#89…Daughters, Mileage and Repacking the Car

 

There’s nothing sweeter then experiencing your daughter as an adult, as your mostest bestest friend, traveling companion and partner in crime…..So my 1st trip, with her a mother of 3, we  drove from Kansas City to Los Angeles, round trip 3400 miles, to see family. We got sunburned in a Phoenix gas station at 121 degrees pumping gas and just walking into the convenience store. I won $400 at the casino and covered the rental car expense! We stayed the night at Cajon Pass at the Summit Inn, an iconic Rt 66 landmark which burned to the ground that summer. We spent 2 hours on the LA freeway looking for someplace to have a cup of coffee, always in the wrong lane….

Kansas City to Cleveland, round trip1800 miles to experience Dad was the next road trip……We hauled home an old lime green couch and a most unusual shaped coffee table. These things and a $4 purse when I was 15….and oh yes, paying half the fare for my mother’s airline ticket so I could for the 1st time in my life at age 25 have both of my parents together for Thanksgiving (who had  been married for 2 years) were the only things he ever gave me…over the 20 assorted days I ever saw him in his life. What a nightmare that holiday meal was. I realized my mistake in moments…….

Two years ago, baby girl, #1, now a grandmother of 9 and I, took off for 10 days to Pensacola to see daughter 2 Too….in my small Honda CRV SUV…a SMALL car…..did I say SMALL? The decision had been made that we would hit every garage sale, thrift store, antique mall and bathroom along the way….a round trip of 2200 miles. 250 miles from home, the car was getting full beyond expectations and we had only made it to Springfield MO. Once past the Alabama state line I was telling her, SERIOUSLY…”Whatever you buy, it can only be the size of a slice!”

Ok, we did have the car half loaded with our clothes and gifts when we left home. Upon packing to leave to COME BACK home, NOW we had some serious furniture pieces on top of all our other treasures…….AND more garage sales and antique malls coming back…a different route. We did what we always do….”WE” means Connie, had to completely unload everything twice to make room for  new purchases. Can you believe the baby girl actually screamed at me as I was contemplating buying the back hood of a 1966 Volkswagen? She was saved because the owner would not accept half price. It would have fit….I was confident in my daughter…..

And now she embarks on her first trip with her daughter, mother of 3…….to New York City! And the beat goes on…….