Roadtrips - Episode 51

Summary

The Musers The Podcast — Episode 51: "Roadtrips"

Date: July 22, 2026
Hosts: George Dunham, Craig “Junior” Miller, Gordon Keith
Theme: The Culture and Nostalgia of the Great American Roadtrip

---

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, the Musers dive into the enduring legacy and personal meaning of the iconic American road trip, peppered with hilarious banter and poignant reflections. They consider what makes the road trip such a significant tradition, reminisce about family trips growing up, and discuss how these journeys—and the technology around them—have evolved over generations. The hosts also touch on the unique, one-sided friendships they share with listeners, Route 66’s 100th anniversary, and the romantic call of “heading west.”

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Summer Vacations & Listener Bonds (00:36–03:00)

• The Musers return after a break, referencing their Kessler Live anniversary shows.
• Quick catch-up: George spent time in Texas and Montana, Craig vacationed in New Mexico (his “happy place”), and Gordon jokes about his YouTube “travels.”

2. Letter of the Week: The ‘One-Sided Friendship’ of Radio/Podcast Hosts and Listeners (05:02–10:01)

• Listener Terry from Ohio writes about feeling a special, friend-like connection with the Musers.
• Gordon: “So it’s a one-sided friendship, I guess. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a friendship… Heck, a lot of marriages are one way marriages and they still are married.” (06:31)
• Craig reminisces about his own “radio friend,” Larry King, and how these relationships, while not two-way, have real impact—“it was this disembodied voice that kept me company all the time” (08:05).
• The hosts agree it’s a unique relationship and welcome being considered “friends” by their community.

3. The Great American Roadtrip: Why It Endures (11:21–13:19)

• Craig shares stats, noting 62% of Americans are taking a long road trip this summer and prefer trips of 500+ miles.
• “It’s still just as big as it’s ever been…with two-thirds of Americans hitting the road this summer.” (12:11)
• Despite air travel’s prevalence, people choose driving for the sense of safety and control.

4. Nostalgia, Quirky Family Memories, and Roadtrip Culture

(13:19–31:12; Highlights at 13:54, 14:00, 21:56, 29:20)

• Inattentive Dad Drivers:
  Gordon remembers his dad’s thermos and questionable lane discipline; George drove from the “middle seat” at age 12.
• George: “Was it unsafe that my dad would let me drive from the passenger seat?” (13:54)
• Family Vehicles:
  The trio swaps tales of Buicks, LeSabres, and the coveted (but elusive) station wagon.
• Diner & Motel Stops:
  Stuckey’s vs. Buc-ee’s, the thrill of crossing state lines, playing “I Spy” or the license plate game.
• Craig: “Crossing state lines still gives me a rush. I did that two days ago… and that time, we also crossed time zones. Talk about magic.” (22:46)
• Inventions in Entertainment:
  From billboards as entertainment to rigged-up VHS players and eventually built-in DVD players in minivans.
• Gordon: “That changed the family road trip…That was the beginning of electronic programming of childhood.” (25:48)
• Gross-Out Memories:
  Gordon’s family used an integrated “garbage can” in the Buick as a puke bucket on trips:
  “It would pass the bucket. Pass the bucket.” (29:55, callback to episode open)

5. Dangers and Mishaps: The Dark Side of the Roadtrip

(31:05–36:36)

• George, Gordon, and Craig recount getting pulled over in speed traps; the questionable legality of roadside instant payment in the 1970s (“This was 1975 or something.”—Craig, 31:43).
• Stories of sleep deprivation, hallucinations, and near-disaster on marathon drives.
  • Craig: Hallucinates a 747 taxiing across the highway after missing a turn while doing Race Across America (35:31–36:35).
  • George: Pulling an all-night drive for a college football broadcast: “It was exhausting, but awesome.” (37:33)

6. Route 66 and the ‘Go West’ Mythos

(38:16–47:42; Focus at 40:09, 45:24, 47:37)

• In honor of Route 66’s 100th anniversary, they discuss its symbolism as the “most romantic road in America.”
• Craig’s firsthand report: On his recent drive, he visits Amarillo, Vega, and Tucumcari, describing how half the classic motels and diners still operate—while others stand as empty relics.
  • “In Tucumcari…half is still functioning cafes and hotels…The other half is a ghost town…it’s this weird mix.” (43:34)
• The hosts reflect on westward travel’s allure and whether today’s highways have similar mythic power.
• Craig: “It’s more romantic to go west than it is to go east where it feels congested and discovered. And when you go west…you feel like you might find some patch of dirt that nobody’s seen yet.” (47:18)

7. The Eternal Dad Quest: ‘Making Good Time’

(51:32–54:05)

• The Musers admit to their own dad-style obsession with beating previous bests on road trip legs—Dallas to Austin, etc.
  • “I did 2:32.” —Gordon (52:11)
• Rants about rolling blockades by semis and “truckers used to be the best drivers.”

8. Roadtrip Hacks & Final Thoughts

(54:46–56:14)

• Craig’s bathroom hack:
  For clean restrooms, always stop at the nicest hotel lobby on your route instead of gas stations.
  • “You just walk into the lobby…use their bathrooms…and they’re almost always really clean.” (55:30)
• Final advice: “Be safe out there. Make good time. Stop at Stuckey’s—or Buc-ee’s.” (54:46–54:50)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Gordon (on one-sided friendships):
  “Heck, a lot of marriages are one way marriages and they still are married.” (06:31)
• George (on early driving lessons):
  “Was it unsafe that my dad would let me drive from the passenger seat?” (14:00)
• Craig (on crossing state lines):
  “Crossing state lines still gives me a rush…that time we also crossed time zones. Talk about magic.” (22:46)
• Gordon (recalling nasty car sickness):
  “That was my sister’s throw up bucket…It would pass the bucket. Pass the bucket.” (29:54–30:00)
• Craig (on Route 66 today):
  “In Tucumcari…half is still functioning cafes and hotels…and the other half is a ghost town, it’s a skeleton.” (43:34)
• George (on bathroom hacks):
  “Usually they don’t penalize you. They don’t call you out or anything.” (55:39)
• Gordon (on road trip nostalgia):
  “I wanted to be a trucker. I just thought that was like the ultimate job.” (53:52)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------------|------------| | Summer vacation catch-up | 00:36–03:00| | Letter of the week: Listener bonds | 05:02–10:01| | Roadtrip stats & survey discussion | 11:21–13:19| | Roadtrip family memories & nostalgia | 13:19–31:12| | Roadtrip disasters & misadventures | 31:05–36:36| | Route 66: History, 100th anniversary, driving west | 38:16–47:42| | ‘Making good time’/Dad roadtrip competition | 51:32–54:05| | Roadtrip hacks & closing thoughts | 54:46–56:14|

---

In the Original Musers Spirit

The episode delivers a perfect blend of observational humor (“We’re kind of like your fifth cousin. You can marry us.”—George, 06:23) and sincere reflection, spotlighting the quirks, chaos, and deep-rooted nostalgia that make the great American road trip such a beloved tradition. The Musers’ mix of self-deprecating stories and affectionate ribbing makes this a must-listen for anyone who’s ever stared out a car window dreaming of new horizons—or gotten car sick while doing it.

