Sitting in the back of your parents’ car, passing chips around, grabbing sandwiches from the cooler, making pit stops at random or interesting spots — or riding shotgun with a friend, jamming out to your favorite tune and hitting the open road — that’s what our memories of summer are made of. Hell, even just prepping for a road trip was fun.
We’re a little older now, but here’s the thing: with age comes the ability to do a long highway cruise better than we ever could as a youngster. With summer right around the corner, we’ve compiled above all the gear you’ll need to make new memories on the road. So get what you need and hit the road, Jack. Grab the wheel and point it west, take a buddy and leave the rest.
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The Road Trip From Hell
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
“I’m going to die”. I specifically remember that thought. The rest is fuzzy, but I imagine my inner monologue to be something like this: “How did I get here? Was I drinking, as I am wont to do? Impossible, I’m only 8 years old. Even so, this is it. I’ve reached the end of my rope. My train stops here. Fare-thee-well, Brutus [my Bullmastiff and confidant], we hardly knew each other. By and by, old friend. Until we meet again.”
The old man liked to fish, you see. Every summer it was time to pack the pop-up Jayco, load up the family and head to Colorado. This time it was to Mirror Lake. Looking back, I’m not sure if that was its actual name. Seems like there could be hundreds of “Mirror Lakes” anywhere. At any rate, it was on this particular road trip that I found myself tumbling down a cold mountain creek after slipping on some mossy rocks. Ended up I was fine. I wasn’t fine later, however, when my sister hooked me just under the eye with a Lazy Ike lure (or was it a Blue Spinner? I never can tell). To this day, my family still laughs about it and has appropriately dubbed that particular getaway, “the trip from hell”. -Jonathan Gallegos
Rules of the Road: While road-tripping, it is important to maintain good personal hygiene. Nobody likes a smelly seat mate. Additionally, inquiring about musical preferences and being conscientious of the shotgun rotation are highly encouraged.
