From the Elle Files: My First Roadtrip

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Every once in a while, Elle Sees shares some of her crazy adventures. Below is her First Roadtrip. Kids, don't try this at home. Leave it to the professionals! Enjoy!

“Let’s f*&$ing go!” L said. And go, we did. It was Winter break 1999. The four of us, (me, L, E, and Cheyn) decided to do something crazy and go on a spontaneous road trip, our first as adults and with no parents in tow. Laura knew she wouldn’t be allowed to go, so she told them she still had another week of finals. This would prove to be detrimental later.

                The first stop was the Big Apple. It was chosen because that’s where L’s finger landed on the map, ala Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Map-Taped-to-the-Wall. We didn’t have any plans on this road trip other than New York City. We could figure out hotels and stuff later. Bags packed in a cursory manner, we headed into a 1980s Chevy van, borrowed from a grandfather.  We christened her, Tomeka. The radio didn’t work, nor the cig lighter, but the tape player did. We found a New Kids and Christy Lane (Christian singer from the 80s) tapes. Clearly, we were stuck in a time capsule, minus the shag carpeting. We made do by hooking up a CD player to the tape player and using batteries to keep it running. However, the CD player would skip badly if placed on the floor, so we took turns holding it.

We drove through the night, just in time to make it to the “Today” show.  We made some signs out of cardboard and lipstick and headed off. While jumping up and down trying to get on TV, L’s phone began to ring. It was her mother. Her mother, the woman who didn’t let her watch TV as kids, saw her on TV. She was in the doctor’s office and saw her daughter on TV, the one time she had seen TV in years. L was busted and no Katie, Matt, Al, Ann or even curmudgeon Willard Scott could save her.

                We had no choice but to come home ASAP. Along the way, we saw an overturned car and stopped to help, like the good Southern girls we were. Trapped inside was an elderly woman moving in with her daughter after the loss of her husband. I was amazed how no one stopped to help.

                After dropping everyone off, I was headed home when I was stuck in traffic. I grew up in such a small town that traffic wasn’t an issue. I passed a couple of cars and realized what the hubbub was. I was stuck in the Willacoochee, GA Christmas parade. I had no choice but to participate. I literally rolled down the window (80s van), began waving at the kids and throwing whatever I could find out the window. These items included mints, pennies, some old fries, and napkins. I kept the cassettes!

                And that was my first road trip. We would have others that would take us all over the States (two more with the van), but none compared to the crazy 96 hours of our first one.