When I was a kid, traveling rarely included an overnight stay anywhere. I remember Mama would beg Daddy for what seemed like months, to go to the coast - a 3 1/2 hour drive from our little home in Dale, Texas to Port Aransas. But finally, without any notice at all, Mama would wake me up early on a Saturday morning and say, "Hurry! Get ready! Daddy's taking us to the coast!" I remember being so unbelievably excited to be going somewhere. Anywhere! But especially to the coast. That drive down seemed like 8 hours long instead of 3 1/2. When we finally arrived, Daddy would drive right up on the beach to the water's edge (do they even let you do that anymore?) and we'd pile out and head for the water. After playing all day, sand stuck in every crevice of our body, we'd pile back in the car and drive straight home. That ride back seemed like 3 1/2 DAYS!
Growing up in Texas meant that we had to drive a long way to get anywhere. 4 hours here, 8 hours there, just to see family was commonplace. Daddy had a routine: put the ice chest in the car, put the family in the car, and head out. There were no thoughts of stopping at a McDonalds for anything. If we had to eat or go to the bathroom, a roadside park was the stop of choice. And I'm not talking about the nice "rest areas" with indoor plumbing. I mean a Road Side Park - where you literally parked beside the road and if you were lucky, there was a picnic table with a cover over it. And the bathroom? The bathroom was a wooden a-frame ladder that carried you over the fence to a path that led you behind a mesquite tree (shrub) where if you were REALLY lucky, no one else had been before you in the last week.
Occasionally Daddy would treat us. He'd stop off at a big grocery store - the biggest he could find because the ones in our town were not so big and Daddy loved a BIG grocery store - and buy a block of cheddar cheese, a stick of summer sausage, and a quart of milk. That meant when we got to the roadside park, instead of the regular bologna or salami that we usually ate on these excisions, Daddy would pull out his "old-timer" pocket knife, open it up, wipe it on his pants leg, slice the cheese, slice the summer sausage, wipe it off on his pants leg again and put it away. And the quart of milk was passed around to all of us to drink from. It's funny, as an adult, I can now afford to stop at Logans for the occasional 6oz sirloin with salad and all-you-can-eat rolls, but I swear, the memory of that summer sausage and cheddar cheese is making my mouth water like it was just yesterday. I can almost feel that hot Texas breeze rush across me as I sat at on that roadside table. How I wish I could go back in time to that very moment when a stop off at a roadside park in south Texas was the biggest treat in the world to our little family. But that was then…
Marrying a professional road musician was a real learning experience. His bag was always packed and sitting against the wall in our bedroom. I finally asked him after about 6 months if he was planning on going somewhere and he laughed and said, it's just easier to never unpack. Fast forward to when he and I started traveling together in our own band. It was my first taste of true road life and all of a sudden, I knew exactly what he meant. Even though our bags are now tucked away in closets when we're home, we still keep them stocked and ready to go at a moments notice.
Today I've been getting our clothes ready and ironing shirts for Blake as he is the MC for a large bluegrass festival in Auburn, Alabama this week. This is the first time I've packed for a festival in 13 years that our band isn't actually playing and it's been a different experience for us. Usually, we'd hit the road and play a couple shows at a festival and then head for the next town for the same routine. It's been rare for us to stay at the same place for more than 2 days with our band. But this time, Blake is working 4 days so we are preparing to set up shop at the same place for the duration. And, we will be staying in an RV on-site. Aside from a few short (and humorous) months when our band traveled in a Class C, I've not ever camped out for any length of time in an RV. It'll provide all the luxuries of home including a kitchen, TV and living room and I have to admit, it'll be nice to be staying somewhere other than a motel. Not only are the accommodations going to be different, but we're taking our time on the trip down and are planning on stopping off at the Ikea store in Atlanta - something I've been wanting to do for a couple years now. And it will be nice to reconnect with a lot of folks we've become friends with over the years, both fans of our music, and friends and colleagues in other bands. But oddly, the thing I am looking most forward to about this trip, is finding a great big grocery store where I can buy a stick of summer sausage and a block of cheddar cheese, then hopefully find a picnic table at the campsite where I can recreate a little part of my childhood and reflect on how far we've come. But really, how good I had it.
The only thing I won't miss - is the lack of indoor plumbing!
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