---

For more road trip stories or to find out if Stuckey’s actually still exists, check out the back catalog at themusers.com or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up, required compatibility and availability. Veris 18

[Gordon]

and so that was my sister's throw up bucket. She'd get sick in the backseat and it would pass the bucket. Pass the bucket.

[Craig]

Welcome to episode 51 of the Musers, the podcast. I'm Craig.

[George]

I'm George.

[Gordon]

And I'm Gordon.

[Craig]

And we are back after a bit of a summer break. Hope everybody enjoyed the Kessler Live show episodes parts one and two that we dropped while we were on summer vacation to celebrate our one year anniversary. Got a lot of good feedback on the Kessler show.

[George]

It was fun. It really was a fun show. And where you guys been? I showed up last week and no one was here.

[Gordon]

You did not. You were in Montana. Why? Can you vacation in Texas like a real American?

[George]

Part of my vacation in Texas and part in Montani.

[Gordon]

Okay, don't call it Montani.

[Craig]

I spent almost all of my vacation in New Mexico. Northern New Mexico. The mountains there, that's my happy place. George and I got away. Gordo, where did you spend your vacation? Yeah, I agree.

[Gordon]

Y' all got away.

[Craig]

I understand you spent your vacation on YouTube.

[Gordon]

I don't know what you're talking about. I was trying to catch up on YouTube and see a lot of the stuff that I may have missed.

[Craig]

There's a lot out there. I don't think you can really catch up on YouTube.

[Gordon]

There's never an end to YouTube. Yeah, I watched about 50 hours of anime. Have you guys ever watched anime?

[Craig]

Good for you.

[Gordon]

Yeah, not really. Watched an anime that was made like in the late 90s.

[George]

I hear a lot of talk about anime, but I really don't know much about it.

[Gordon]

How much talk do you hear about anime?

[George]

I have a friend whose child is way into it and it's like they want to. That's what they want to do. And I really don't understand what it is.

[Gordon]

You don't?

[George]

I know it's some sort of animation,

[Craig]

but I kind of understand what it is, but I also don't know much about it. Is there. Is there a sexual element to it?

[Gordon]

There is to somebody, if Gordon's interested.

[Craig]

It's like racy. Animation.

[Gordon]

Yeah, there are some that are like that, yeah. Yeah. But the stuff I was watching wasn't. This is about race. Street racing.

[George]

Speed Racer.

[Gordon]

I used to watch Speed Racer when I was a kid.

[George]

Crappy cartoon.

[Gordon]

It was not. It was great.

[Craig]

Does that qualify as anime?

[Gordon]

I think it.

[George]

Does it like the first anime?

[Gordon]

That's a good question. It wasn't the first anime.

[George]

I don't know. I don't know anything about it. Gel at me.

[Gordon]

Japan has had a long cultural history, George, that you may not be aware of.

[George]

Well, they had to come up with something else after they got that butt whooping back in the 40s.

[Craig]

Oh, gosh.

[Gordon]

They are our friends.

[Craig]

Almost 100 years ago.

[George]

Still real to me, though, watching the Roosevelts. I highly recommend it.

[Gordon]

Have you ever owned a Japanese car?

[Craig]

I have, yes.

[George]

Honda, right?

[Gordon]

Yeah, sure.

[George]

Honda.

[Gordon]

Okay. So, see?

[Craig]

Great car.

[Gordon]

You didn't completely turn on the Japanese just because of a slight mistake they made in the 40s.

[George]

It's a different place now.

[Craig]

The Roosevelts. Is that the new.

[George]

It's been out for a while, but it's Ken Burns. It's.

[Craig]

It's his new series. Yeah.

[Gordon]

Okay.

[George]

And it's.

[Gordon]

Yeah, it was.

[George]

Eleanor would love it.

[Gordon]

Drove a Civic.

[George]

He did not have a Civic. It's fascinating.

[Craig]

Is it FDR and Teddy.

[George]

And Teddy and their relatives who, you know, came before them, as they say, the most influential family in American history. And I think they're right about that.

[Craig]

Does it include Jerry Jones, assistant Roosevelt?

[Gordon]

No, he's not.

[George]

Well, it may. I haven't got to the. The final episode yet, but it's great.

[Gordon]

And Eleanor's maiden name was Roosevelt.

[George]

Fifth cousin.

[Gordon]

Yeah, It's a little tense.

[George]

And she was Teddy's favorite niece. She was the daughter of Teddy's younger

[Gordon]

brother, but everyone freaks out about that. Fifth cousin is hardly related to you, though, right?

[George]

I know.

[Gordon]

I mean, that's pretty far away.

[George]

They say. Because I looked it up. They say that I think you're okay on the genetics thing.

[Craig]

They think you're okay.

[Gordon]

Yeah. What's the. Isn't it like, once you can get to, like, second cousin? It's hard. Any.

[George]

Yeah, I think you're good.

[Gordon]

All right. Okay.

[Craig]

All right. Our topic this week is going to be the great American road trip. Speaking of our summer vacations. We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, the letter of the week. And by the way, somehow this spot is still for sale.

[Gordon]

The heck, yeah. We need a sponsor for this. Sponsored by Anime.

[Craig]

Okay, fair enough. That's our Placeholder sponsor Anime this comes to us from Terry and Terry asks this question, what are you guys? After listening to a recent conversation about friends, I started wondering about my relationship with the Musers. I imagine I'm not alone in feeling a certain friendship with you guys, albeit one sided. I've listened to your radio show since 1995 when I lived and worked in Fort Worth for 10 years. I've been living in Ohio now for the last 20 plus years. You have created such a unique relationship and community with your listeners. While we can't tell, while we can't call you when you're feeling. When. Sorry. When we're feeling down or need advice or just someone to listen. Many of us look forward to your take on any number of topics day to day. When Gordo's mother died, his story about it stuck with me all day. Same when George lost his sister. I was born and raised in New Mexico, so I feel a kinship with Junior when he tells us about his trips there. So I guess what I'm saying is that the Muses fill a portion of our lives as listeners that aren't really friendships but are still very special. And that uniqueness is an outgrowth of the relationship you have with. With each other. So interesting. What are you guys.

[George]

We're kind of like your fifth cousin.

[Gordon]

You can marry us.

[George]

Yeah. And I think the genetics thing will be okay.

[Gordon]

Yeah. So it's a one sided friendship, I guess. But that doesn't mean it's not a friendship because think about. Heck, a lot of marriages are one way marriages and they still are married. So.

[George]

Yeah. And I, I don't know, I just think about people that I've listened to over the years and I consider them friends even though.

[Gordon]

Okay, but have you ever been one way thing? A p. One of someone? The way that we have got to experience listeners of us that have dedicated that much time to listening to and to have them in your ear every day.

[Craig]

When I was growing up, when I was growing up, I was such a big Larry King fan. I've told you guys this. I listened to his old overnight show

[George]

on Mutual and you got to meet

[Craig]

him and I got to meet him once. But I never considered him a friend.

