Around the Island

Richard’s Almanac: A traveler’s tale

COURTESY PHOTO | Jack Kerouac 1959
COURTESY PHOTO | Jack Kerouac 1959

On the road again. Recently, I decided to drive back from Florida, but do it at a leisurely pace. I had taken the train down and my friend asked if I would drive her car back to Sag Harbor. Why not? I used to drive to and from Florida in the old days.

I could do it in one shot — just stopping for coffee, bathroom breaks and making sure I had enough cigarettes and sandwiches. The trip from Shelter Island to South Florida could be done in under 24 hours. Not bad!

But the times are gone when, like Kerouac’s Dean Moriarity, I had one wheel in my hands and four on the road and nothing could stop me.

Now as a senior citizen who thinks things through very carefully, I make reservations at motels along the way and plan on two nights so I do not have to do any driving in the dark. I am told that’s from cataracts.

My first road trip to Florida was almost a half-century ago. We left upstate New York and drove straight to St. Augustine Beach. We drove a van. I had bought the van for $250 in Vermont with temporary plates. On the way down an engine mount broke loose and it had to be tied up with rope we got at a filling station in North Carolina.

We had a great time at St. Augustine Beach and drove the van back up north. Stayed overnight in Brooklyn where someone tried to steal the van, but abandoned it when the rope holding up the engine broke. I fixed it and drove the van back upstate. I sold it to Everett LeBlanc’s wrecking yard for $90. So the trip cost $160 for transportation. Not bad.

I noticed on this recent trip that communication is so different now. In the old days, no one would know anything until you found a phone booth to let loved ones know your status. Otherwise they’d wait until you got home.

On my most recent trip, communication was possible all the time with GPS, smartphones and iPads. Warnings came about heavy thunderstorms, very close tornadoes and traffic jams. All the mystery is gone.

However, all these devices make driving long distances so much safer for seniors. We can still take our road trips with all the fun of the old days and none of the risks.