"Deluxe Road Trip & Male Bonding" - Time Out #80

What can say more about the Americana life style than taking to the open road with a buddy?

All the ingredients are there, nice weather, a comfortable highway ride, many interesting sites along the way, but by far the most important factor, wonderful company.

It all came together a few years ago when I purchased some new wheels for my bride, Debbie. She, in turn, decided to give her practically new, used vehicle to our youngest, Mr. Robbie, who was living at the time in Orlando, FL. In order to get the gift truck from Point A (Our Town) to Point B (Robbie's Orlando), I decided to take a 7-state, adventurous, road trip with my long-time, close friend, Ted. He lived in suburban north Dallas (Addison), but he drove to Oklahoma City's Will Rogers International Airport, and parked his car there for several days. Being a one-way road trip, we flew back from Orlando after we drove the truck down there to Robbie. Complicated game plan? No, not really, for 2 wild and crazy guys!

So, we were off on I-40 east from Oklahoma City, first overnight stop in Conway, AR. This initial pit stop was chosen because we had a great restaurant supper with my older sister, Beverly, and her husband, John. We ate near our motel, and merely walked to the restaurant, while my sister/husband lived only a few miles away. It was a great family catch-up feast.

Early the next morning, we were up, breakfast eaten, continued to head east on I-40 to Memphis, TN, crossing the mighty Mississippi River bridge into Elvis' former city. I had some nostalgia as we skirted the south side of this major, mid-South, city. From July, 1977-November, 1978, I owned a home on the city's north central Raleigh area, while completing my final medical training at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center downtown. Lots of memories still linger in my mind's eye of my year and a half in Memphis, including the actual day The King (Elvis) was brought in and died at Baptist Hospital. I happened to be in that medical complex, working that very day, Wow.

Onward, Ted and I drove across northern Mississippi, where I recalled moonlighting in the various city emergency rooms of Corinth, Iuka, and Houston. As time permitted, I did that for extra income while living in Memphis. Some of the experiences and situations I had in those rural Tennessee and Mississippi hospital settings almost 40 years ago are vivid to me even today. I remembered some of those events as we drove thru this beautiful area of our country, and shared them with Ted. I think he was both amazed and amused.

Speaking of speaking, Ted and I related hour-upon-hour-upon-hour of give-and-take conversation about a myriad of topics, and I can honestly say, disagreements between us were almost non-existent. We were such low maintenance traveling companions for each other, without any significant demands directed upon one another..

Completely crossing the Magnolia State (MS), we were into The Heart of Dixie state, Alabama, via I-22 east. As we roared into their centrally-located and largest city, Birmingham, my memory once again reflected to the past. This time frame was June,1975-June,1977, when I lived in the southwestern suburb of Fairfield. My oldest son, Allan, was born during my time there, and I completed my first 2 years of specialty medical training before moving to Memphis. Lots of my pleasant Alabama memories were related to Ted as we navigated thru this big Southern city.

Not long after leaving Birmingham, we pulled into Tuskegee, AL, east of the state capital city, Montgomery, and took in 2 separate units of the National Park Service system. In this historical Afro- American southern city, we toured the Tuskegee Airmen Site and the Tuskegee Institute National Historical Site. At the latter place, we had a guided tour on campus of their former university president Booker T. Washington's elegant home, well-preserved as in its glory days many years ago.

That 2nd evening, we over-nighted in Phenix City, AL, on the west bank of the huge Chattahoochee River, and a sister city to larger Columbus, Georgia, on the east river bank side.

The following morning we crossed the river bridge into Georgia, and toured part of the historic U.S. Army Ft. Benning Military Reservation. I had always wanted to see this place since my roots were in a military family, and my older brother, C.H., was an army captain and did part of his military training at Ft. Benning. As luck would have it, there was a military graduation the Friday we were on the base, and, thus, we were able to see the new graduates in full dress uniforms along with their proud families, all near their famous parade grounds. Ted and I also took several hours to tour the impressive National Infantry Museum, a real modern jewel and an experience I would highly recommend seeing it if you are ever in that area of the world.

Leaving Columbus, we drove the short distance to the Andersonville (GA) National Historical Site to tour the South's largest Civil War prison location, incredibly full of history. We both thoroughly enjoyed it for a couple of hours, as we walked the hallowed site grounds and the adjacent national cemetery in the summer weather. On to Americus, and a self-guided tour of the international headquarters of Habitat for Humanity. This experience was quite educational and humbling at the same time.

The last event for this activity-filled day was the President Jimmy Carter National Historical Site, in nearby, tiny, Plains (pop. 776), in rural southwest GA. We spent time at the site headquarters in the old high school building, and watched an educational film in the same auditorium Jimmy sat in long ago as a student. We drove downtown to colorful brother Billy's former gas station, then concluded the town visit by seeing the home still lived in today by Rosalyn and President Jimmy. The secret service continues to provide protection on-site, too, by occupying an adjacent structure in the complex.

The 3rd evening, we were back in Alabama, staying in the far southeastern city of Dothan. We met a peer of mine I trained with in Birmingham, and with his wife, the 4 of us had a great dinner together, along with much excellent conversation. The next morning, we backtracked about 50 miles total, and visited the U.S. Army Aviation Museum on the sprawling grounds of the Ft. Rucker Military Reservation.

Ted is a pilot, and served in the coast guard, while I served in the army, so we both liked this unique museum, with all it's military aircraft on display under one roof.

The final leg of our trip was thru the far western Florida panhandle, completely across the Sunshine State's northern part via I-10 east to Jacksonville on the Atlantic Ocean coast. We then turned south on heavily-traveled I-95 along the coast to beautiful Melbourne Beach, where my favorite daughter, Michelle, and husband, Chris, lived. They were renting an incredible home right on the water, and we enjoyed their company for a day, before driving the short distance west to Orlando. There, we accomplished our task by leaving the gift truck for Robbie, then we jetted back to

Oklahoma City, and then on to our respective homes.

As I think back on this awesome trip and all the experiences I had, certainly the absolute best one I enjoyed, was my time with my close friend, Ted.

Time travel is truly the best when it is experienced with friends. There is no substitute for friends.