep…all six of us loaded up into that big hideous Ford Gran Torino station wagon with daddy driving, smiling ear to ear. 

We’d left our home in Florence, Alabama bright and early in the morning…it was mid-October. Before noon, we’d made it over half way…to a place that little did I know back then, would become one of my most precious and fondest memories…Nickajack Dam in Jasper, Tennessee. It was so beautiful. My sisters and I just stood silently on the river banks and took it all in. Mom snapped pictures of us looking so happy together. She used a brand new 1976 Polaroid camera that she’d bought specifically for the trip. I didn’t know or understand back then that those very pictures would become priceless treasure today.

My three sisters and I joked, laughed, played games, sang songs and ate Little Debbie Cakes the entire trip! Dad would slow the speed down and point out the vivid colorful Autumn leaves. Those rolling hills across Tennessee were stunning! Something an artist would paint. Bright red, yellow and orange leaves covered the mountains. To call them beautiful would be an understatement. 

Dad stopped at every little quirky folk town attraction along the way. He was never one to take the interstate when traveling…it was always the back roads…and momma took at least a hundred pictures with her new Polaroid. 

By the time we reached the Smoky Mountains to kick-off our family vacation, I felt that we’d already had a wonderful vacation! The journey, both going and returning, was just as exciting as the vacation itself. 

Surprisingly, my feelings about that station wagon quickly started to change. 

We stayed at a historic hotel on the North Carolina side of the Smoky Mountains. It was a hotel that my mom’s travel agent recommended and had made the arrangements for us to stay there. It was absolutely perfect. 

As it turns out, that same travel agent, whose name was, Gladys helped mom and dad with the entire trip! Ms. Gladys, (as I called her), had informed daddy where to go and what route to take. She even suggested we take this vacation in October, knowing that the southern autumn leaves along the route would be at their colorful peak.

Gladys, the travel agent, is responsible for creating the best memories of, not just my life, but the lives of my whole family! Thanks to her…among other things, we even met the legendary Osborne Brothers! …who later performed, “Rocky Top” just for us and a small group of people. (Google it…it was a chart-topping song back in the late sixties) Gladys had great connections. 

Looking and thinking back upon that trip is something I do often. Later in life, I discovered that the whole family vacation was all carefully orchestrated by my father, mother and Gladys, the travel agent. From that ugly Ford station wagon to the beautiful banks of the Tennessee River near Nickajack Dam…everything happened for a reason. 

Today, I believe that 1976 Ford Gran Torino is and was the most beautiful and fantastic car in the world. My mom and dad, along with the advice of Gladys, (and maybe a car salesman in Florence) created our family’s greatest moments. We took a lot of wonderful family vacations in that car! 

 The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama is to so many what that historic hotel in the Smoky Mountains was to me and my family. It’s the kind of place novelists write about. A special place that once you visit, it becomes a family tradition. 

 Professional travel advisors continue to provide families with the extra special care, personal touch and much needed advice today in 2020, as Ms. Gladys did for my family back in 1976. 

I didn’t actually cry when my father traded off that old family station wagon several years later when I was in college. But…keeping it honest…I welled up inside with emotion. I held the tears back. Suddenly, that car that I’d called ugly, embarrassing…hideous and grotesque, actually held within its interior… much of my childhood. The seats were worn out with love, laughter, songs, games and so many great memories…and a lot of Little Debbie Cake crumbs as well.

The glovebox held maps and brochures from Ms. Gladys’ travel agency. Now here I am, some 44 years later…my job is to work with professional travel advisors just like Ms. Gladys, to create the vacation of a lifetime, just like she did!

If you want to get the very best out of your family vacation…you don’t have to buy a big ugly station wagon, but you do need to contact your professional travel advisor.