Daddy Driving

Going on trips with my Dad always drove me crazy as a kid. He would stop at everything that he thought was interesting, from fruit stands to roadside plaques to Alberta history sites to the Hutterite petting zoo- always free, of course. We never went to the Enchanted Forest in BC, no matter how many times we asked. The 6 hour drive to Summerland usually took over 8 or 9 hours. What I never realized was that Dad needed a 5 minute break from the Astro minivan that held, among other things, 6 squabbling kids and their gear, 2 tents, approximately 4 inflatable beach toys of various shapes and sizes, a bag full of old scuba gear, a hammock, 4 decrepit Thai straw mats, 2 boxes of library books (Asterix comics, mostly- great beach and car reading) 3 apple boxes of food, a cooler, and depending on the year, perhaps also a kid that was about to be sick. In retrospect, my Dad needed those breaks more than we needed the extra hour on the beach.
I realized all this as I drove to Fernie last weekend in a car with no air conditioning. Sure, the Leitch Collieries might not be the most fascinating roadside stop, but it's a step up from my car at noon on a 35 degree Friday in the Crowsnest Pass.