Day 50: Road Trip

Wow, Day 50!

The Prompt:  Expand on a story your parents told you when you were a child.

I remember that my mom told me once she and her family took a road trip from Ohio to see Niagara Falls.  It's mind-blowing enough to think about my mom as a child abut even more bizarre to think of her on a road trip with her family.  I'm pretty sure it was in the summertime, perhaps right after school ended.  Let's say my mom was about twelve or thirteen.  Then came my uncle with my aunt as the baby of the family.

I'm sure Momma had her suitcase all packed the night before and made a little note for herself to grab any last minute items.  She shared a room with her sister.  My aunt could have kept my mom up late with excited chatter about their big trip.  I'm sure Momma was excited as well.  I'm sure they had to wake up really early.  With five in the family, I can speak from personal experience that there was a fight over the shower.  Being as smart as she is, my mom was probably one of the first ones in.

My grandmother probably asked them several times whether they had packed certain things as she walked through the house, inspecting it for any last minute things to clean, while my grandfather loaded up the car.  With three females, there was probably a lot of luggage to secure.  After my grandmother made sure they ate a hearty breakfast, they took off on their big road trip adventure.  Considering past road trips I've been on, they probably left a half hour to an hour later than they expected.

They were no iPods, Gameboys, or even portable record players back then.  All they had was the radio, books, toys, and each other to pass the time.  The radio played the news or some popular groovy song that they all sang along to.  I'm sure there were many bathroom breaks along the way.  My mom could have fought with her siblings at one point over the things they had to amuse themselves.  Maybe they played with some action figures or other toys and made up stories about them.  However they passed the time, it must have felt like an eternity when they finally arrived, but I'm sure the view at Niagara Falls made the entire trip worth it.