[Gordon]

Well, because he didn't do intimate like, I don't know, maybe he did talk about his life and struggles.

[Craig]

He did, yeah, he absolutely did. He told a lot of stories about his daughter Kaya in particular and Kaya, his old days as a dj. Oh yeah. He did a lot of personal stuff,

[Gordon]

but he was older. It was A different generation, like a lot of people that consume the Musers are our age.

[Craig]

What I was going to say is I still feel. Felt very close to him, but I knew he and I weren't friends. So I'm kind of like Terry. I didn't really know how to define my relationship with Larry King. I loved him.

[Gordon]

Did you know you were going to say that sentence today?

[Craig]

I loved listening to him and I loved his stories, and he meant a lot to me, and he was my friend every night as I'm going to sleep. But I wouldn't have called him a friend. It was this disembodied voice that kept me company all the time. It is hard to define, but that's

[Gordon]

more of a mouthful, isn't it? It's easier to call someone a friend rather than a disembodied voice that keeps you company all the time.

[Craig]

Right?

[George]

Yeah. And when we were growing up outside of Larry King, talk radio really wasn't a thing. Sports talk radio certainly wasn't. Podcasts certainly weren't. So it's a different. It's a rather recent phenomenon, I think, you know, that wasn't around. And I do listen to people now, but not the way I guess they listen to us. So, yeah, it's unique, but I think in some way we're your friend. If you want to call us your friends, that's fine with me because we

[Gordon]

meet a lot of, like at the Kessler Show. Think about that. We met a lot of podcast listeners right there. So we do have communication with the. With listeners to the pod. Pod is short for podcast there.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

I don't know if y'.

[Craig]

All.

[George]

Okay.

[Craig]

I love that. I love hearing from listeners that say, you guys are friends of mine. You're like friends to me. I know everything about you. I think that's great. Yeah, it's the very unique relationship that I think is only established via a radio show or a podcast because you have time to get detailed and intimate.

[George]

Yeah. And I think we've learned over the years that whatever we're interested in, whatever, you know, we've done a sports show for a long time, and that's what we spend most of our time on. But the connection that you have is the daily life that you talk about, whatever it is, if it's your child or some experience you go through at a restaurant, it's. It's the life experience thing.

[Craig]

So. Thank you, Terry. That's our letter of the week, sponsored by Anime. Now to the topic this week. Thanks, guys. The great.

[George]

Who was that? It was the evil part of anime, huh?

[Gordon]

Okay.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

What would you do if your online store converted 36% more shoppers? You could take 36% more vacation.

[Craig]

Another pina colada.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Yes, please.

Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet.

[Gordon]

Fantastic.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Hire 36% more help.

[Gordon]

You're hired and you're hired.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Shopify has the world's best converting checkout up to 36% better than other e commerce platforms. What you do with those extra sales is up to you. Switch to Shopify [e-mail] listen and get a $1 trial. Shopify.com listen oh, oh, oh.

[George]

O'Reilly check engine ABS or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan.

[Gordon]

The service is and provides a report

[George]

with solutions verified by ASE Certified Master Technicians. And if you need help, we can

[Gordon]

recommend a shop for you.

[George]

Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today.

[Craig]

Auto parts. All right, to our topic this week, the Great American Road Trip.

[Gordon]

Yes.

[Craig]

I was fascinated to know that it is still a really big thing. More than 62% of Americans say they are taking a long road trip this summer and that Americans greatly prefer a really long trip to just a short road trip. 78% of Americans say they prefer something at least 500 miles. They prefer the longer road trip to the shorter road trip. When we were growing up, it was the thing that you did with your family every year if you were lucky enough to be able to take a road trip with the family somewhere to visit a relative or go to a beach or go to the mountains. And it's still just as big as it's ever been with 2/3 of Americans hitting the road this summer to take the great American road trip.

[George]

Well, that's good to hear because I wondered about that when I heard we were going to talk about this because I don't know, I just figured with long trips now that the airplane seems to be the way to go for families who can.

[Gordon]

Expensive.

[George]

But it is really expensive. Yeah.

[Gordon]

And we priced out tickets to like Memphis. You would think that that would be a cheap flight, right? It was like 500 bucks or something.

[Craig]

Yeah. That seems the minimum these days is 500 to fly anywhere.

[Gordon]

That's crazy.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Speaking of flying, most people in this survey said they much preferred taking the road trip as opposed to flying because, number one, they feel safer. We all know the stats that it's safer to fly, but people feel safer. That is the number one reason they gave taking the road trip. They feel safer than Flying. Isn't that a weird disconnect we have? Yeah.

[Gordon]

Particularly when I think back to my family road trips when I was a kid, my dad was driving. He always drove. And he was the most inattentive driver I've ever seen. No concept of lane position. He would just wander across that line as he's pouring a cup of coffee from his thermos. He had that plaid thermos that had the integrated cup on the top. But that was a great smell when he cracked that open in the car. Oh, I loved that when I was a kid. But yeah, he was talking about that was very unsafe. And our cars were always in a state of disrepair.

[George]

Was it unsafe that my dad would let me drive from the passenger seat?

[Gordon]

What?

[George]

Or from like that middle seat just to get a feel of first? He would.

[Gordon]

On a road trip on the highway,

[George]

like highway where we didn't have a lot of traffic, he would say, you need to get a feel for what the wheel feels. And back then the wheel had a little more play in it than it does now.

[Craig]

But you were 20 years old then, right?

[George]

Oh, no, I was. I would say it was like 12 or 13.

[Craig]

Okay.

[George]

When we started doing this. And then it got to, hey, can I, can I drive? And after a while he would let go of the steering wheel and I would basically be his automatic driver. And it gave me a great feel for what it was like to drive.

[Gordon]

And the little small correction sounds safe. No, I bet you weren't wearing seatbelts either.

[George]

Oh, I didn't have a seatbelt on.

[Craig]

I bet he had one hand very close to the wheel just in case he needed to take control.

[George]

He did. And he was a really good driver. But I look back on it and this is the way they were taught to drive. Way, way back in the day.

[Gordon]

He was a two footer.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[George]

Right foot on the gas, left foot on the brake. And my dad was a great driver. Never had an accident. He was just terrific. But. And I remember when I told him I was going through driver's ed and said, yeah, and by the way, dad, you've been doing this wrong. All. It's not wrong. It's the way to do it. So it's going to let that argument there.

[Gordon]

Don't invest any more energy into that argument.

[Craig]

The other two reasons people give for wanting to take the great American road trip as opposed to flying, they're in more control of where they want to go and they want to see the country instead of flying over it.

[George]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gordon]

I love the road trip. I still love it every time I even just have to drive out. You know, sometimes we'll do a radio show that'll be, you know, I don't know, 60 miles away or something. And I just love being out on the highway and I always forget how much I love being out on the highway until I actually go and get on it because I just. And I'm one of those weird people that, that. And this is bad for a podcast to say to a podcast listening audience is I don't have anything on.

[Craig]

When I'm driving in my car, I go stretches. If it's a long road trip, I'll do an hour without listening to anything. I like that quiet. But for most of it, I need to be entertained.

