I wrote yesterday's blog and emailed it to the guy at the newspaper's Bulletin Board. He emailed back with a book recommendation: "Cross Country" by Robert Sullivan. I requested it online from the library and can hardly wait to read it. Here is a link to a book review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/books/review/02barc.html?ex=1309492800&en=55817ca030f5f536&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
I love peoples travel stories. After high school my husband took a trip on a motorcycle with his best friend. Two guys. One motorcycle. They worked their way around the perimeter of the USA. They were underfunded and only made it to LA before having to sell the bike. They made it the rest of the way on their thumbs. There were a few relatives and acquaintances along the way that put them up free. They stayed with Jon's uncle and aunt in Pennsylvania. When it was time to go the uncle took them to the freeway ramp. They stood with a sign that said, "Minnesota". When Uncle Butch came back from work in the afternoon the boys were still there. Most times they got a ride. One of their benefactors was Jimmy Hoffa's son. Another was a guy who offered them a ride working in the carnival? Any of you read Jack Kerouac's "One The Road"? He had the same experience. Jon relates being offered a ride by two attractive girls in a convertible somewhere out west. They declined. The girls were going the wrong direction. Oh to be young.
One of Jon's cousins is a great story teller. Her tales of family road trips are hard to top. Her father, a no nonsense small town businessman, was all about "making good time" when they traveled. Her mom was more sympathic to the three kids in the backseat. One time she pleaded for him to stop because one of the kids 'had to go'. He didn't. No unscheduled stops. Couldn't the child wait until they needed gas? He didn't stop. The kid couldn't wait and had an accident. An annoyed mom made dad stop and give him a bath in a shallow stream.
This Uncle also had cleanliness standards for restaurants. This was the 50's. Not as much fast food. They would drive until the kids were famished. If they went into a restaurant and the dishes were cracked or dad's elbows stuck to the tabletop they would leave without eating and drive on. I don't think the kids or mom cared. One can see how McDonald's became so popular.
No cracked or chipped dishes. No tabletops.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/books/review/02barc.html?ex=1309492800&en=55817ca030f5f536&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
I love peoples travel stories. After high school my husband took a trip on a motorcycle with his best friend. Two guys. One motorcycle. They worked their way around the perimeter of the USA. They were underfunded and only made it to LA before having to sell the bike. They made it the rest of the way on their thumbs. There were a few relatives and acquaintances along the way that put them up free. They stayed with Jon's uncle and aunt in Pennsylvania. When it was time to go the uncle took them to the freeway ramp. They stood with a sign that said, "Minnesota". When Uncle Butch came back from work in the afternoon the boys were still there. Most times they got a ride. One of their benefactors was Jimmy Hoffa's son. Another was a guy who offered them a ride working in the carnival? Any of you read Jack Kerouac's "One The Road"? He had the same experience. Jon relates being offered a ride by two attractive girls in a convertible somewhere out west. They declined. The girls were going the wrong direction. Oh to be young.
One of Jon's cousins is a great story teller. Her tales of family road trips are hard to top. Her father, a no nonsense small town businessman, was all about "making good time" when they traveled. Her mom was more sympathic to the three kids in the backseat. One time she pleaded for him to stop because one of the kids 'had to go'. He didn't. No unscheduled stops. Couldn't the child wait until they needed gas? He didn't stop. The kid couldn't wait and had an accident. An annoyed mom made dad stop and give him a bath in a shallow stream.
This Uncle also had cleanliness standards for restaurants. This was the 50's. Not as much fast food. They would drive until the kids were famished. If they went into a restaurant and the dishes were cracked or dad's elbows stuck to the tabletop they would leave without eating and drive on. I don't think the kids or mom cared. One can see how McDonald's became so popular.
No cracked or chipped dishes. No tabletops.
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