The Family Road Trip

Do you remember those family road trips from the past? I do. We traveled across the country with three children in the back seat. We did not have the videos with movies to entertain the kids…or cell phones. We did not even have seat belts in those days. There were coloring books or little readers to help entertain them for a while, and that became boring very soon. It was, “How much farther?”

And there was,“I need to go to the bathroom!” We would stop at the next little gas station, and run around the side of the building to the little “hole-in-the-wall” restroom.

When I was a young girl, we made trips to Ft. Worth to visit relatives. I think the car speed was about 40/45mph. It seemed to take forever to make the trip. While there, we would usually go to Forrest Park, ride the little train, and check out the zoo. We would always shop downtown and shop at the big Leonard’s department store. That was special.

Of course, there was the long trip home at 45mph. I always wanted to stop in Jacksboro at a little place just south of downtown that had the best hamburgers. It was a very special treat! It doesn’t seem very special these days with all the choices for special foods along the road. But, of course that was in the late 1940’s Fast forward to today’s world: Have you traveled along the Interstate and stopped at a Buc-ees? Oh my! Recently, we stopped at one on I 40 near Pigeon Forge, TN. I couldn’t believe it—there were 120 gas pumps! And of course, inside was huge. There was anything you could possibly need for travel, and a massive amount of things you probably didn’t need. You could spend a lot of money there!

Times have definitely changed since the 1940s and 50s. It was a slower pace of life. The difference of traveling on a single, two-way highway at 45mph, and traveling at 70 or 75mph while fighting the unending convoy of trucks on the Interstate leaves something to be desired! The family road trip has certainly changed!