[Gordon]

I think most people are like that. They have to have something going on. But yeah, I'll just. I don't have the radio on, don't have anything. Listening, not listening to anything. Yeah, it's a little bit weird because otherwise if I was at home, I would be really, really bored. Well, not doing or listening to anything

[Craig]

that's like my bike rides. I might take a three hour bike ride, which is kind of like a semi long road trip, but I don't listen to anything. Just. It's good to be with your thoughts.

[Gordon]

Yeah. Well, I wonder what percentage of cyclists do that because I see a lot of cyclists, you know, conversation with them or something and I'll see them pull the earbuds out and they're blaring something.

[Craig]

Yeah, I would bet they're in the minority. I think on the bike you need to be able to listen to traffic and your bike noise and you need to be aware.

[George]

Well, I logged a lot of miles as a kid. As I've said before, my family moved from Texas to the Midwest and then so probably three, maybe four times a year we would drive back from the Midwest to Texas because we had relatives here. And that's, that's about a thousand miles each way from Chicago to the Dallas area and even further if we went down to see friends in San Antonio.

[Gordon]

So what kind of car we in for these trips?

[George]

Buick lesaber for most of those.

[Gordon]

How many of the Sabers your dad own?

[George]

Oh, gosh, at least four. We had a yellow one, a blue one, and then he got an 85 silver Lesaber that was just awesome. Crushed velvet and all that. So good. And that was a great way to make a trip. And like you guys, I mean, leading

[Gordon]

up to that were some of your. Because you're so much younger than Your siblings, so I'm assuming some of them were out of the house. Y' all weren't all packed in one car, were you? One of five kids.

[George]

Right. And most of those trips that I took from Chicago to Dallas were just me, sometimes my sister. But, yeah, for the most part, it

[Gordon]

was just me, your parents, and you.

[George]

But. Yes. But for the first couple of years of my life, I was on a couple of those trips from San Antonio to Gainesville. That's also in Texas, not Gainesville, Florida. But it was all five of us. And I would sit between my parents, no car seat. And I'm two years old. I guess my mom would hold me and then four kids in the back.

[Gordon]

Geez.

[Craig]

Wow.

[George]

It's just that probably short circuits people to hear that, but that's just how we used to travel.

[Gordon]

We never had a station wagon, and I wanted a station wagon so bad. Me, too. I thought that was so magical.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And my parents never had a station wagon.

[George]

No. Mine didn't either until I got to college. My dad then he created a station wagon saber for one of those paneled Lincolns.

[Craig]

Wow.

[George]

Which I thought was, man, why didn't we do that 10 years ago? That would have been amazing.

[Gordon]

Did it have the jump seat in the back? The backwards facing seat?

[George]

I can't remember.

[Craig]

We had friends that had one of those. It was an Oldsmobile. And I. If you got to ride in that jump seat facing backwards, man, so cool. That was the place to be.

[Gordon]

It was. Yet hardly any AC could get back there because.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

I don't know when it. Why it took us so long to figure out that you could put ducting in a headliner.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

To actually duct air back into the second and third row seats. But, yeah, back then it was just. You had AC up front, and that's. That's for the whole car.

[Craig]

I thought it was interesting that in this road trip survey, 88% of people taking the Great American Road trip this summer say that it's a very important part of their lives and that most of it is rooted in nostalgia. So we were all raised on the great American road trip, and we love it for many reasons. But one of those reasons is because it brings back so many great memories from childhood.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Like, I remember our annual family road trip. We took a couple of. Of outlier road trips. We took the longest one ever was from Oklahoma City down to Dallas to visit our relatives, then over to Mississippi to visit other relatives where I got poison ivy. And then on our. All the way to South Carolina to Myrtle Beach. And we went to the beach there and came back through the Smoky Mountains, back through Arkansas Hot Springs, and then back to Oklahoma City. That's the longest road trip we ever took.

[Gordon]

Was this in your dad's Beetle?

[Craig]

No. Let's see. You know what? I think it actually was in my dad's LeSabre. He had one LeSabre. It was a white one with the crushed velvet seating.

[Gordon]

Hell, yeah.

[George]

What a great car.

[Craig]

Pretty sure it was in that car. But I remember that being the longest road trip we ever took. But every other year, our trip was from Oklahoma City to Port Aransas, Texas coast to go to the beach. And I lived for that trip, and so did my sister. We got so excited, and many years. I was so excited, and I was so into maps that I made our own map. Even though we had a Rand McNally atlas. I drew our own map. And I would sit co pilot a lot with my dad and, you know, act like as if he didn't know, hey, we're coming up on Waco. Hey, after this is going to be, you know, we're going to hit Temple if you want to pull over for gas there. And I'd write down all the restaurants we stopped at, and I'd just. I couldn't get enough of the road trip. It just felt like it was such a freeing experience.

[Gordon]

It was magic. You get to stop at, like, a Stuckey's.

[Craig]

Yes.

[Gordon]

And buy stuff that your parents would never buy you otherwise.

[George]

Boy, my dad was so anti Stuckey's. We are not gonna get stuck at Stuckey's.

[Gordon]

That's what he used to say.

[George]

It just seemed like, yeah, we're gonna get ripped off there somehow. Seemed like a great place to meet Saltwater Taffy.

[Gordon]

What are you talking about?

[Craig]

So I bet he really would have hated Bucky's.

[George]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. We are not stopping on.

[Gordon]

Steroids are incredible.

[George]

I was the same way. They were so magical. Crossing state lines. Wow.

[Craig]

Yes.

[George]

Never been in wherever it was. Kansas.

[Gordon]

Spotting license plates. You get to eat at restaurants on the road. See, we were not. When I was a kid, we just didn't eat out a lot. It seemed like my mom was always making casseroles.

[George]

Yeah. Yeah. You knew you were going to get to stop somewhere and eat.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[Craig]

Crossing state lines still gives me a rush. I did that two days ago coming back from our summer road trip, and I thought it was so cool. And that time, we also crossed time zones. Talk about magic.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[Craig]

You're in a time machine.

[Gordon]

Time traveling, you know, I asked my

[George]

kids because it was magical for me, and I thought we took some because then some of my siblings started living outside the state of Texas. And when I lived in Texas and my kids were young, we took trips and that would take us back to the Midwest. So we'd go from Kansas to Iowa to Minnesota. Then we'd swing through Chicago and I'd show. Took him to a Cubs game and all the way back to Texas. So I asked my kids, all three of my boys, I said, do you have any memories of road trips? My one as a coach said, probably listening to music or playing video games with Brent.

[Gordon]

That's his brother.

[George]

That's his brother. My youngest, Scotty, said that a majority good memories. Captain Midnight hall of Fame. That's my nickname for driving deep into the night. Hall of Fame performances. Blake and Brent DVD switch in the back seat. See, this is something my kids had that I did not have. I didn't need, really. Entertainment.

[Craig]

Right.

[George]

I just looking at billboards.

[Gordon]

We didn't have entertainment, and we didn't have any entertainment. Actually, I do remember when we were on road trips, we had just started getting those little. Remember electronic football?

