There’s still time for a summer road trip

Public schools here in Robeson County ramp up again on Aug. 26, which means summer vacation isn’t quite over. If you leave now, you can make a short road trip to the beach, the mountains or anywhere in between.

All of my school-aged children are now living “on their own,” meaning we are paying their bills less frequently now.

And In the 30-plus years we’ve been married, my wife and I have made our fair share of road trips in all kinds of weather and in all kinds of vehicles. Since we both grew up out West, most of our trips took us over the Rocky Mountains, across the Nevada Desert, or through the plains of Kansas, South Dakota and/or Wyoming.

During that time I’ve developed several systems to ensure a safe arrival.

The first is what I like to call “The Three Ds of Long-distance Driving: Ding Dongs, Doritos and Dr. Pepper.” Those three staples are good for — at most — a 15-hour drive through the high plains of Nevada and over the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington. Anything longer and you’re going to need to stop at a Taco Bell for some real food.

Suesan and I married during our last year of college, which meant several trips home to Seattle in her very sporty Toyota Corolla. We’d leave about sunset and drive through the night so we could catch the sunrise over the Columbia River Gorge.

OK, really, we’d leave at sunset so that we didn’t have to drive across the Utah, Nevada and Oregon desert during daylight hours. Inevitably, though, that meant navigating snow-covered roads through the Blue Mountains in a rear-wheel drive pseudo sports car.

On one such trip, as I tried to sleep off my Doritos and Dr. Pepper hangover, I woke up to the car doing circles in the middle of the highway. Like a champ, Suesan pulled out of the spin and landed us safely in a snowbank on the side of the road; the side of the road just over the bridge from the icy depths of the Grande Ronde River.

A few years and four children later, found us in a Dodge Ram van, this time on a trip to the Grand Canyon, and then on to Mesa, Arizona.

We were approaching Flagstaff when we passed a fellow pushing his disabled cross-country touring bicycle along the side of the road — in the middle of nowhere.

“I’m stopping,” I said.

The glaring look I got from my wife told me she wasn’t on board with my decision, but we were driving a 15-year-old Dodge van full of kids and camping gear across the Navajo Indian reservation and we needed the karma.

I strapped his bike to the top of the van and off we went.

As our children grew, so did our travel vehicles. Van number two was a full-size Chevy conversion van that fit our three sons — all 6-foot plus — and shrimpy daughter — 5 foot 8 inches — nicely.

That van, which also pulled a pop-up trailer to many, many destinations, made traveling far more comfortable than that old Toyota Corolla, plus it held a much bigger cooler. Bigger cooler, more Dr. Pepper and more Ding Dongs

Now that we’re mostly empty-nesters, my wife and I have traded our huge vehicles in for much more economical models. Between her little SUV and my motorcycle, we get where we need to go — mostly local trips that don’t require Doritos, Dr. Pepper or Ding Dongs.

But with the holidays approaching and our children scattered all across the country, I’m sure we’ll be back on the road again soon.

Has anyone been to Deadwood, North Carolina?