This week we took a couple of days off and traveled back from Texas to Oklahoma to see my parents. It is an old familiar drive that we have made several times. Used to, it felt like coming home when we crossed the state line heading north. Now, it feels like a very foreign place. That may be because of all the casinos and weed signs in Oklahoma now, but I digress.
This trip up made me think of my first car and the first time that I ever drove from Oklahoma down to DFW when I was a teenager. To this day I don’t know why my mother let me do this at 16, but me a three friends hopped in my 1984 Pontiac Bonneville and headed south to go to Six Flags.
I loved that car. Yes, it was as big as a boat, but it would sure run. I remember once I freaked out one of my buddies when I got the old car up past 100 on one of the old county roads. It was great. It was also great for road tripping to the big city. Lots of room for friends and snacks.
Back to the trip. I have always been a confident kind of guy. Boy did I have my confidence tested that day. One, this was way before GPS so we had to use a map to get down there. Two, I had zero idea of what to expect when it came to traffic. I swore more on that day than I probably ever had in my life to that point. Not proud of it, but it is a fact. Third, I was 16 and driving a couple of hours away at that age is enough to shake you a little bit.
I don’t remember much about being at the park that day. I have been to Six Flags several times, so that part all seems to merge together. Getting down there in my old car, that is burned in my memory forever.
Now that I think about it, I really did drive that car everywhere. Me and a buddy took it to Norman, Oklahoma once for a DC Talk concert. We bought a six pack of Jolt Cola on the way and had quite the sugar/caffeine buzz during that one.
I drove it to Edmond, Oklahoma once to go see a college friend my Freshman year. The muffler fell off of it halfway there and I had to get it cut off completely. The old car sounded like a hot rod when that happened.
I kissed a few too many girls in that car as well. It would be ungentlemanly of me to say any more on that one.
Looking back now, I miss that old car. I sold it in 1997. It is 22 years years since then and it is probably sitting in a junk yard somewhere, but it was awesome while I had it. I had no idea at the time how good it was.
David Willis 