The bigger freeways, the bigger buildings and the bigger towns and packed communities of different styles than in Porterville are all exciting for a small town girl.

The Drive
Juliane Wright | 2/13/08 | Student Literature

Eventually my family is ready to leave, and we all pile into the car. Everything is all fine and dandy until we get part way out of the garage and my Daddy decides he now has to “go to the bathroom.” And oh my goodness does he take a long time too. It feels like time has stopped in its tracks, when it has only been a few minutes. Finally he gets in the car and it ready to leave. Now dad has the reputation of always being last in the car.

My earliest memory of our ride to Hemet was when I was five. Five hours in a car is a long time for a five year old. After only forty-five minutes of curvy roads, green hills, and oil wells or the “grasshoppers”, and reaching the Bakersfield Arco Gas Station, I get antsy and start to be the annoying girl the that parents dread to hear.

“Mommy, the seatbelts ‘choken my tomach’, can I take it off?” I asked curiously.

“No you need to keep it on?” Mommy quickly answers. For my mommy, Rhonda, and my Daddy, John, this was the start of their never ending, fun filled ride with a car full of kids. My sister Jolene, the neurotic eight year old is singing along with her CD player and me the hyper and excited booger are quite a handful.

“Are we there yet?” is one of the most typical questions I would ask. Even though I knew we were not really there, the question always seemed to pop in my head. After every city, after every turn we made in another direction, after every mountain curve, the curiosity would strike. The roads seemed to go on forever and began to look like a blur of black mud. All the dry mountains look identical with every peek. These simple sights of dullness drain my energy and I drift off into a hazy snooze. While snoozing, I dream of the wonderful days I will spend with my family. How when we are all together everyone is jubilant and loud. In the midst of dreaming, I am awakened by the sudden stopping of the car at a stop sign. Awakened from my snooze put me I a bad mood and I purposely bug my sister.

“Your foot is on my side of the seat, move.” I say with an annoying tone.

“Well your bag and arm are on my side, so why don’t you move?” replied Jolene. After we continually argue for a few minutes my Daddy puts his two cents in.

“If you two don’t stop, I am going to turn this car around right now!” Frightened that we would not see our cousins Jolene and I pretend to stop arguing.

“What time is it?” The anticipation of time is overwhelming. Every ten minutes I think, what time is it’? Knowing that the five hours will never go by quicker, I decide to entertain myself by making everyone in the car annoyed. The time is asked at least five times within an hour. Eventually my parents start to anticipate my question and answer it before I have even got the whole question out of my little mouth.

“What time…’

…It is 4:30.”(Parents take the fun out of everything.)

“How many more minutes left?” Answering this question is impossible, so my parents just don’t answer.

“How many more towns left?” Driving to Hemet is like an ongoing city to city cluster. One town blends into the next and it is very difficult to tell whether or not you are in Tehachapi, Mojave, Boron, Adelanto, San Bernardino, Redlands, or Yucaipa. Tehachapi, or as I like to say it, “I-have-to-pee,” is a common resting area where we all get out to stretch and use the restroom. After returning to the car and heading off again we drive though the beautiful green mountains of Tehachapi, I see the hundreds of spinning wind mills. Jolene and I both like to think of the wind mills as people standing in line for the restroom and their heads are spinning because they have been waiting for too long. In Tehachapi my ears start to hurt and I start to chew a piece of gum. Eventually that gum becomes a popping machine. I am chewing fast and blowing bubbles to try to relieve pressure of my ears.

The Mojave dessert has to be the most boring part of the trip. After stopping for something to eat at either Taco Bell or McDonalds, the roads are dull and boring. All I see out the window are the ugly Joshua trees and the tall power poles surrounded by dirt. I later see a few airplanes and ask, “What they are doing out in the middle of nowhere?” I ask.

My Mommy tells me that “there is an airport further down the road, and they are heading there.”

“But why is there an airport way out here where no one lives?”

“The military uses it.” replies my daddy. The sight of an airport in Mojave is like a seeing a cow on a beach. It is so out of place, that when you spot it you are memorized..

We drive through Boron and Adelanto only stopping for a restroom break. Next San Bernardino is reached all I hear from my parents is, “this wasn’t here last time, oh my goodness these new homes came out of nowhere, and when I was little this was a field.” Then we reach the bridge that leads into Redlands and my mom freaks out because of her fear of bridges.

“John you drive.” We pull over and my parents switch seats. When we start to drive Jolene makes fun of my mom for being afraid.

“John you drive, hahaha you are so funny mom, bridges are not scary,” Jolene says sarcastically.

“Jolene if you don’t be quite I will take away your CD player.” My mom says angrily.

Jolene nags, “You’re afraid of bridges, hahahahahaha.”

“Give me the CD player,” says mom

“NO!”- Jolene

“YES!” -Mom

“NO!” -Jolene

Finally my dad steps in and says, “Jolene give it to you mom!” Jolene finally gives up and starts to cry, which makes me cry too. Never again did Jolene make fun of my mom. Getting bored I ask once again “Are we there yet?”

“No, we still have about one hour left” replies my mom. Sad and anxious about not being there I just sit and stare.

Next, we drive through Yucaipa. Jolene says excitedly, “We are in Yucaipa!”

“Say it again,” I say giggling. I thought she was saying ‘change my diapa,’ and was getting a kick out of her saying it over and over. After our laughter slowly ended we had reached San Jacinto, a beautiful valley town full of cows. My dad tells me that he can always tell when we reach this town because of the smell. Finally he tells me the words I have wanted to hear for five hours, “We’re in Hemet.” I could barely hold my excitement in. I wanted to jump up and scream. We had finally reached my favorite cousin Kayla’s house. I ran and gave her a big hug. Then went into the house to play and enjoy my vacation.

As I grew older, traveling to Hemet did not seem as fun. The simple questions were just too absurd for a teenager to ask. Now as I am starting to drive, I am getting a chance to see the trip as a new adventure. Getting stuck in traffic, being stuck behind a slow car, or just driving through the Mojave Desert brings the a thought to my mind of how my parents felt when they were driving in the same situations or areas as I am in now. Looking back at all the Drives to Hemet, I realize that I learned the importance of my surroundings through questions. After asking so many questions, the places and the time when the places are reached are memorized in my head.