Taking “Road trips” have always been looked forward to. Once in a while I can talk my farmer husband into getting into the pickup or car and heading out for a fun day, seeing different scenery and exploring. The road trips are usually not so far from home. The trip can be taken in a day or even a half a day. Maybe the trip is to visit friendswho live in a neighboring county or to see a certain sight someone has told us about. It can also be just driving around the farmland checking on crops, livestock and fences. Since we are both interested in historical places, we are known to seek out a ghost town, a museum, a building of interest or drive around a lake.
As a child, my family was known to take what we called, “Sunday drives.” Some Sundays after church and lunch, Dad and Mom would load us girls into the car and off we’d go. Sometimes it was to visit our grandparents, especially when aunts, uncles and cousins were back visiting during a vacation. Some Sunday afternoons we’d head east to visit Dad’s cousins in Republic County and at Hubbell. At the cousin’s home at Hubbell, they had a son who was just a little older than I. He’d take my sister and me in his car around the area.
Other Sunday afternoons, Dad would take us on a “farm tour.” After we’d view the progress of our crop land, we’d travel around and he’d point out who lived where. During this time, besides farming, Dad worked for the local ASCS office measuring the grains in the bins so he knew all the farmers in the county. He’d know some of the history of that farm family who lived at the farmstead that we’d pass. If there was a vacated place, he’d know who used to live there. Knowing Dad, I’m certain when he stopped at that farm on business, he visited with the farmer.
Sometimes, we girls would fall asleep on the drive but we’d wake up when Dad began another of his farmstead reports. We’d travel over roads I’d never been on before. Some were well traveled and others not so much. When we’d hit a road that had a lot of rough spots, Mom would request we get off that country road. If we happened to go through a town that had a place to get an ice cream cone, we’d stop and enjoy the treat. Those were some great family times.
I wonder if today’s families take those “road trips” or “Sunday drives” together? If no, they don’t know what they are missing.
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