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

My brother playing that all the time on cartridge with the sound on. Yeah.

[George]

Oh, my gosh, your dad insane as he's trying to drive.

[Craig]

But, yeah, looking out the window was entertainment enough for me.

[George]

But I remember when my kids were young, at one point we rigged up a VCR and. And TV to the back seat through a cigarette lighter. That was a big breakthrough. And then we had a Windstar van

[Gordon]

that had the integrated DVD player headrest.

[George]

And two of my sons mentioned that, and my youngest mentioned the DVD switch. We thought because they had headphones and we bought an additional headphone that was on the same frequency. So there are three headphones and this Windstar van that we had that Gordon used to make fun of, and now he's a big van fan.

[Gordon]

I'm a huge minivan fan and always have been.

[George]

You just didn't like it that we went to a concert in it one time. I can't believe I'm going to a U2 concert. Yes, you did, too.

[Gordon]

I praised you for that choice.

[George]

Oh, you made fun of me for having one. So we thought they were back there watching SpongeBob, because my youngest, I think, was three or four.

[Gordon]

Maybe they watched dirty anime.

[George]

No, they switched out Chris Farley and Black Sheep and they watched that on the way up.

[Gordon]

They thought they were really getting away

[George]

with something that wasn't declassified until like 15 years later. But it's funny that my oldest son said, yeah, no doubt the game changer was the dual headset TVs and the Windstar, but that's what they remember. But I think I do.

[Gordon]

That changed the family road trip.

[George]

It did.

[Gordon]

When they start when every minivan basically got the entertainment center in it. And so then you started. That was the beginning of electronic programming of childhood.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

That's when. Yep. We're engineering out boredom. Kids, now you can watch your favorite cartoons that you'd be watching back at home. Right. But it's such an easy hack for a parent just to make it so much easier. You don't have to deal with the kids. You can just put on their favorite show and they're wearing headphones, and then mom and dad can argue in the front seat about how kids have really done a number on their relationship.

[Craig]

You will enjoy knowing that according to this survey, 25% of those taking the Great American road trip still play I Spy and the license plate game.

[George]

And my grandmother went on a trip. Did you ever do that one?

[Craig]

What was that?

[Gordon]

Oh, where you have to memorize all the things she took.

[George]

And she took a. Yeah, a TV and a. And a barbecue set.

[Gordon]

You have to do it alphabetically. Is it alphabetically?

[George]

No, we never played that one.

[Gordon]

Oh, really? You just had to straight memorize every item in order.

[George]

Well, that's good to hear. And, yeah, it kind of troubles me that my kids bring up that first. It's like, oh, I don't remember great conversations.

[Craig]

Right.

[Gordon]

Remember the time dad sprung for a meal that he didn't have money for? Okay.

[George]

Boy, I know. And I. I remember early road trips where I would start adding up what we were going to pay for gas. I would take our coin collection to the bank and so we'd have some extra cash, and I'd. Yeah, I remember balling on a budget for sure and wondering, okay, how much we're gonna have to put on the credit card on this trip, even though we're staying with some relatives between meals and gas and junk that your kids probably didn't need, but you bought them

[Gordon]

because it was magical summer vacation.

[George]

They need the rubber snake.

[Gordon]

See, it's weird because I only consider that we did. Like when you mentioned this summer road trip, I really only think of three road trips that we took when I was a kid, and they were in successive summers. We went to St. Louis on one. We went to Washington D.C. on one. And then we went to Down Texas and Mexico. This is when we lived in Mississippi. We Went over to Texas and then down to Mexico.

[George]

You crossed the border.

[Gordon]

Crossed the border, yeah.

[George]

Wow.

[Gordon]

So those are the big three that we did. But yet we were driving back and forth between Texas and Mississippi all the time, because that's where our grandparents lived over in Mississippi after we had moved to Texas. And so, man, I've made that trip. Gosh, that was. We went over there at least five times a year, every year of my childhood. Those were different. They weren't as magical as the we're going on summer vacation to which you've never seen before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I remember when we went to Missouri, or Missouri, as your dad would say. Georgia.

[George]

Yeah. If you're from Missouri, you call it Missouri.

[Gordon]

My mom bought some antiques while we're up there, including this huge antique chest. So the whole way back, the whole back seat was basically filled with that. And then the kids were all crammed over into one side. The three Keith kids were crammed over into one side. I think my sister rode on top of that thing.

[Craig]

That's ridiculous.

[Gordon]

It's so ridiculous.

[George]

No seatbelt.

[Gordon]

No, no, no. We used to fight over who got to sleep on the back dash. That was quite an honor.

[George]

I know.

[Gordon]

To sleep in that sun cage.

[George]

Waffle face on that thing.

[Gordon]

Yes. You get waffle face from that stupid. Great. They'd have up there. And you were just sleeping under a magnifying glass for the sun. Yeah.

[George]

But it was cool, though. You felt like you were getting away with something.

[Gordon]

Oh, my sister, she just had car sickness. Like, she just constantly got car sick. And we had an old boy. We were all Buick families, weren't we? You guys had Lesabers. We had a Buick Electra Deuce and a quarter. And it had an integrated garbage can in the front passenger wheel well. Footwell.

[George]

Really?

[Gordon]

Yeah. And so that was my sister's throw up bucket. The whole time she'd get sick in the back seat and it would pass the bucket. Pass the bucket. And have to pull that thing out of the footwell.

[George]

And you couldn't stop?

[Gordon]

No, we couldn't stop. And of course you'd throw up. And then it was a mad scramble for me to jump into the front seat and get my nose in the air conditioning vent so I wouldn't have to throw up myself. Because you know how it is. You smell vomit.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Oh, yeah.

[George]

Then you vomit.

[Gordon]

Yeah, it's the worst. That part was bad.

[Craig]

And since I had one sibling, we had the. You know, most of the time we were fine in the back seat together, but a lot of Times we would have the divider. This is my half.

[Gordon]

That 38th parallel that no one shall cross.

[Craig]

I get to do everything over here. I control everything on this side of the car. You get that side.

[Gordon]

And then you always fight over airspace?

[Craig]

Yes.

[Gordon]

I'm not touching anything.

[George]

I'm not touching anything.

[Gordon]

My hand's just hanging over here. Violation, Bear space.

[George]

Did your dad ever pull the car over just because of chaos in the backseat?

[Gordon]

Yeah, I think he did. I think he did. It was certainly always threatened. Yeah, he was always threatened.

[George]

Pull this thing over.

[Craig]

Did your dads ever get pulled over? My dad got pulled over once for speeding. And it was through. I think it was through Gainesville, Texas, coming down from Oklahoma City to Dallas, and he got pulled over. And I remember him getting out of the car and talking to the trooper. And then him coming back to the car and asking my mom, how much do you have in your wallet? He says, the ticket is this much, and we had to pay him cash or else the trooper said he was going to take my dad to jail.

[Gordon]

That's, like, illegal.

[Craig]

Yes.

[George]

That sounds really legal.

[Craig]

This was 1975 or something.

[Gordon]

No, I never experienced either of my parents getting pulled over.

