The Road

My dad is in the front driving intently, without having slept in a couple of days, and my oldest sister is in a deep sleep towards the front of our 15 seat van. The contrasting image blares at me from my past. The road trips with the family are some of the most amusing times I have ever experienced while traveling in cars. Dad sits in the front with his headphones on to block out all the noise from my siblings and I. We travel to visit when the sun goes down and the stars come up. As the road goes on my dad keeps trudging forward like a captain of an army. He does not stop and does not turn back. The car is starting to smell like everyone’s body odor and my brothers disgusting toots and feet. Going through state to state to reach the destination by morning, my dad is focused to get there before we all wake up and become needy like newborn puppies and there mom. 

Michelle my oldest sister sitting close to him is deep in her sleep and starts to sleep talk occasionally. She abruptly sits up and yells “Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad” constantly until my dad cuts through his focus and pulls over to the curb asking Michelle, “ What do you need?”. The family’s attention is drawn to the front seats wondering why Michelle is screaming, and why we are pulled over. Michelle wakes up from her deep sleep and also wonders why the van stopped. You can almost hear my dad’s eyes rolling over as he turned back onto the highway like a loyal captain to his army. We all go back to sleep now that it is around the middle of the night and my courageous dad keeps driving. He drove us a few more miles until we all here “Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad” once more coming from my older sister. That was the start to one of my family’s extensive road trips. More rolled eyes, more miles, more snoring, and lots of good times on the road.