[RKDinOKC]

When I was 7 Dad drove us from OKC or Orange CA and he drove almost straight thru non-stop. We were going to see my brother and his new wife. He was stationed in CA and it was not long after coming back from his tour in Viet Nam.

We left before light that morning. We were supposed to stop for the night in New Mexico somewhere, but because it was the 4th of July weekend everything was full for the local rodeos. Dad finally gave up on finding a room and spent a couple of hours napping in a parking lot in Flagstaff with the local police watching over us and other roomless travelers.

I vaguely remember us not staying where we were supposed to. And waking up for a very short time to see all the cars in the parking lot with people sleeping in them and Dad talking to the policeman before we parked. I didn't wake up until it started getting light and we were on our last leg across CA.

We traveled a lot when I was young. Either to go to Grandma and Grandads, or to go fishing. Dad was a traveling salesman before I was born and liked driving straight thru without stopping even to see the sights. He still stopped for most of them, but he really didn't want to. We always stayed with family or friends on our trips instead of motels.