03 September 2011

Road Trip Road Games: 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History


Week 36:  Road Trips.  Describe a family road trip from your childhood.  Where did you go and why?  Who was in the car?  How did you pass the time?
Dad, Mom, Brenda and Linda in Ferndale, Michigan outside of Uncle Hank's and Aunt Mabel's home.

Do you remember the license plate game?  My sister and I would try to find the most out-of-state license plates we could when we would go on road trips.  Another road trip activity was to be the first one to spot an object, it could be on the road, on a billboard, or anywhere.  For example, be the first one to spot a ball.  I remember another game where we tried to find letters that spelled words.  We would be looking at license plates, billboards and anything with writing on it.

We didn't travel a whole lot when we were children, but I do remember going to Detroit a number of times.  It seems like we would combine a school shopping trip with going to the Detroit Zoo almost every year for many years.  I loved the Detroit Zoo.  I liked the train ride, the large animals, eating lunch there, and the balloons.  One time just as we got to the car, I lost my balloon. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy.  Thankfully, my wonderful dad went back and got me another one, which I am sure made the trip home a lot quieter for my parents.

Most road trips included my dad, my mom, my sister, Linda, and myself.  Later, two more siblings joined us.  I don't remember very many road trips when there were six of us, probably didn't have a big enough car.  My dad always drove and my mom would sit in the front seat.  My sister and I were in the back playing games, reading, or sleeping. 

Road trips to Detroit were usually fun because we usually would stop at my Aunt Mabel's and Uncle Hank's home in Ferndale.  I can't think of a better trip than the Detroit Zoo, shopping and visiting one of my favorite aunts.







4 comments:

  1. We used to go to the Detroit zoo every year too but it wasn't a road trip since we lived in detroit already. how far did you have to travel?

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  2. I loved going to the Zoo and to Uncle Hank and Aunt Mabel's house. Even though it was only a 2 hour drive, it always seemed like such a long trip. I also remember playing the "gas station" game. We all picked a different gas station and the one who found the most before we arrived at our destination won!! Such fun memories.

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  3. I forgot about the gas station game. Yes, they were fun memories.

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