The 1970's Meyers Family Vacation Scenario

When I was a kid our vacations were nothing like the vacations that a lot of my friends kids go on these days. Now kids each have their own fancy suitcase and they go to places like Europe, St. Maartin, Puerto Vallarta and on Alaskan Cruises with their parents.  If they do have to slum it in a car, they each get their own row of seats so that there is no touching. Back then we went to Colorado and on occasion we drove around Texas eventually crossing the Mexican boarder to shop for "curios".  If you've ever been to Nuevo Larado more than once you have been there one time too many.

Back then vacations consisted of having your things packed in the "kids suitcase".  I never got to pack my own stuff. Mom did if for me.  I imagine this was to keep me from over packing since things were tight. Everything I was carrying had to be piled in a single suitcase that was shared between me and my brothers. Then on the morning that we were leaving or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say the "night" we were leaving since we always left before dawn.... on some occasions, way before dawn, we would all start hauling stuff out of the house and stacking it around the car.  This was the first evidence of self defense that would creep up during our trip. There would be more evidence of self defense to come throughout the trip.

The packing of the car was always a little bit of an adventure.  It was usually one of the only times Dad would lose his cool during the trip.  But keep in mind that following each stop the car had to be re-packed. So, approximately once a day, we'd get to experience Dad losing his cool.  Apparently, car packing is some sort of a science that requires absolute quiet and can only be done by one person.  If you walked out to the car and put whatever Mom had given you to carry out actually inside the car in an empty spot, the response was like that of placing a live grenade next to a person in a sleeping bag.  The item would be immediately thrown back away from the car.  Dad would say "Why did you put that there?"  I'd respond with some lame excuse like, "'Cuz it fit".  Then I would be lectured about how I needed to set everything on the ground so that he could pack the entire car.  Aye, aye, cap'n. (That last part was always said in my mind, smart alack comments like that would never have left my mouth in front of my Dad.)  Back then I didn't get his need for absolute control when it came to packing the car.  Now I do.

We always managed to fit enough clothes for 1 to 2 weeks of traveling for five people, a full size ice chest that we'll discuss shortly, a box or bag of groceries that didn't need to go into the ice chest, a sleeping bag or two, various pillows and other comforts of home into the trunk of whatever kind of Ford we were driving at the time.  Probably, if not for the scientific method of packing the car, we would have driven around with pillows tied to the top.

The ice chest was always a big part of packing the car.  We were, after all, a family of the 1970's and on a budget.  The only way these vacations could happen was if we maintained that budget.  That meant when you stopped for gas, kids didn't just go scrambling into the gas station for Cokes and snacks all willy nilly. We brought the snacks with us.  Likewise, lunch was almost always spent at a roadside park or rest area along the way. It was a great way to break up the day especially with three kids in a single backseat arguing because someone had touched someone else.  It gave us the opportunity to run around, explore and chase each other while Dad smoked a cigarette (back in the day, Dad still smoked) and Mom made sandwiches and set the chips and drinks out.  We usually looked for a "Comfort Station" rest area.  That meant that there was a bathroom on sight.  But many times lunch would be spent at a place that might just have a picnic table or two.  Several occasions, lunch was spent in a wide spot in the road with no tables at all.  But we usually found a pretty spot where we could still run around and it was still nice.

The food supplies generally consisted of the makings for both Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, as well as, cold cuts and cheese.  Mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese rounded out the sandwich making supplies.  Then came the good stuff.  There were usually a few pieces of fruit packed away, some Snickers bars that you had to fight Mom for, those little packs of crackers that were filled with either peanut butter or cheese, peanuts, chips and canned bean dip.  Canned bean dip along with Fritos was a staple of my families traveling foods.  We usually started out with a couple of six packs of Cokes and replenished those as we went along.  Keep in mind, it was the '70's so these were generally bottled Cokes.  I'm not sure why a Coke out of a bottle tastes so much better but it still does.  I think they just get colder.

Now, when I say Cokes, you have to bear in mind that I am a Texan.  Our "Cokes" usually consisted of a few Sprites, a Diet Rite Cola for Mom, a Big Red for Ronnie, a few Dr. Peppers for whoever wanted them and I always drank plain old Coke or one of the Sprites if we were out of Coke.  Generally, in the morning, as we were getting ready to leave each stop just before dawn, part of Dad's car packing ritual seemed to involve a quick inventory of the food supplies and draining water out of the ice chest followed by refilling it from the motel's ice machine.  Sometimes, if the Coke machine in the motel had what Dad deemed were decent prices, we would refill our Coke supply from there, as well. Then the real loading of the car would commence. We all stood around quietly while Dad did what needed to be done.  Periodically, he would issue an order to Robbie, my oldest brother, who seemed to be his right hand in the car packing process. Robbie would follow through without comment.  Then we would get underway.

As we drove, the activities ranged from playing games like I Spy to judging the distance to some landmark we were approaching. In this game, you guessed the distance that you felt the car was from a fixed spot and once all the distances were in, Dad would follow it on the odometer of the car.  The person closest won and decided on the next object.  Sometimes when it rained we raced raindrops on windows of the car.  That was when you knew we had been in the car too long.  A rousing game of what we called back then Beep Beep (now known as Slug Bug) was always good to pass the time.

We weren't usually allowed to carry games and toys in the car.  My guess would be that they took up space and then we would just end up fighting over them. My Mrs. Beasley usually made the trip only because I would never have been able to sleep without her.  Sometimes Ronnie's Chester the Chimp would come along for the same reason and Robbie would bring a book.  Beyond that the backseat of our car was devoid of toys and entertainment. We entertained ourselves.  There were no DVD players in the head rest, no Ipods for us to listen to or even watch.  For Mom and Dad there was no satellite radio.  When we lost a station, Mom would scan the channels by turning the nob on the AM radio until she found something else that sounded like it was in the distance and might "come in" eventually.  If there were no other stations on the horizon, we would turn off the radio and sing.  That's right, we sang.  Nobody in my family could carry a tune in a bucket.  But nevertheless, we sang and loudly.  To this day when my car gets too quiet, I will break out into a rousing rendition of "Bullet in my shoulder, blood running down my vest.  Twenty in the posse, they're never gonna let me reeeeeeeeest...."  It was our big "go to" song.  We sang a lot of Marty Robins.  I suppose because they were good story songs but also just because Mom and Dad liked Marty Robins.  We also sang a lot of Johnny Cash.  You can never go wrong with Burnin' Ring of Fire.

All in all, I would say that our family vacations were some of the highlights of my childhood.  Nothing brings a family together like suffering in the backseat of a Ford.  I think part of what made it all so great was that there was only one backseat in our car and so we were forced to get along.  I know kids today who have never had reason to yell, "MOM!!!!  HE'S TOUCHING ME!!!!!"  That's just wrong.