[George]

Oh, yeah, my dad got pulled over several times and my mom did, too. In what? And every time my dad got pulled over, it's a speed trap. Yeah, it was just some conspiracy just to get the guy driving from Chicago to Texas. We're gonna get that guy.

[Gordon]

He was targeted.

[George]

But there is something about. I remember in other states, if you got a ticket, it seems like. I remember pulling through some, you know, municipal building and having to. They would have to pay the ticket.

[Craig]

Like before you left town, you had to pay. Was that ever a law?

[Gordon]

Maybe it was.

[Craig]

Or is it was just their way of getting quick cash to make sure

[George]

that you would pay since you didn't live in their county and their state. Maybe.

[Craig]

Maybe that was it.

[Gordon]

You guys are older than me. This sounds like Old west stuff.

[George]

It is pretty old.

[Craig]

Wild west was in Texas. Yeah, a long time ago.

[George]

I wrote a little song to remind you.

[Gordon]

Choice hotels get you more of the experiences you value. The Cambria Hotel's got it all. A rooftop bar.

[George]

Have a bar.

[Craig]

Bring a date, your squad, or even your mom.

[Gordon]

Book [e-mail].

[Craig]

hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. C terms.

[Craig]

I got to experience the true great American road trip, kind of coast to coast. You remember about 10 years ago now when I did that race across America. It was a bike race. I was part of a relay team and we started in Oceanside, California and it took us seven or eight days to make our way to Annapolis, Maryland. And because the course was designed for bicycles, it didn't take us through any really big cities. I remember we went through, you know, maybe Sedona, Arizona, Flagstaff, Durango, Colorado, Springfield, Missouri. Little cities like that. Nothing. No big urban centers. But I got to tell you because I had always wanted to take a cross country road trip in a car. And this was a relay race, so I wasn't riding the whole time. There were eight of us on this team, so most of the time I was in a car. So I kind of got to experience it. And we were out there morning, noon and night. And there was nothing cooler than pulling into a little town at 2am in backwoods Missouri or Kansas and just seeing life, seeing American life on the back roads at odd times in these little towns. And because it's not a huge race, but each town would maybe have a sign or two welcoming the riders or someone would be out front with a table with drinks or goodies. And that was one of the biggest slices of Americana I ever got. And I don't think that really exists anymore. I think if anyone's taking a true cross country road trip, they're on interstates.

[Gordon]

Yeah, you're on the big, big roads and we have great interstates. Interstates here in America.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

You guys didn't run into any trouble? No. 2am you ain't from around here, are you boy?

[Craig]

No.

[Gordon]

Y' all got some nice little costumes on. We went through back flap on those costumes.

[Craig]

You know what we went West Virginia. So there were some towns that looked like that might happen. But the only trouble I had was self inflicted or race inflicted. I remember the one time where we were in Indiana and it was my turn to ride and each leg was like 30 miles. We didn't go out for, you know, 10 hours by ourselves. And it was middle of the Night. And we're five days in and I'm starting to lose it mentally. And I just remember the van. We had a van that followed the rider and the guy driving said, just remember, you turn on Highway 174, take a left. I said, okay, got it. Highway 174. So we're riding along, riding along, and then the van speeds up next to me and goes, you missed the turn.

[Gordon]

I said, you didn't have an earpiece or anything?

[Craig]

No.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Wow.

[Craig]

I said, I did. I said, I thought I was watching for it. But keep in mind, I'm sleep deprived now. So I turn around, I ride back, I find the highway and then I get going. And then that highway had some rolling hills and now I'm seeing double and feeling sick, like I'm on a roller coaster. And I had to pull over and have somebody else go because I was starting to hallucinate.

[George]

Oh, my gosh.

[Craig]

Yeah. So that was my experience on my cross country road trip.

[George]

There is something cool, though, about driving overnight. And I guess it's not really safe because you could get tired or have

[Gordon]

double vision, slap yourself in the face and scream at yourself to wake up,

[George]

hold your head out the window. But one time when I was doing games.

[Gordon]

What do you mean doing games?

[George]

Broadcasting college football games. And I was also doing high school games. And after a high school game ended outside of Dallas on a Friday night, me and the guy who was our producer, Kurt, Kurt Norman, we drove from, I think the game was in McKinney, Texas, from McKinney, Texas, to Lincoln, Nebraska, and did the North Texas Nebraska game overnight. And we drove all night, Friday night. And he would drive for three or four hours, then I would drive for three or four hours, did the game and did the same thing coming back.

[Craig]

Oh, my God.

[George]

And it was exhausting, but it was awesome. There's something really cool about pulling up to a truck stop at 3:00 in the morning, getting gas and, you know, talking to the locals and they ask you where you're from and where you're going and. And I don't know, it's just cool.

[Gordon]

Boy, there's Nothing like the 2am methed out gas station attendant.

[George]

They don't care about.

[Gordon]

They do not. Yeah, there's not a whole lot of conversation these days. No. Whenever I see those guys, he's just way too thin and malnourished and it's been living on chemicals the whole time.

[Craig]

Mountain Dew.

[Gordon]

Yes. Oh, man. Meth and Mountain Dew.

[Craig]

That's his diet.

[George]

Great diet.

[Craig]

National parks are the top destinations for the great American road trip this summer.

[Gordon]

Interesting.

[George]

I saw they're up like a hundred thousand visitors this summer.

[Craig]

Wow. Really?

[George]

National parks. And I'm not really sure why, but yeah, it's a huge thing this summer.

[Craig]

And most people are traveling to the northwest or Southwest now. I think that might be a bit misleading. The population center is mostly east, so you'll have a greater number who want to travel west. But isn't traveling west, isn't that what.

[Gordon]

That's where your soul is being pulled?

[Craig]

I think that's what scratches that American itch in you to go west, young man. And along those lines here in 2026, we're celebrating all year long along this highway, or what's left of it, the 100th anniversary of Route 66, the most famous highway in America. It was created and opened in 20, 100 years ago in 1926. And it's the highway that went from Chicago, Illinois, all the way to California, to Santa Barbara, I believe maybe is where it ended, Santa Monica, right at the pier there where we've seen when we go out there on work or fun trips. And it was the thing, the most romantic road in America associated with the Grapes of Wrath and going west to escape the Dust bowl or the Kerouac novels or whatever it was. Everybody wanted to get on Route 66 and head west. But it only really experienced maybe a 20 or 30 year heyday before the interstate system was put in place and really killed it in a lot of these states.

[Gordon]

Yeah, interstates killed a lot of towns. You know, there were all these towns that were on Route 66, but then the interstate comes along and just bypasses towns completely and so nobody stops. And all those dollars went away for those mom and pop shops.

[George]

Yeah, it was shown in the documentary Cars.

[Gordon]

Okay. Yes. It's not really a documentary.

[George]

No, it's not.

[Gordon]

But yeah, it did cover that in the Pixar movie.

[George]

It wasn't an an.

[Gordon]

No, it was animated and it was great.

[George]

I told you guys on a previous podcast that that is still my dream. To drive from Route 66 would be interesting, what's left of it. But from Texas to California, I've never made that drive before.

