You hated it as a kid, but now...


 

Brad Olson

TVWBB Diamond Member
When I was growing up one of the things I dreaded was the Sunday drive with my parents. They didn't do it all the time but every so often my mom would herd my brother and I into the car because my dad felt like just going for a drive, but I was usually doing something that I didn't want to stop doing so I really hated them.

Guess what one of my favorite things to do now is.;)

Anybody else have one of these 180-degree turns?
 
Yes, my father interrupted my day to take us out to eat just before Christmas Eve. I hated it at the time. The strange part about it was that we rarely went out to eat (except for a fastfood burger) back in those days. Most folks ate at home then.

One thing he did do that we enjoyed was taking a drive to a state park on Sundays and staying for the day. My brother and I trekked all over the place while my father stayed by the lake.
 
Yep, Hated it as a kid. The dreaded lets take a drive to the lake, park, ocean, whatever, everybody into the no a/c family truckkster.
When I got my drivers license I loved to get in my Mustang and just go cruising all over So Cal. Then I went to work for the Phone co. when I was 19 and was a motorized messenger and worked in smog invested LA. Driving on the congested freeways in all kinds of lousy traffic delivering mail to the co. buildings in a 1966 ford van.
Then when I got off work it was a 40 mile drive home in rush hour on Fridays it would take me up to three hours to get home.
I only did it for one year until I was promoted to a decent job. but in that one year I racked up 71,000 miles on that ford van. Ever since then I hate to drive anywhere.
 
My dad did not do Sunday drives, but he did take us on great tours all across the USA and Canada. We saw great sights, learned a lot and had fun.
 
Never went much of anywhere when I was a kid (first car I remember folks having was a '55 Chev BelAir).

Even up until a year ago (maintaining my folks style I guess), never did much driving just for "the sake of driving" (even when I got my Hemi) but now I don't need no stinkin' excuse to go for a ride in my new-to-me roadster :)

I just go.
xuEM4MP.jpg


I get back from a 2 hour ride and I'm just so relaxed, it's like being on a vacation.
 
Last edited:
Road trips to go see family. Ugh. Hated the ride!
But now that we have kids (dogs) of our own now, we always drive to family reunions! I guess it's different since I'm driving!
 
I grew up on the Southside of Chicago, (Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, Mckinley Park) so any chance we had to get out and about was ok.
Dad drove for a living so weekends were made for Michelob for him. Mom took us out in the old LTD to see my Aunt who lived in Tinley Park, and back then it was still country, and we had bonfires and campfire cook outs.
My Uncle Butch would take us out in his 64 Dodge Rambler ( Convertible ) and we cruised up and down Lake shore Drive to Rainbow Beach and around downtown.
My Son's were all born and raised out here in the super boonies, so any chance we have to take a roadtrip down to the old neighborhood is always a good time.

Tim
 
On the 180 thing, what comes to mind is music. The folks liked big band and torch songs. As a kid I hated it. I've eventually come to appreciate big band and some of the torch singers like Doris Day and Julie London.

On the driving thing, my dad got the last week of August off every year and we'd pile in the car and head off with just a vague destination in mind. It usually was a disaster. Kids goofing around and making noise in the back seat. No knowledge of local motels let alone anything like a reservation. I remember driving for hours trying to find a place to stay, Dad's patience getting thinner with every mile. We did eventually stumble upon a new motel in the St. Louis area that we liked and that became our destination for a few years. Those were much more relaxed vacations as we knew where we were going and once we got there we stayed put.

They were doing a lot of building on the interstate highway system back then. I recall lots of poorly signed detours and long delays.

Over the intervening years I've made the drive from Chicago to Los Angeles quite a few times. I've taken every one of the E/W interstates on at least one trip. I did I-90 once just to say I had. It was not a very direct route. Several times in the last few years I've made the trip taking secondary roads. On one trip it was my goal to stay off the interstate the entire time. Getting out of the Los Angeles area was the worst part. LA to Chicago takes four days by car on the interstate, assuming you're not vastly exceeding the speed limit and aren't spending an unsafe amount of time behind the wheel. You can readily do it in five days taking all secondary roads. If you have the time I highly recommend the latter. It's like the difference between watching a ball game on TV and actually being there in the stands.

US-34 is a road that winds through the area in Illinois where I grew up and it's been a part of my life for as long as I remember. A few years ago I drove the entire distance of US-34, from western origin in Colorado just west of Rocky Mountain National Park to the eastern terminus in Berwyn, IL where the skyscrapers of Chicago are in view. Aside from a stretch in Iowa from Attumwa (birthplace of Radar O'Reilly) to the Illinois border it's mostly two-lane road that winds through every little town along the way. I enjoyed that trip a lot.
 
Over the intervening years I've made the drive from Chicago to Los Angeles quite a few times. I've taken every one of the E/W interstates on at least one trip. I did I-90 once just to say I had. It was not a very direct route. Several times in the last few years I've made the trip taking secondary roads. On one trip it was my goal to stay off the interstate the entire time. Getting out of the Los Angeles area was the worst part. LA to Chicago takes four days by car on the interstate, assuming you're not vastly exceeding the speed limit and aren't spending an unsafe amount of time behind the wheel. You can readily do it in five days taking all secondary roads. If you have the time I highly recommend the latter. It's like the difference between watching a ball game on TV and actually being there in the stands.


