It was the fall of 1978, my freshman year in college, and my roommate, a high school classmate of mine, and I were going to drive home for the weekend.
My roommate drove a veritable tank; it was a 1972 Cadillac El Dorado, a hand-me-down from her grandfather. It was big, brown, and roomy, able to take two college girls and their laundry home with room to spare. On subsequent trips, we fit six people plus luggage and dirty clothes into that car, but this trip, it was just the two of us.
Funny how I remember that trip like it was yesterday. There was nothing particularly memorable about it, unlike the time we got stopped by the Highway Patrol in a case of mistaken identity when they were looking for a getaway car from a recent bank robbery that roughly fit the description of my friend's car; I remember it because we spent the entire three hour trip singing along to an 8-track tape of the soundtrack from Grease, over and over and over....
What?! You went for nonfiction this time? (I'm assuming.)
ReplyDeleteGreat story, though! I bet you can't listen to Grease without thinking of that trip.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA case of mistaken identity ... tough situation... Though later it appears funny at that moment mind stops working!
ReplyDeleteI am sure we all have a "pull over situation" in our past that we remember to this day. Enjoyed the read.
ReplyDeleteok what the hell! you and Kristi decide to switch places this week? lol (no, not really surprised, even at the synchronicity of her flipping over to the land of make-believe the same time you go in the opposite direction…. odd and fun things are the routine, here in never-maybe-neverland)
ReplyDeleteAfter my car was stolen, repaired, and returned to me ,i was stopped for having a stolen vehicle. The dmv never removedmy plates from the list. They towed thecar and i had to go down to the station ligjts and sirens ablaze until it could be straightened out. Cost me over a hundred bucks with tow and getting it out of the impound.
ReplyDeleteAfter my car was stolen, repaired, and returned to me ,i was stopped for having a stolen vehicle. The dmv never removedmy plates from the list. They towed thecar and i had to go down to the station ligjts and sirens ablaze until it could be straightened out. Cost me over a hundred bucks with tow and getting it out of the impound.
ReplyDeleteSome of my best memories where singing in the car with my friend. We tooled around in her boyfriend's Fiat convertible two seater. We were so cool. We thought we were Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt. Good memories.
ReplyDeleteI bet that was the best car trip! That Grease soundtrack is so fun!!
ReplyDeleteLove it! I had a 1973 dark green Lincoln Continental handed down to me (via my mom, via her dad, my grandfather. I had to learn to parallel park in that car. Is it any wonder I flunked my driver's test the first time? I still can't parallel park! xox jean
ReplyDeleteSome of the very best memories are the everyday ones--life with a friend and contentment.
ReplyDeleteAhh yes, that marvelous invention the 8-track tape! We did indeed play them over and over until the tapes work out from pure exhaustion. And then came cassette tapes which met the same fate. Somehow the convenience of digital music isn't nearly as "cool" as rewinding errant cassette tapes with a pencil, or crying when your favorite 8-track bit the dust!
ReplyDelete