Spring Break 2025, Part 1
Does your family enjoy going on road trips? My dad made money in college by driving a tractor trailer in his off time. He very much enjoyed driving, which was good for him because the majority of his family lived in central and south Texas, but when he met my mom, who is from Pennsylvania, he had many road trips in his future. So, we kids were destined to put many miles under our feet.
On the Road Again
I do love a good road trip. And yes, I play Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again” every time.
Growing up, my dad was really big on driving off the beaten path and talking to local rural towns folk. He taught us the love of camping, one time even in the winter! So, whether it is packing up my car for a weekend at Rocklahoma, or packing up my car to visit my sister in Buda, Texas, which is just south of Austin, I’m always eager to hit the road!
I enjoy prepping for the trip and going through a mental checklist of the things I will need for the time that I’m gone. I enjoy showing my kids some of the little travel tricks my dad taught me about packing and such.
Example, when packing your shoes in your suitcase, try stuffing them with socks so as to utilize every square centimeter of space in your suitcase and also protecting your shoes from getting smashed.
I wanted to get to Austin by mid afternoon, so my alarm went off at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19. We were on the road by 5:15. Good start so far!
My son, Atticus, is 15 and I think likes a good road trip, or at least he doesn’t whine about it. As long as his cell phone is nice and charged!
There are two ways you can go to visit my sister; one way is shorter, but the other way is much easier. One way is to go down the Turner Turnpike through Oklahoma City and then make a left, head south on I-35 through Fort Worth. That way is easier because it’s all non-stop highway.
Or you can leave Tulsa using 75 south through Glenpool and head south through Atoka, Durant, and then Dallas. The ladder may be a little shorter, but you have to stop through all those speed traps in south Oklahoma.
Sometimes, like this trip, we went down one way and came back the other just for a change of pace. I like for my kids to see lots of things, and I’m that dad that points things out like: “Do you notice all the dirt in Oklahoma is red?” And then when we get into Texas, I’ll point out that “Under the surface in Texas, the ground has lots of limestone.”
Most of the time my kids are annoyed that they have to take off their headphones to hear what I’m talking about and look up from their cell phone out the window, but, as a dad I feel it’s my duty to point those things out anyway. This road trip my son slept most of the way anyway. I told him this time next year, “Son, you’re gonna be helping me drive so I can take a nap.”
Luckily, I discovered that filling up my tank the night before our road trip gets us perfectly to a Buc-ee’s stop in Fort Worth. We were down to about a 16th of a tank of gas, and we definitely wanted to hit a Buc-ee’s sometime during this trip, so it was serendipitous!
We gassed up, grabbed some honey roasted nuts, a brisket sandwich and were back “On The Road Again”!
We made it to Aunt Lynda’s (my twin sister) around 1:30, so mission accomplished! This is Queso, my sister’s dog.
Spring Break Part 2 coming soon!!!
You’ll see what my friend LA Lloyd and Paul Stanley of KISS have in common, and I’ll take you to some of my favorite restaurants I’ve been going to since I was my son’s age.
