Friday, September 7, 2012

A Driving Lesson

In accordance with our family's summer tradition, we took the boys on a meticulously orchestrated two-week road trip this past August. Because the experience is by design less about our destination and more about the adventures along the way, we are always thrilled to integrate pleasant but unexpected detours into the plan as we go.

Like every family hitting the highway, we happen upon less than desirable digressions as well. While these range from petty annoyances to more problematic inconveniences, they tend to serve up some of the most memorable moments of the trips. Sometimes, they even provide meaningful life lessons that we bring home like souvenirs actually made in the U.S.A.

We felt the full impact of that sentiment just outside Pittsburgh last week as we were preparing to head home.

My husband took the van for a little pre-trip snack while I walked with the boys up the street to a Get Go, a well-equipped convenience store. With the tank full, he soon joined us, parking the car in the lot. The boys hit the bathroom, bought drinks and selected RedBox movies for the ride.

We all moved sluggishly, dreading the return to our scheduled, busy lives. Vacation was over and it was time to go home.

But the car had other plans. It, too, was not quite ready to head back to New Jersey. Like its family, it had little interest in revisiting the days of shuttling to and from school and lessons and practices or wrestling with oversized shopping carts at Costco. Who could have imagined that a Toyota Sienna had feelings?

I took the boys back inside -- out of the heat and away from all those moving cars. We took note of the ironic Get Go tagline: Get In. Get Out. Get Going. My dears, we weren't moving. Under my breath, I uttered a quick prayer that it please, please, please be nothing more expensive or complicated than the battery.

Deep down, though, I understood the van's emotional response to our vacation's end. I shared its eagerness to get back on the open road, to chase the wind and allow the insouciance that travel affords to consume us.

Yes, I called AAA anyway. Meanwhile, my husband ran up the road to a conveniently located AutoZone, from which he returned with battery-powered jumper cables (the very same ones we'd forgotten at home). As my youngest hovered nervously, he set them in place and voila! The car turned over.

Then it died....again. The next attempt produced nothing but a screeching sound that signed the battery's death certificate. I called AAA back to confirm that their roadside assistant had a battery on board.

"Yes, ma'am. Our trucks are always equipped," the agent assured me.

After a not unusual wait of slightly more than an hour, we giggidly greeted the repair man as he parked astride our van. The gas fumes combined with the sweltering heat sent the boys back inside once again for drinks, making themselves comfortable at the little tables in the airconditioned store. One played with his Rubiks cube. The others investigated which snacks were kosher.

I just held my breath, then bought a scratch-off lottery ticket.

The good news was this: It was, in fact, just the battery. The bad news was that AAA trucks are, occasionally, not always so equipped. The repair guy had used the last one on his previous call. But our roadside hero left and returned in a flash. We were set to leave in no time, finally fulfilling the Get Go promise to Get Going.

Our automotive delay left us with the odd sensation of hovering between two states of mind: vacation and reality. Though of the less desirable sort, this unplanned distraction surely had us thinking. We began to wax nostalgic as soon as we left the parking lot, already missing the freedom of the journey while supressing our anxiety about what awaited us at home.

While the boys watched their movies, my husband and I gathered our composure and compiled the lessons learned while packed in a van with the boys for two weeks as we made our way more than halfway across the country.

Here is our list:

Whether at home or on the road, always have in hand what you need to keep your battery -- both the one under the hood of your car and the one that sits somewhere between your heart and your stomach -- charged.

Every break from the every day, be it long or brief, local or remote, is a gift.

Don't leave the wisdom garnered on a journey behind in the hotel room.

Family adventures are limited and priceless, so take too many pictures, especially if your children insist you should not.

Never speed up time. It passes quickly enough without human intervention.

And finally, this pearl: Pay your AAA bill on time.


2 comments:

  1. You did learn a lot on your family adventure, huh? It would be good if you also shared these lessons with your children, so that when the time comes to have their own adventure, they will know exactly what to do when they go through the same situation, particularly with checking the condition of your car. A broken car is very upsetting when you’re on a road trip. Make sure that your car is in great working condition before you head down the road.


    Marvis Carswell

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    1. Thanks for your reply. You are absolutely right. However, we DID take the car to Toyota six days before the trip for a gazillion-point check-up that included the battery. The valuable lesson the boys learned is that no matter how well you plan, life tends to throw curve balls. The important thing is to keep your head on when it happens. Also, they also figured out how much easier it is to face complications when in good company.

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