family cars

when i was a little girl, my parents drove a grimy, yellow, ford station wagon. it was long and ugly, and i did not like it. it was not a "cool car".

it did however, have two really neat features.

the back section had 2 opposing seats that could fold up and create a perfect space for 2 little kids to ride

and

when those same seats were folded down, we three kids could pile a lot of blankets and pillows in the back, stretch out, and sleep on long road trips.

now keep in mind these were the days BEFORE mandatory seat belts ( much less airbags, mp3 players, DVD systems, and gps navigation systems in the car)

these were the days of cow poker, the abc sign game, and am radio!

we took many a trip to ocean isle beach and boone in that station wagon and my siblings and i slept through huge sections of i-85 and i-75 while mom booked it south on our way to disney world. most of my memories in that car are not of me, but of my family. for a station wagon is just that - a family car.

that station wagon was later replaced with a buick, i think, and after that a peugeot (aka "cujo"). every vehicle my parents brought into our lives obviously served a functional purpose, but also helped create and later chronicle a period in our family's history.

this week, memories of the station wagon came rushing back because of this :



the dodge truck pictured above was my brother-in-law's family's "station wagon". it belonged to their dad for the longest time, yet i know all of the boys have driven it on many occasions. it's hauled wood, trash, tools, you name it, but mostly it hauled kids.

appropriately it's called



when i saw it last weekend, i knew i wanted to somehow get it out from under that shed & pile all those "kids" into it.



the boys informed me it no longer started without lots of cajoling, so we just loaded everyone in as she was.



sure enough they all started talking about trips to campgrounds at myrtle beach and sleeping as their dad drove down the road. they complained about how uncomfortable it could get in the back, with 3 kids and everybody's stuff. but those complaints came with smiles.

for that old beat up dodge truck did the same thing for them that our for wagon did for my family. it became part of them.



we had our share of fights in that old wagon - a few wrestling matches actually, just as i'm sure the "o" kids did. and no, it was not an environmentally friendly vehicle or very good mileage. in hindsight, it probably was a dangerous vehicle to be in out on the open road - especially with three kids "unsecured" and wide open!

but it was also a great place for a family to continue to be a family - and to continue the great adventure that my parents had begun!