[Gordon]

There's still like websites and aficionados. I don't think that's a word. No, aficionados of Route 66 know everything about it and everything. And you can, you know, they will tell you where you can still go and map trip for you because it's all obviously chopped up and some parts of it are Kind of non existent. But where did it come through here? Where's the, the route through?

[Craig]

So it only. We're in Dallas, it only came through the Texas Panhandle.

[Gordon]

Okay.

[Craig]

And on my road trip this summer for vacation, which we just got back from a couple of days ago, my wife and daughter fly, we go to New Mexico, I drive. So it's a 10 hour drive.

[George]

You're the equipment driver?

[Craig]

I'm the equipment driver. But since I have a little extra time, I made a point to drive stretches of Route 66 on my recent trip. And I take a highway, it's a side highway from Dallas up to Amarillo, but that's where Route 66 you can still catch. And in Amarillo they have commemorated parts of Route 66. There are still stretches. They're having some celebrations and signage and things up. So I drove a little bit of that in my birth town, Amarillo. Then I pulled over in Vega, Texas, which is between Amarillo and the Texas New Mexico border, and went down there, Main street, where Route 66 used to go. I believe Route 66 was officially decommissioned by the United States because it got to be too chopped up back in the 80s or 90s. It's no longer a thing, but it lives in a lot of these little towns. In Vega there's a huge Route 66 memorial. Keep driving. Get back on the Interstate I40, which killed a great chunk of Route 66 from Texas and Oklahoma all the way to California. I stopped in Tucumcari, New Mexico. And if you want to get a slice of what Route 66 was like, there's about a five mile stretch of road. The interstate goes south of Tucumcari now, but if you take the business exit, old Route 66 and drive through Tucumcari, it'll take you 10 minutes. And half of it is still functioning cafes and hotels and they all play up on the Route 66 theme. And the other half is a ghost town, it's a skeleton. But you still see the old signage from these old motor ends or these old diners. So you can you get a feel for what it was like and what it still is like and what it probably could still be like, you know, if it were still alive. It's like half and half. It's this weird mix. There are a couple diners that I've stopped at several times that are straight out of 1940. And it's awesome and the food is still okay. And then right next door to it will be this diner that's probably been empty for 40 or 50 years. Some of these businesses made it. Some of them are still making it today. Just on the story and the legend of Route 66. But Tucumcari, of all the places I've stopped, is a great place to get a feel for what it was really like.

[George]

Yeah, I'd love to do that.

[Gordon]

I would love to see those old motels that they would have off of there, because they have a lot of themed motels, too.

[Craig]

Yes.

[Gordon]

There was the one that had the teepees. Remember this? And that was in Cars, the Pixar movie they showed, the one where you would stay in this huge teepee. That was your room, your cabin, your bungalow was a teepee.

[George]

Boy, didn't all those old motels just look so inviting when you drive by them? Like. Yeah, they got air conditioning.

[Gordon]

We always stayed at motels on these roads.

[George]

We trip, too, a lot of times.

[Gordon]

I guess that was just more common or it was cheaper back then or something.

[George]

We just didn't have a lot of big hotels back then.

[Gordon]

Yeah. And so you'd have the door that was right off the parking lot.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

You'd go into just like no country for Old Men.

[George]

I can't imagine the restaurant business is tough enough. I couldn't imagine trying to run one of those diners on a offbeat Route 66 today that try to keep it going.

[Craig]

Oh, man. Yeah, you really have to pull people off the highway. As I kept going in New Mexico, I ended up going to Santa fe, which Route 66 used to have this little diversion. It split. It went up to Santa Fe from the route that normally just went straight across to Albuquerque and then back down.

[George]

Yeah.

[Craig]

So if you look at a Route 66 map, there's this little hump in New Mexico where it actually forked and then came back together. And when I got to Albuquerque, they were having a big celebration there on one of the streets, had it shut down. Stage, band, giant Route 66 signs. And. And so all along it. And you can still enjoy this if you want to get a feel for what it was like, be a part of the 100th anniversary. I think the whole way, even from Chicago all the way to California, they're having these little celebrations and commemorations. This is a great time. If you ever wanted to drive stretches of it, this is the year.

[Gordon]

Isn't it strange, though, why that that highway holds such a powerful place in the American imagination and the American history book?

[Craig]

It is.

[Gordon]

It's kind of crazy because we've had to have other historic highways. But why that one is the one that everyone remembers and talks about so much.

[George]

I think it is that out west thing. And 20 years from now, maybe it'll be gone.

[Gordon]

Yeah. Maybe people be the new one. Well, like 35. 35. I straight up to Minnesota.

[George]

I've been up and down 35 so many times.

[Craig]

I do think there's a romance to Route 66 that has to do with Go west, young man. The settlers in America went west. And going west is all this ridiculous beauty. It's large, the views are big, the mountains are bigger than what we have back east. The dream of California. You take Route 66 from your farm somewhere in the Midwest, which you may be experiencing hard times if it's the Dust bowl, but there's this promise of beaches and palm trees and perfect weather and beauty in California and riches and. And movie stardom and whatever dream you're chasing. So I just think there's. It's more romantic to go west than it is to go east where it feels congested and discovered. And when you go west in America, even today, you feel like you might find some patch of dirt that nobody's seen yet.

[Gordon]

You could stake a claim.

[Craig]

Yeah. So I think it has a lot to do with that.

[George]

Someday I'm going to make that drive. The Route 66 drive or just the drive to California?

[Gordon]

I've done that before. I mean, not on Route 66.

[George]

Yeah, when you were really young, too.

[Gordon]

Well, as when our radio station started many, many years ago and my friend was moving from Dallas, Fort Worth to LA to make his fortune, to find his fame and fortune. And we rented a U Haul and put a car trailer on the back of it and towed his Buick Century. Another Buick. Making the podcast today behind this U Haul. And we drove across the desert and all the way out there, and it was great. It was. It. It had that romantic feeling.

[George]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

Of here we were. We were young men and here was one of us that was moving off to la.

[George]

Yeah. Especially with that.

[Gordon]

Yeah, it was great.

[Craig]

I may have told this story on the podcast. I can't remember. I apologize if it's a repeat, but I've told you the story of my buddy Dave driving from San Diego to Dallas, haven't I?

[Gordon]

Wasn't that kind of accidental? Did he intend to do it the whole way?

[Craig]

He did not. He set out one afternoon, he had a U Haul. He went to San Diego State. He had graduated and he was coming back to Dallas. His parents lived in Plano, and he finished up his job and he got in his old Ford Bronco with the U Haul behind him. And he set off for Dallas. And his plan was to spend the night in Tucson, I believe. So that's I10, I think that goes runs through Southern Arizona and Colorado. So he gets to Tucson at about like 10 at night and he thinks, I still feel pretty good. I'm going to keep going. Maybe not realizing that after Tucson, there is nothing until El Paso. So he keeps driving. He says it's like 1am, 2am he's not finding anything. Things start to get weird. He said he'd be listening to a song and then suddenly it's a different song. And he never remembered one song ending. He finally gets to El Paso, but it's about five in the morning and the sun is starting to come up. And so he thinks that reinvigorated him. Yeah, he thinks, I guess I'll just keep going. But he's starting to get weird at this point. He said in El Paso, he had to pull over for gas and he put the nozzle in the car, sprinted inside to get something to eat for no reason. Sprinted. Got like a Dr. Pepper and a candy bar or something. Sprinted back out. And he said he couldn't figure out

[Gordon]

why he didn't understand his own actions.

