Caution: this drive may cause motion sickness
I am the plan man. It is both a self-designated title and one also agreed upon by my family. I am always on the lookout for a new place to see, thing to do or route to take. Though not a traveling gypsy, I was raised on the road. My Mom was a school teacher which gave her lots of vacation time that obviously neatly coincided with the schedule of both me and my sister. I got used to driving the 12 hours one way to and from Milan, Tennessee and my hometown of Hartsville, South Carolina at least once a year if not twice. Then the 8-10 hour treks to Zephyrhills, Florida were also regular occurrences. I would initially fight my sister for the front seat and she would always win the battle. I never really wanted the front seat. I preferred the vast expanses of my Mom's Ford LTD backseat to the front seat but when a chance was presented to antagonize my sister, I jumped at it.
I have never been one to get car sick. I can ride, drive, sleep, eat, read and be fine in the Appalachians or heading South on I-95. No Gameboys, ipods or portable DVD players were part of my road trips. We had the Gulf road maps or the jumbo Rand McNally atlas, the newspaper, books, the scenery and my Mom and sister's choice in music. When I hear ELO, Peter Frampton or Wings I am transported back to those trips with Mom behind the wheel. When I hear Barry Manilow I remember but do not smile. I did have to train myself to be a good traveler and to break the "Are we there yet?" mantra of beginners. I was once offered a prize(can't recall what it was) if I could make it back from West Tennessee to home without once asking that annoying question. I had it in the bag for 11 hours and about forty minutes when I temporarily lost my mind and asked the banned question. Within seconds of asking it, a green highway sign silently answered me. Exit 108- 1 mile- Bishopville, Sumter. At the stop sign at the bottom of the exit cloverleaf was the sign I had seen so often: Sumter 20 miles to the left and Hartsville 20 miles to the right. So close and yet I lost my chance.
Now like my Mother before me and her Dad before her, I am the driver leading our family to both new and familiar places. Still free of carsickness but sadly that is not true for Louis, III. We try to keep him fed and watch the signs and his warnings. When his lips go pale he has reached the soon-to-hurl stage.
I have never been one to get car sick. I can ride, drive, sleep, eat, read and be fine in the Appalachians or heading South on I-95. No Gameboys, ipods or portable DVD players were part of my road trips. We had the Gulf road maps or the jumbo Rand McNally atlas, the newspaper, books, the scenery and my Mom and sister's choice in music. When I hear ELO, Peter Frampton or Wings I am transported back to those trips with Mom behind the wheel. When I hear Barry Manilow I remember but do not smile. I did have to train myself to be a good traveler and to break the "Are we there yet?" mantra of beginners. I was once offered a prize(can't recall what it was) if I could make it back from West Tennessee to home without once asking that annoying question. I had it in the bag for 11 hours and about forty minutes when I temporarily lost my mind and asked the banned question. Within seconds of asking it, a green highway sign silently answered me. Exit 108- 1 mile- Bishopville, Sumter. At the stop sign at the bottom of the exit cloverleaf was the sign I had seen so often: Sumter 20 miles to the left and Hartsville 20 miles to the right. So close and yet I lost my chance.
Now like my Mother before me and her Dad before her, I am the driver leading our family to both new and familiar places. Still free of carsickness but sadly that is not true for Louis, III. We try to keep him fed and watch the signs and his warnings. When his lips go pale he has reached the soon-to-hurl stage.
Take a look at the beautiful Northern California coastline from Highway 1. Gorgeous to all who see it but slightly less stellar when all of the slow switchbacks have turned your son into a vomit machine. Thankfully I had some of those wonderful plastic grocery bags. Designed and patented by Sonoco and Ed Haenni years ago, now every Northern California town, city and county are racing to ban them. Double bag them and they make an efficient way to keep both car and child free and clean from the effects of car sickness.
It is a difficult task to focus on driving safely with a sick passenger while knowing full well that the curves will not end for some time. Cruising beside the Russian River heading to the sea and then North to the only Russian settlement in the lower 48 is an endurance run that I hoped would end before the lad let loose. We came close but car sickness won the first half. Once he had released, he bounced back quickly. He was dry and soon we made it to Fort Ross. We all know the stench of travel sickness. Not a pleasant thought much less a pleasing scent. We parked in a soft boggy field and with windows down, we smelled mint. The aroma of sweet mint filled the car.
It doesn't look like much but a few tufts of these plants were more powerful than a bushel of potpourri. After investigating, we determined it was pennyroyal and liked the wet areas of the redwood coasts of Northern California and Oregon. Toxic to eat but lovely to smell.
Soon Louis had an apple in his belly and some lunch and was ready to explore. The day was not lost. A discovery was made and our family chalked up another adventure together. His highlight was the pumpkin carving and seeing the cannons. Tsengel loved her basket weaving. I loved it all except the sickness.
By the way, on the return trip he got sick again. No bags from Sonoco, quite a mess, what a smell but he was a champ about it. Got home, bathed, cleaned the car and on we went. The Cooks are ready for our next adventure.
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