Devonne Brown

The road trip was a mindset. It required no preparation or preparation of all things, especially the house before the departure. After I took care of the laundry, the cats, the mess, and the packing, I was ready to roll down the road. 

Time was not of the essence on a road trip. Stops were frequent and necessary. There’s never a need to be in a hurry on a road trip. “Did you make good time?” was the question my dad always asked when I traveled from North Carolina to West Virginia with the boys. Time was irrelevant once the car started rolling. It was about a five hour drive, give or take some minutes. The drive was going to be convenient and fun regardless of whether we “made”  good time or not. “Did you have a good time?” was the proper question to ask. There was never a right answer to his question, unless it was a “yes.”

The first stop was usually within a half an hour of leaving the house for gas snacks and the bathroom break I didn’t know anybody needed before departure. Snacks usually include Cheetos Especially when my sister and I travel together. Perhaps we thought orange fingers gave us better gas mileage, who knows. But Cheetos were usually included in the snack department. 

The boys learned to travel well on long trips when they were infants. They also learned that I got lost a lot and took it as part of the process. They never fussed when we took our scenic, yet wrong and sometimes lengthy detours. Even with the GPS, I managed to take wrong turns and exits. No matter, part of the grand scheme of things. More opportunity for the grand adventure of the day, more sights to see, more stories to tell. It’s not a fuck up its a feature of the adventure. 

When the boys were very small, I used to drive all night so they would sleep and not fuss about the long drive to West Virginia or North Carolina. I loved driving without the traffic through the mountains, and it never crossed my mind that it was dangerous. 

I’m a terrible passenger on a road trip. The car manufacturers don’t put brakes or steering wheels on the passenger sides, and I find it impossible to control the vehicle from there. I need to be in control of my destiny when I drive, even if I get lost.