[Craig]

Right then he's driving through West Texas. Now it's the next day, it's the middle of the day, and he starts hallucinating. He said he saw 747 taxiing across the interstate in front of him. Hit the brakes one time, he fell asleep at the wheel, woke up, was on the shoulder, jerked the car back onto the road, looked in the rearview mirror and the U Haul was fishtailing behind him. Finally got to his parents, like at 5pm that next day. And he said he didn't realize he did this, but he pulled up in front of their house, he put the car in park, didn't turn it off, left it running, left it running. Got out of the car, went in, didn't say hi to his parents and went into his bedroom and fell asleep,

[Gordon]

left the car running.

[Craig]

That is not really the great American road trip.

[George]

What is our son on right now? What is going on?

[Gordon]

He started doing drugs out there in California.

[George]

California messed him up.

[Craig]

Why would you keep going? Turned into a hippie.

[George]

There is something cool about that. To see how far you can go if you can do the overnight thing. And I would not do it now. But yeah, back in the day it was really cool.

[Gordon]

And I know that it's a meme, everyone making fun of dads for we're making good time, but I fall into it all the time.

[Craig]

Me too.

[Gordon]

I get to where I just don't want to slow down. I just keep going.

[George]

Well, you're in charge. You're in charge of the wagon train.

[Gordon]

Yeah.

[George]

You know, you're responsible for it and you want to get it there.

[Gordon]

What's the fastest you've made it from say here to Austin?

[Craig]

2:35 or 2:40.

[George]

Yeah, 235 one night and it was late at night. It was after a basketball game, driving back to Dallas and there's no traffic and yeah, I made it in two and a half hours.

[Gordon]

I did 2:32.

[Craig]

Pretty good. That might be the muser record, the mark to beat.

[George]

There's no way you could do that now. No, there's way too much traffic. Maybe in the middle of the night, maybe, but I doubt it now.

[Gordon]

It's way too much traffic. It's frustrating now to drive down there. I used to love that drive.

[George]

Awesome drive.

[Gordon]

And then. And now it's just. You're stacked up the whole way.

[George]

Yeah. That's the worst drive in Texas now.

[Craig]

Yeah. The best thing about a road trip is wide open highways and not going through major city centers. That's high stress if you have to drive through Houston or Chicago or something like that. But if you're just out on a wide open highway where the speed limit is 80.

[George]

I was just about to ask that. When you drive out to New Mexico, do you get that speed limit 80?

[Craig]

Yep.

[George]

It's great.

[Craig]

And parts of West Texas, like if you go out toward Big Bend, I think it's 80, might even be 85. Is that tollway around Austin, is that 85 or 80?

[George]

I think it's 80.

[Craig]

Okay.

[George]

Yeah, that's big.

[Gordon]

But the most frustrating thing is when you have the two semis that are trying to, I guess manage their speed or trying not to get fined by their company that are doing the rolling blockade.

[Craig]

I hate that so much.

[Gordon]

And they'll take 30 minutes to pass another one.

[Craig]

Yes.

[Gordon]

And just a stack of cars lined up behind them.

[Craig]

Oh, I hate that so much.

[George]

I know. And I find myself saying the same thing my dad used to say. You know, the truckers used to be the best drivers on the road. Your dad ever say that? Complain about something? They were doing something like that.

[Gordon]

And my mom just find myself saying that taught us that all truckers were on speed and did seedy stuff at truck stops.

[George]

That's how much I love the road trip. I wanted to be a trucker. I Just thought that was like the ultimate job.

[Craig]

God, I think that would be a beating of a job I do now.

[George]

But as a kid, I thought, man, that would be the way to see this country. Just drive everywhere.

[Craig]

You're driving such a big, heavy, clunky thing. I think that would get really frustrating that you can't make quick turns and pull into quick parking spaces.

[Gordon]

And I don't see how they keep them. Some of them don't, but keep them in the lines all the time. You got a truck filling up the entire lane.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

And now there's so many highways that they're doing construction on that have the barriers that there's no shoulder. No, it's just a barrier right there.

[George]

Why do we allow that, by the way?

[Gordon]

I don't know.

[George]

Why do we allow making a highway like a lose.

[Gordon]

Like a lose.

[George]

Shoot, that just doesn't seem safe.

[Craig]

No, I don't get that either. Well, if you're taking the great American road trip this summer, be safe out there.

[George]

Make good time, though.

[Craig]

Make good time.

[Gordon]

Make good time. Stop at Stuckey's.

[Craig]

Stop at stuckey's.

[Gordon]

Or Buc EE's. Are they related in any way?

[Craig]

Is Stuckey's still in existence?

[Gordon]

I don't think so. Are they?

[George]

I don't. I want to say I've seen one, but maybe not.

[Gordon]

We used to get the pecan log. They had something called a pecan log.

[Craig]

I remember that.

[George]

Maybe my dad was right.

[Gordon]

They used to have a giant fly swatter. I always wanted that big novelty item.

[Craig]

Everybody should know my hack. If you have to go to the bathroom in particular, number two. Or, God forbid, number three. You know, most gas stations, roadside, the bathrooms are just terrible. You know, you need a hazmat uniform in there. I always look for the nicest hotel I can find on the route. And then you just walk into the lobby. You pretend that you're there to visit somebody or. And then you use their bathrooms, and they're almost always really clean.

[George]

It's a great hack. Really is. It's terrific. And usually they don't, you know, penalize you. They don't call you out or anything.

[Gordon]

Number two, in their bathroom, they don't know. While you have no intention of becoming a customer, they don't know what you're doing.

[Craig]

You might do.

[Gordon]

You pretend at least that you're thinking about renting a room?

[Craig]

Yeah, I pretend I'm doing something.

[George]

You loiter just a little bit in

[Craig]

the lobby, Make a call like you're, hey, are you ready yet? I'll wait for you here in the lobby.

[George]

I'll tell you what, I'll bring the car around. Okay.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

Yeah.

[George]

All right.

[Craig]

Yeah.

[Gordon]

While you have a background backside that's fully loaded.

[Craig]

Oh, yeah.

[Gordon]

Oh, gross.

[Sponsor/Commercial Voice]

All right.

[Craig]

That is episode 51 of the Musers the Podcast, thanks to our producer, Peter Welton. A reminder, if you would like Musers merch, which is really popular, you can get it@the musers.com the musers.com for hats, t shirts, sweatshirts, mugs. And of course, you can sample our back catalog on Apple or Spotify. We have 51 episodes out now, so if you're on the Great American Road Trip, maybe take the Musers with you. We'll talk to you next time on the Musers the Podcast.