Extended Holiday Weekend

Thank You for Our Freedom

There is so much to be said for youth, we were all there once.  Some of us are still there but it’s not the same; young at heart and in mind is not the same as young actually.  The things we value, the things that drive us, for the most part it’s the material things, and the instant gratification.  I was impulsive once upon a time, I like many others somehow felt that youth would stick around forever.  What a wonderful thing to have progressed out of it while I was still young, and could make amends.

The extended holiday weekend reminds me of the olden days when I too would have the car packed and ready to go for the 1500 mile trip from California to Washington State to visit family and friends for the three day weekend.  The only difference between then and now was the amount of the payments of the muscle car I was driving, and the cost per gallon of gasoline.  My car payments were right around $50.00 and the cost of a gallon of gasoline was .29 cents. Compare the cost of gasoline at $4.29 today.  Not to mention the cost of a New Camaro or Charger, right around $49K to $64K plus financing. 

This is  a typical scenario leading up to the extended weekend; Thursday night like most every other week night I would stay up until around midnight, I would wake up by 5 am to show up to work by 7 am (5 hours sleep maximum).  On Friday I would arrive from work at around 5:45 pm, and hit the road immediately headed north.  The drive as soon as the holiday traffic cleared up and we were past the Bay Area traffic would be a constant 85 to 90 miles per hour until we arrived home the next day near noon.  The visit while fun and exciting, was short lived.  In order to return in time for my job we had to leave no later than 1:30 pm on Monday so I could report to my mid-management position by 7 am on Tuesday. 

The following statement is not an exaggeration; it would take me a week and a half before I felt fully recovered and could party and stay up late again.  In those days the “waker upper pill” of choice was NoDoze.  As I mentioned previously, I took chances like speeding, driving while tired, literally burning the candle on both ends.  Yet again I say, better lucky than good.  I raced cars, motorcycles, and Nitro fueled Go Carts.  I loved adventure, and I pushed the envelope.  Yet I had a perfect driving record (law enforcement “CHiPs,” and I were at an equal advantage) I was alert/smart enough to anticipate the traffic traps.  I would also use a style of evasion called following the rabbit.  As soon as a speeding car passed me I would follow him at a safe distance that way he would get stopped and not me.

Today, I don’t even use a radar detector because you don’t need one (and haven’t used one since my wife and I got married) when you drive the speed limit. My wife has improved my life in so many ways, that I lost count on how many ways.  For many years now I prefer to let everyone else take to the highway on extended weekends and I stay behind to enjoy our comfortable home.  Nothing compares to sleeping on your own bed.

Some of my children spend lots of money on supplies and travel long distances to go camping in the great outdoors.  My idea of camping is the Marriot Hotel with wifi available.  No disrespect meant to people that enjoy camping and the outdoors in general.  While I was still working I would tell anyone that would listen, that I refuse to work 11 and ½ months per year so I can spend 2 weeks living like a homeless person.  It was meant to be humorous but I mean it. When my children were young they insisted that they wanted to experience camping so I purchased a 7 person tent and we pitched it in our fenced backyard.  We used a microwave, Nintendo 64, and a television to watch movies (and a lamp of course).  Hope you enjoy the extended weekends as much as I do.  The best is yet to come…