Fiddledeedee.net Reviews

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and the Shell Family of Cards.

There is something about climbing behind the wheel of a car and hitting the wide open road that makes the thought of traveling by plane distasteful.

Especially what with airport security, baggage issues, and the thought of being strapped into a steel tube with 200 other passengers with varying degrees of flu and disease.  And peanut breath.

When I was growing up, we drove every single summer from Ohio to our native Texas to visit my grandparents.  Those road trips were memorable indeed.

But when the folks at Shell asked a few bloggers to recount their most memorable road trip ever taken, I knew I needed to tell the tale of The Great Road Trip of Summer, 1988.

I was living in Dallas and working as an actress.  But my eyes were set on the western sky, with thoughts of making it big in Los Angeles.

I had a few good credits on my resume, and had just finished filming a movie in a costarring role, with a big name actor.

And no, I won’t tell you what movie, because that would be giving away too much personal information and as a blogger, I welcome the anonymity.  For the sake of my little family.

Besides, you wouldn’t know me anyway.

I made the decision to move in 1988.  My very southern mother, who thought that a road trip across the country would be “fun”, volunteered to ride shotgun.

I packed my precious belongings into my 1988 Honda Civic CRX hatchback.  This included those items that I felt I could not live without.  Such as my 13 inch TV, my hot pink push button telephone, answering machine (so I would not miss that all important call from HOLLYWOOD), assorted fabulous 80’s fashions, and one very angry gray tiger striped cat, named Katie.

And her sandbox.

I was barely able to close the hatch to the CRX when everything was stuffed inside.  And what I hadn’t taken into account was that I had left no room for the sandbox.  Or Katie the Cat.  The sandbox was perched precariously on top of the 13” TV, and the only place that was left for Katie the Cat to sit was in my mother’s lap.

It should be mentioned here that my mother and Katie the Cat could not stand one another.  And they were both rather vocal about it.

With tears in my eyes, I left Dallas behind in my rear view mirror.  I think, anyway.  Since the only thing I could actually see in the rear view mirror was the sandbox.  And Katie trying to sit in said sandbox in an attempt to avoid my mother.  While staring at me with emerald green slits of hatred.

Stops at the gas station (and there were many) were a welcome respite.  Because I could shut the occupants of my Honda Civic CRX inside, while I stood blissfully outside, pumping gas, out of hearing range of their growing feud.  And yes, I had a Shell gas card, and Shell was one of my favorite gas stations of choice.  Since it was well known, and well lit.

And carried Dr. Pepper.

To appease my mother and cat, we also made frequent stops to all Kentucky Fried Chicken establishments and Long John Silvers between Dallas and Los Angeles.  To satiate the fried food cravings.  Mom and Katie the Cat were both notorious connoisseurs of fried food fare.

For sport, we slept in the car.  At a particularly well lit gas station.  More than likely Shell.  (Hello?  Dr. Pepper.)

The entire trip lasted two and a half excruciating days.  We arrived in Los Angeles just in time for rush hour traffic.  I barely made it in time to pick up my apartment key before the rental office closed at 5:00.  If I had not made it in time, we would have been sleeping in the Honda again.

And I fear that we would have made the L.A. Times headlines the next morning, because all three of us would have killed one another.

Effectively putting an end to my budding career.

I stayed in Los Angeles for the next 10 years and had the time of my life.  It was there that I forged friendships that have endured decades and many miles, and it was there that I met my husband.

I left the acting profession after a few years.  With no regrets.  I became a decorative painter and owned my own business, selling to hoopty ploopty Melrose type stores and even a few celebrities.  (Michael Maloney of Extreme Home Makeover was a client.)

In 1998, my husband and I made the difficult decision to move from Los Angeles to the Florida coast so that we could raise a family close to his many brothers and sisters and their families.

When we were making plans to move, we considered a road trip from Los Angeles to the eastern coast of Florida.

When pigs flew.

We still had Katie the Cat.  And she was 10 years older and had even more to be angry about.  And our only mode of transportation was a bench seat Toyota pickup.  With no air conditioning.

The plane trip with the 3 of us is a whole other blog post.  And that will wait for another time.

Please don’t forget to visit the BlogHer Review Roundup page to check out some other fun road trip stories.

Thank you to Shell for inspiring me to frolic down memory lane!  And listen up, for a limited time only, Shell is offering a return of 30 cents per gallon on the first 100 gallons purchased with a Shell Card within a 90-day period. The promotional savings is available at all Shell-branded stations nationwide for those who sign up and are approved for a new Shell Card from June 29, 2009 to September 30, 2009.

And now, for show and tell, I’d like to share with you some choice photo opportunities that I enjoyed my first few weeks in Los Angeles:

Crossing the state line.  No fear.  No turning back.

The CRX in question, carrying human cargo, in the form of a friend’s parents

First trip to the beach.  I wore panty hose.  This will be an entirely separate post soon, to be sure.

My first official L.A. headshot.  The pensive look.

Playing Texas Hold’em.  With Brad Pitt.  I’m in the tube top.  Not even kidding. (Especially about the tube top)

And now I turn this over to y’all.  What is your most memorable road trip?