My Favorite Road Trip

When I was a kid it seemed we were always on the road. Growing up in Michigan it was the thing to do to travel "up north".

My stepfather had a cabin up in Harrison, Michigan so on the weekends during summer vacation we were always up there- sometimes during the winter too.

Though most winters my stepfather went to Florida, at least for a month or so. One spring break he was still there so when I got out of school for Easter break my mom packed us up and we headed to Florida. I brought along my BFF Jen to keep me company.

It's been over twenty years since that road trip and it is still one of the most memorable road trips ever.

On the way down to Florida we had a blast watching the scenery change, getting the truckers to honk their horns and "communicating" with any boys who happened to be travelling along the same stretch of road.

We were 12 year old boy crazy girls - you better believe we were keeping an eye out for the boys. :-)

I remember at one point we got behind a motor home that had two boys around our age in it. At this point we were pretty much in a traffic jam due to construction so weren't moving fast or far. Our boredom gave way to flirtatious waves, winks and giggles. Before long we were writing back and forth to each other with signs we created using our notebooks and markers. (Wow, how things have changed, today we'd exchange cell numbers then text back and forth)

After the traffic jam cleared we parted ways with our new boyfriends when their motor home exited at an off ramp. We were temporarily heartbroken but we soon moved on to other interests.

This was the first time any of us had been to Florida (even my mom) so we took in every sight and sound and soaked up all the sun and salt water we could. The trip was something I'll never forget, it was the first time I ever swam in the ocean...and the first time I ever ran out of the ocean because of a shark sighting.

The trip home was just as interesting as the drive down though for much different reasons.

The car's alternator was going out- on a 26 hour drive from Florida to Michigan. We couldn't play the radio, use the air conditioner or turn on the lights because it would drain the battery.

I don't remember why we didn't get it fixed- I think they would have had to order the part and we'd have gotten stuck somewhere for a couple days while they fixed it.

Either way it took us twice as long to get home because we couldn't drive after dark. The fun thing was that we got to stop in a couple different states and stay in hotels. That was another new experience for us- on the way down we drove straight through so there were no hotels to stay at.

On the way back to Michigan we stayed in two different hotels and one had a vibrating bed.

You know the kind you stick a quarter in and then the whole bed shakes like you're in an earthquake. Jen and I couldn't get enough of that teeth rattling bed. We thought it was hilarious. My mom just laughed at us.

Once we got home we couldn't quit talking about our Florida vacation adventures- especially everything that happened while "on the road".

To this day I still think it was the most memorable vacation ever- and that unforgettable road trip happened in the spring of 1989.

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