ANYWAY, their trip has got me thinking about the road trips my parents and I would take to visit their friends in Florida. The last time I was over there was the summer between 7th and 8th grade. It was a long trip. To this day my dad and I laugh because I rode in the back of the truck under the camper for a long time and we were supposed to use these walkie talkies to communicate but we never used them. BUT, on the way to Florida, somewhere in Louisiana, while I was riding in the back, in the middle of the night, I heard a bang and then a loud clangity-clang noise. It was LOUD and scared me to death. Turns out the drive shaft fell out.
So there we were in the middle of nowhere, in the black of night, on the side of road. My dad grabs his Mag-Lite flashlight and starts to walk the way we were coming. He is looking for the universal joints that hold the drive shaft up. He found most of it. When he put it back on it wouldn’t hold so he stuck a nickel in there. Temporary. Word on the CB Radio said there was a small town just up ahead so we cruised it and sure’nough the town popped up out of nowhere. We spent the night at some motel and the next morning my dad fixed the drive shaft in the AutoZone parking lot. He still has that nickel.
The whole rest of the way my dad was worried about his shaft and I was worried we’d be out of gas. It was funny.
Also, in that road trip was when my dad introduced me to the music of George Jones and the best country song ever. The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song). My dad got the tape at some gas station and I can even remember standing in line getting it from the little carousel thing on the counter. We must’ve heard that tape the whole rest of the way to Florida and back because I still know most of the lyrics to the songs on that tape. I am pretty sure my dad still has it. At some point we upgraded to the CD and its sitting to my right in a CD case. I even ripped that CD and it’s on my Zune.
When we got to Dade City, Florida we stayed at some motel across from a gas station that had a cow on their sign and boy did they have the best hot dogs. Got to find that place one day.
Those are the most memorable moments of that road trip. I vaguely remember another trip when John was with us. I only remember bits and pieces. Like getting an Alf puppet at McDonalds and John giving me all his onions from the Big Mac. Now I hate onions.
What a nice trip down memory lane.
Great memory Sal 🙂