Impromptu Road Trip

Road trips usually call for coolers brimming with cold drinks and special snack foods, but today an unexpected trip meant eating on the fly.

At 3 p.m. this afternoon my son and I were standing in line at QuickTrip with drinks and munchies before embarking on a three hour drive to Flagstaff to pick up an ailing hubby from the all state music festival. (A morning trip to urgent care, a prescription for pain killers, and a day of sleeping at the hotel meant the poor guy needed a ride home that did not entail a school bus at the end of a 12-hour work day tomorrow.)

A full tank of gas, a caffeine-laced half cherry slush half Dr. Pepper, and some Wheat Thins meant I was ready to roll. Of course, the boy had a large drink and a couple of spicy taquitos to tide him over while we listened to his favorite songs on the IPod and baffled other drivers with strange hand gestures. For example, as we were stuck in some slow moving traffic a guy passed us briefly and scowled at my son. After a couple of moments we rolled passed the same car, and the boy shook his arm and fist similarly to a cartoon character yelling "You young whippersnappers!" at neighborhood hooligans. The look of confusion on the other motorist's face was priceless. We laughed heartily and discussed the prospect of waggling our fingers at someone just for the heck of it. (Remember, this sort of thing is great fun when you're 15, and apparently when you're 45 as well.)

Somewhere between "Crazy Train" and "Stairway to Heaven" six foot two and not so shaggy entertained me with stories of his exploits at school. He lives somewhere between a soap opera of teenage angst and a sitcom in which the kids are smarter than the teacher. This combination makes for lively conversation and our three hour sprint to Flagstaff flew by. Along the way we were treated to beautiful vistas. Spring rains have been plentiful this year bringing the desert to life with hills covered in sunny yellow flowers and stretching into meadows of vibrantly green grass the color of freshly peeled tomatillos. Rock outcroppings stood sentinel over the riot of plant life. As we reached the outskirts of Flagstaff, the straight-timbered forests of evergreens sheltered patches of pristine snow that fell last week, holding on to their soggy edges disintegrating into the beds of fallen pine needles where the bright sun crept in.

After picking up Jeff, we hit the drive through at Mickey D's for nourishment before making the three hour trip back home. It was time for more caffeine, so an iced hazelnut latte hit the spot. McDonald's actually has some good coffee drinks which are not cheap, but shave a dollar or two off of Starbuck's. In addition, I tried a crispy chicken wrap (only $1.49) which had a strip of fried chicken, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, and sauce (barbecue, ranch, or honey mustard) all rolled into a flour tortilla for easy handling. This was surprisingly good and tasted freshly made. The boy had his usual order of McDoubles to go.

As we hit the road, Jeff laid across the back seat attempting to self-induce sleep. My son and I plied him with a couple of lullabies to no avail, so my MP3 player was plugged in for some old John Denver tunes. The setting sun provided spectacular backdrops of mesas silhouetted like a study in perspective against a pink purple sky and a blazing orange orb sinking behind the black outlines. As night came on, the darkness and soft crooning music brought a melancholy mood to the car. After an hour of near silence, I heard about the betrayals of "friends," the girl my son likes and guy she likes who treats her poorly, and all the heartaches of high school. But the sad tone lifted when we started reminiscing about other road trips - the beach, the mountains, Disneyland, Sea World, Catalina Island. Jeff awoke and talked about driving with our son when he was a baby. (It's hard to believe he'll have his learner's permit in a few months!)

By the time we reached home, I felt I knew my son better than ever and was grateful we had spent six and a half hours together on our impromptu road trip.