Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
I used to love going for long trips in the car. One of my major bucket list items was driving through all 49 states in the continental United States. I’ve driven in Hawaii but never TO Hawaii. I’m gonna have to wait until they finish the bridge for that one. I can drive to Alaska, but now I have to get a passport before I can do that, but it is doable. I was young and invincible when I headed to Colorado in a 3-cylinder VW Beetle in 1970. I wasn’t even 20 yet. I finished my Avionics training and was given orders to report to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas NV. Still young and adventurous, I bought a new car and drove the long way to Nevada through 8 states then back and forth from my hometown of Stockton, California, to Las Vegas multiple times.
That wasn’t enough for me as that first trip to Colorado was the first time I ever left California. I joined the military with high hopes of seeing the world (except Southeast Asia). I was stationed in England and I had fun exploring the British Isles and even made it to France. To make it even more fun, I owned a Mini there and it doesn’t get much more fun than driving one of those.
I came back home after serving my country and started working and building a family. I still dreamed of driving through all of our states, but that dream was always second to the reality of having a family and a steady job. I still had opportunities to travel, but the long trips were fewer than I would have liked, and the travel bug still itched away in my heart. I was twice retired before I made my big cross-country/Route 66 trip. That was fun and likely the top of the list of driving adventures. Being active in the Studebaker club gave me many wonderful opportunities to travel in groups to some interesting destinations. But now, old age is creeping up on me and long drives are not as much fun as they used to be. Most likely because my body complains to me most of the way now. Too bad, as I now have the time to do it but not the excitement I used to have.
But we drove to Arizona and back to visit family. Four states over 4 days was grueling but well worth it. Two days out and two days back was not particularly difficult but my tired body complained to me plenty. Getting old has its challenges but it certainly is far better than the alternative. We attended a baby shower for our grandson Kaden and Kim, and got to visit with daughter Jessica and hubby Trevor in their new home they had built in Queen Creek. It was great making our premiere appearance as GGMa and GGPa. It was the first long trip for PeeWee and she and Sally were both great passengers for the whole trip. They seemed to enjoy it too. Sally slept a lot but that was nothing new for her. PeeWee seemed to be awake whenever Carlene would take a peek at her in the vanity mirror in the car. We didn’t do any sightseeing stops along the way but it was wonderful to drive though the National Forest in Arizona. I haven’t seen that one before.
Being two hours ahead because of the time zones meant that sleep would have to be sacrificed as who wants to go to bed early when you are spending time with loved ones you have been pining to see for months. Worthwhile inconveniences that are happily suffered without complaint. We enjoyed every moment we could until it was time to head back to Oklahoma. We had been keeping in touch through Facebook and saw that there was a lot of rain and storms during our absence. We saw the evidence of that as soon as we pulled into the driveway at home. Everything was green and flowers were blooming everywhere. And we didn’t miss much of the stormy weather as we are experiencing a repeat this week. It’s good to be home, and it was lovely to visit our Arizona loved ones. And a big thank you to our neighbor Daniel for feeding the cat and the bonus of mowing the grass knowing that it was due to rain again when we got home.
