In the spirit of Tony going on a road trip this week to visit his family, I would like to recount some one my past car trips, from the games played to the mistakes made and everything in between.
                                                                                                                                
I was in college. We had a long weekend and no diving practice scheduled (for once). One Saturday morning, one of my good friends comes running into my dorm room, which I shared with another guy on the swim team, and was connected to another room with 2 other swimmers.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Those were the only two words out of his mouth. No one asked any questions about what to pack, where we were going, whose car we were taking, NOTHING. A mad scramble ensued, grabbing bags, food, clothes, and some things to do. Of course, we should have known better than to just throw stuff in bags at 8:00 in the AM, still only half awake. 

Within 30 minutes we were all ready to go and headed out the door. As we walked down to the parking lot, we were trying to decide whose car to take. The SUV was the obvious pick since there was 6 of us and it would have been tight in any conventional 5 seater.

We get everything loaded up, all hop in and go to start the car. It cranks, sputters, stalls and dies. Hmmm.

Out of gas.

No big deal, I had a gas can in my trunk, ran, got a gallon of gas, came back, put the gas in and tried to start it up. Again, nothing. Apparently when the SUV ran out of gas it also lost the vacuum pressure in the gas tank. Easy fix, we just needed to get some more gas, turn it to run and off a few times to let the gas pump get that vacuum back, and everything would be good to go.

Back to the gas station, with 2 gallon cans in tote this time (I didn't want to have to go back a 3rd time...smart thinking right?).

An hour and a half after we were supposed to be on the road the SUV was up and running so we headed to the gas station to fill up. Done.

At the gas station in Knoxville, TN we decided that we were going to down up to Pensacola, FL for a party that evening. We all knew people that lived down there, so we could stay for free and not break the bank looking for a hotel or anything. We finally got on the road about 10:30 (Note, this is about an 8 hour drive).

We decided to start off with the license plate game. The object of this game is to find as many states as you can off of the license plates, Usually Hawaii and Alaska are the two hardest, which makes complete sense. About 50 minutes into our game there is a loud bang that comes from the back of the SUV. We pull over to the side of the road and sure enough, the back passenger tire had just blown. Easy enough, there are 6 guys, we should be able to fix this no problem. We could probably have 5 of us lift the truck ourselves if we wanted, who needs a jack.

We decided to go the safe route and jack up the Suburban, not that we couldn't do it, but it was our day off and we didn't want to make it seem like work. We go to pull out the spare and it looks like the tire that was already on the truck.

Smart guy had a blow out, put the spare on the truck and never got the original one fixed. The tire that blew...yea, it was the spare.

I called roadside assistance to have them come tow us to the closest garage. We waited another hour for the tow truck to come. Slight problem, there were 6 of us and only enough room in the tow truck for 2, other than the driver who smelled like most of the guys did after a night of partying.

I called a taxi. At this point I have a strange feeling that I am the only one who has any money left since we wouldn't get paid again until the following Friday. I was correct in this assumption as George was waiting for me as we drove up in the taxi.

By the time the tire was fixed it was close to 1:00 and we were all starving. The general consensus was to stop at a drive-thru and grab a bite to eat and get back on the road. Here was the problem, we drove right past a Fudruckers (for those of you who have never had the chance to experience a Fudruckers hamburger, you are truly missing out and I suggest you stop whatever it is that you are doing, find the nearest one and make your way there with haste).

So, we stopped to eat lunch. 2:30. Now remember, we still have an 8 hour drive ahead of us, that would put us in around 10:30 PM, which is right when the party is getting kicked off anyway.

Back in we go. Now there is a mad rush to get down to FL. As we fly by picking out states off of cars' license plates, like perfectly trained snipers, we hear "UH OH" from the front seat. Immediately everyone turns around to look out the back window and sure enough, blue lights.

87 in a 70, but it gets better. In the mad scramble to get on the road, our diligent driver left his drivers license in his other pants pocket from the night before at the club. Way to go George. After a 30 minute stop where everyone was asked to get out of the car and present some form of ID, the cop gave us a ticket and let us go, with many promises to slow down.

Long story short, we got to the party, late of course (mapquest had screwed us over on directions yet again). The party was fun, we all had a good time and crashed out. The next morning everyone woke up and got ready to head back to Tennessee. One of the bags was missing. Remember when the tire blew and we went to look for the spare? Yep, you guessed it. Paulo's bag was still sitting on the side of the interstate, just hanging out, enjoying the scenery.

We finally got back to TN, after almost spending $1,500 between the six of us for gas, food, speeding ticket, tire, etc. So much for a cheap easy weekend. Man, that was not the definition of fun.

So I ask you, what memories of road trips do you have, either fun or otherwise? I would love to hear them.


This guest post was written by Sal Vilardo, author of Everyday Thoughts from Life. If you liked this post, go check out his blog and subscribe to his feed.