As with many American families, most of my childhood vacations revolved around road trips. However, I have yet to meet anybody else’s family roadtrips involved the manufactured timetable that rivaled ours.
When I was very young, we drove all the way from Corpus Christi, Texas to Boca Raton, Florida without staying the night in a hotel — my mom the sole driver. This is something she is less proud of now, but at the time it was a marker of her independence and grit.
When she found herself heavy with exhaustion, we pulled off at truck stops for my mom to nap quickly before returning to the road. I remember her killing the engine so as to not subject us to carbon monoxide poisoning1. The air in the car grew stagnant and muggy, being so close to the ocean. I recall being painfully aware of every minute movement which threatened my mom’s slumber. My sisters and I let the sweat pool under our thighs without un-sticking ourselves from the leather seats of the Cadillac de Ville for fear of waking her up.
We had timed stops at gas stations. Before the car was fully parked, the three of us would tumble out, running for the bathrooms in an effort to beat our previous stops’ time. If we matched or beat our previous time, we might be allowed a treat at the next McDonalds.
On one trip to Boston, we even stowed a Folgers can for my sisters and I to relieve ourselves in the event of a gotta go now, Mama situation. Admittedly, I think we might have faked an “emergency” just to get the chance to use the coffee squatter. Some people might scrunch their noses at this, but at the time—and to this day—I look back on those memories fondly.
I realize now that it is much safer to stop before you’re tired, peeing in a can is not a great idea on bumpy roads, and timing your stops is still sort of fun.
-C
The irony of yielding little concern to sleep deprivation, a far more deadly concern.
I would have loved to have seen how that fake emergency with the Folgers can played out and who tested it out. ☺️
Love that story and the fact that you have great memories in spite of it all. Made me laugh out loud!