That's a heck of a drive. Can't imagine driving that far. I knew a man that drove from way out west to eastern Tennessee in 24 hours. He never stopped except for to gas up and get coffee.

Back on topic now.
 
That's a heck of a drive. Can't imagine driving that far. I knew a man that drove from way out west to eastern Tennessee in 24 hours. He never stopped except for to gas up and get coffee.
When I was very young and foolish I tried doing it in one shot. Somewhere in Texas I was falling asleep at the wheel and had to pull off and take a nap. It's not an approach I'd recommend unless you have a co-driver to take over every so often.

I've done this drive so many times I couldn't come close to remembering them all. I've done it in three days before but that makes for crazy long days and I don't consider it safe. Four days lets you spend 8-9 hours actually driving, leaving you time for breaks, lunch, a nice dinner, a some time to relax before sleep. I consider the drive part of the trip, not just a necessary evil to get where you're going, and try to enjoy it as best I can. That's why I prefer the secondary roads. Tons more to see.

I've also driven coast to coast a couple times. I think I'm down to just five or six states I haven't driven in.
 
You can readily do it in five days taking all secondary roads. If you have the time I highly recommend the latter. It's like the difference between watching a ball game on TV and actually being there in the stands.

I'm a huge fan of taking the scondary roads as much as possible. Last Sunday I left the house at 7am for St. Louis and didn't get to the hotel until 6pm; normally it's a little over 5 hours on the interstates without a break, but this time I exited I-39 just north of Bloomington, IL and took US-66 all the way to Edwardsville. Stopped for an early lunch in Atlanta and made a few other 66-related stops along the way, and eventually had an early dinner in Waterloo, IL before wrapping things up for the day. I've also been making an annual trip to southern Ohio since 1999 and try to take the "blue highways" as much as possible.
 
Considering where I grew up and how, there weren't much chances to just drive.
but the trips we did take were memorable.
the best for me were riding on my dads honda with sidecar to the beach. Whole family piled on. This was in the 50s on the island of yap.
 
Considering where I grew up and how, there weren't much chances to just drive.
but the trips we did take were memorable.
the best for me were riding on my dads honda with sidecar to the beach. Whole family piled on. This was in the 50s on the island of yap.

I think we'd all like to see a picture of that!
 
<snip>

LA to Chicago takes four days by car on the interstate, assuming you're not vastly exceeding the speed limit and aren't spending an unsafe amount of time behind the wheel. You can readily do it in five days taking all secondary roads. If you have the time I highly recommend the latter. It's like the difference between watching a ball game on TV and actually being there in the stands.



My neighbor tells me about driving from UT to Indiana a couple times on his sportster, riding only secondary roads. Sounds like a nice road trip.. I don't mind the road, I always like the sunrises/sunsets, clouds, and most scenery... I just got a motorcycle with a windshield and would like to take a trip or two like that after I get things running smoothly again.

My old man - he'd like to just cruise up the canyon to see the leaves or whatever.....I didn't mind it but it was boring at the time. He had fun vehicles a lot of times, one time a station wagon, one sedan, but also a 1982 stingray (vette), and a 1100 cc 4cyl (4 cyl > 2 cyl motorcycle, no doubt) honda shadow. We're supposed to go see the Grand Canyon next weekend.....I hope I can make it.
 
My neighbor tells me about driving from UT to Indiana a couple times on his sportster, riding only secondary roads. Sounds like a nice road trip.. I don't mind the road, I always like the sunrises/sunsets, clouds, and most scenery... I just got a motorcycle with a windshield and would like to take a trip or two like that after I get things running smoothly again.
Once you get east of the Rockies a bit the scenery doesn't change all that much. Lots of flat with various crops growing and critters grazing. What I find most interesting through the plains and midwest are the things people have in their front yards. You need to be on the lookout and prepared to stop when you spot something of interest. There's a lot of strange and wonderful stuff out there.

If you haven't already, you should read Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's at least partly about a motorcycle trip across the plains.
 
Ahhh the old Sunday/Monday drive way back when. Pops would pop open a beer, put it between his legs, and tell us to get in the station wagon and off we would go.
Big Bear, San Diego, Carmel, we never knew where we would end up. The best part, we always stopped for a tasty lunch somewhere, those were the days.
 
Last edited:
There is a car that I loved for long trips that I would love to have back again. It was a 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. It was fun to drive on the two lanes and interstates, in the mountain twisties with the 5 speed and the turbo. It was a car that made me want to escape for a day,or 3 weeks. Would like to have it back again instead of a boring suv.
 
yea, have an old black and white pic somewhere. not sure how or if I can get it on here now that pb has gone nuts.

imgur (as do others) works well (once you figure out the controls ;) ). Loads a lot faster and shows up wayyyy quicker than PB ever did.
 

 

Back
Top