\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0One day this week we went to Santa Fe — twice. Well, it was actually more like two and a half times. Here’s what happened: We traveled to Albuquerque in the morning for an appointment. We returned mid-afternoon and got a call about picking up our two small grand-daughters. That accomplished, we recorded close to 400 miles, and neither we nor the car breathed hard.<\/p>\n
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Now imagine a couple of generations ago when we were the little ones and our parents the trip-arrangers. Choreographing the Second Vatican Council couldn’t have involved more to-do than a trip to Santa Fe — not the way Mom planned things.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Today we travel more in a month than we did all year, back in the \u00c5\u201940s.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps as a throwback from the horse-and-buggy days, Mom was obsessively attentive to details. And the only thing that took longer than planing the trip was the trip itself.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 My wife and I, assuring our son and daughter-in-law that meeting them in Santa Fe was no big deal, discussed how things have changed.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 On the stretch of I-25, which has gotten progressively busier these days, we talked about the comfort of cruise control, automatic headlights, temperature control, adjustable seats, power-everything, and a ride that insulates us from the elements.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Back then, after an hour of traveling, we were exhausted: four of us children in the back seat, with Dolores, the oldest, in the front with Mom and Dad. After an hour we piled out of the car — we hadn’t gotten to Santa Fe yet; rather, we were only to Starvation Peak, getting ready for a pic-i-nic. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A picnic,” Mom used to explain, what was other people had. We had a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pic-i-nic,” and I surmise that extra syllable made the fest ever more joyful.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We never had a car trip without someone becoming ill. One of Dad’s pleasures in life was enjoying a Roi-Tan cigar, a big one, which would last all the way over and back. Once, as we activated our 4-45 air conditioner, one of us complained about inhaling cigar smoke, which in those days may have been more therapeutic than the gas fumes travelers everywhere ingested.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Mom told Dad about the discontent in the back seat, and Dad, not to be deprived of the pleasure in smoking a store-bought cigar, grumbled and responded with, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I ought to throw them out.” Thereupon, Mom nodded and flung the four-pack of Roi-Tans out the window, never to be seen again.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Well, by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153them,” Dad meant us, his progeny, his loving offspring, not the cigars. We rode the next two hours very quietly. Even the Phase II pic-i-nic at a store in Rowe, where we enjoyed the only soda pop of the trip, was in somber silence.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I sometimes marvel at the technological changes this generation has witnessed. It makes almost no sense to my 8-year-old grandson and namesake when I explain that older cars didn’t have seatbelts or safety handles on the doors. Or padded dashes or safety glass. And the steering was exactly like we see in old movies, with the driver having to make huge arm movements just to go straight.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In the pre-cell phone era, a breakdown, which was common, may have meant finding someone who could hail a wrecker. Of course, handymen often could perform the repairs themselves.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But my biggest impression is the long-lasting influence early travel had on Mom. Many times we’d pick up Mom and Dad at the Albuquerque airport. Out of habit, Mom often would look to the back seat and ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is everyone present and accounted for?” Was she mimicking a line from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cheaper by the Dozen”?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Was she remembering the really olden days when kids actually fell out of horse-drawn wagons?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Cars were bulkier in those days and trunks roomier. Our two-installment picnic could never have comprised fast food. No, Mom would have fried the chicken ahead of time, or cooked it at a picnic site. And none of us had ever heard of a camping stove or aluminum utensils. Instead, the skillets, silverware and condiments we used at home were the same ones what went with us on our day-long trips to the Capital City.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Six hours for a 400-mile trip in the year 2005 or more than three hours for a 65-mile trip in 1947: you do the math.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But somehow, as we appear to be standing still when passed by SUVs that whiz by at 90 mph, I kind of long for an occasional drawn-out jaunt, that would even allow us time for a pic-i-nic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0One day this week we went to Santa Fe — twice. Well, it was actually more like two and a half times. Here’s what happened: We traveled to Albuquerque in the morning for an appointment. We returned mid-afternoon and got a call about picking up our two small grand-daughters. That accomplished, we recorded close to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}