Balloon time!

Dad always considered himself a superior driver, far above everyone else on the road. Rarely would he admit some other car in front of us a good driver, usually they were idiots, or most often ignorant to the finer subtleties and skills of driving the streets and highways. So when we were on the road, dad, and our car in particular, was special and stood out among the other ordinary drivers, some who had no business at all being on the road.

Another skill dad claimed to have superior knowledge about was navigating, and he had a vast collection of various road maps to guide and direct us on our journeys. We found on the first year of the trip that all maps and map companies were not equal. Most everybody in the world used Rand McNally maps, but according to dad, these maps were ordinary and superficial, they didn't include the little known dirt roads and by-ways not considered by the regular travelers. Much to my dad's annoyance most cross country travelers were not interested in scenery and interesting back-roads, they just wanted "to get there" as fast as they could without regard to the beauty of getting there. Dad considered this a major character flaw of everyone in the world and it angered him that everyone seemed to care more about the destination and not about the "getting there". So the maps were extremely important, but the Rand McNally maps didn't cut it. The map company of choice was Gousha (I think that is the name) I'm not exactly sure the actual name of the company because to this day dad always pronounced it "Geeshee". So that's what those maps were called, "Geeshee maps" and that's what I'm going to call them here because I've never known them named any differently from their correct name - they're "Geeshee maps". The advantage of Geeshee maps was that they were up to date (so my dad claimed) indicating the current new roads, and they indicated the little used dirt roads, meant for the locals. The maps themselves were also rare and difficult to find, which was evidence for dad that they must me good. Many a times dad claimed a Geeshee map saved his life and pointed him in the right direction, avoiding disaster or road construction, giving him the advantage over the other sorry highway travelers who were unfortunate enough to have to rely on Rand McNally maps. The Geeshee maps and the occasional discovery of the dirt road was a privilege my dad held over all others.

Now I need to mention that part of our Summer trips to Estes Park was to gather our entire family, Aunt, Uncle, Cousins... to vacation at Wind River Ranch, and Uncle Bob was likewise responsible for driving his family in the Country Squire station wagon to Estes Park. I remember that station wagon well, I wished we had one. It had wood paneling on the sides, the way back windows were covered with stickers showing the interesting roadside attractions my Aunt, Uncle and cousins visited, and because there was 4 kids to contend with in their family, the way back of the station wagon had fold-up seats that was way cool and really fun to sit in, it seemed to me a great privilege to be able to sit in the way back.

But according to my dad there was a couple of fatal flaws in my Uncle Bob's traveling style. For one, he usually wanted to get to the destination as fast as possible, taking only 2 or 3 days to reach Estes Park - LA to Salt Lake first day, Salt Lake to Estes Park second day, done. This always perplexed my dad, not understanding why Uncle Bob didn't enjoy the drive there, or didn't have the time to enjoy the journey. Uncle Bob's schedule was something my dad would never understand. The second flaw was that Uncle Bob used a Rand McNally map to navigate, and not only that, it was one of those convenient road atlas type of maps combining the whole country in one book, not the superior fold out maps specific to a region. For my dad, using a Rand McNally road atlas was for amateurs and potentially dangerous. To really be prepared one had to use a Geeshee map and know how to read it properly. You not only were required to know the proper map reading skills, (more about that later) but almost as important was the unfolding and folding of these type maps, a procedure that was as frustrating as it was treacherous, dad often showed off his superior skill of opening, reading and re-folding a geeshee map while driving. But Uncle Bob's using the Rand McNally was cause for ridicule and insult by my dad, expressing disbelief about how Uncle Bob could ever get anywhere using a Rand McNally.

Dad in all his infinite wisdom came up with a solution to help Uncle Bob find his way 500 miles using an inferior map. Dad came up with "Balloon Time", a ritual we performed 3 or 4 times a day in the car. Whenever we would change a highway, make a turn-off, pass a landmark or cross state lines, mom would blow up a balloon and I would let it go out the window of our speeding car. Often without warning dad would yell out, "balloon time!" and the ritual began, my mom patiently putting up with the silliness since it kept me occupied and interested for 5 minutes. To me this was a task of great importance, crucial to Uncle Bob reaching Estes Park successfully. I would stick the balloon out the window and let it flap in the wind a few seconds before letting it go. We would watch as it was carried by the wake of the car and drifted, ideally by the left side of the road so Uncle Bob could see it. By leaving this symbolic breadcrumb trail for Uncle Bob this was reassurance that following the roadside markers of balloons they would make it to Estes Park without getting lost.

However, I never understood why Uncle Bob and my cousins always got to the ranch before we did.