The Sunday Afternoon Drive, Gone but Not Forgotten

Northern Minnesota, the return of Autumn. As a youngster fifty years ago the family Sunday Drive was a tradition that continued to recent times. Heading out in the car to travel the back roads and north shore of Lake Superior, experiencing the bright reds, yellows and orange of the foliage as it made it's grand display before settling in for a long barren winter.

Back when gasoline was an incidental expense, 18 or 19 cents a gallon. It was a inexpensive outing that kept the family close and involved with the beautiful scenery available in this area of the country. If we were really lucky a stop at Bridgeman's (Local Dairy Brand) for an Ice Cream cone to the tune of 10 cents a head.

Total cost to entertain a family of seven for a good part of the day would be no more then a couple dollars. Affordable to even the poorest of families, which as luck would have it we were among the many families that had to watch pennies and budget closely for such extravagances.

As a young adult, many times when finding a weekend day with nothing special to do. It was a simple matter to top off the gas tank and spin the compass to determine a direction. Heading out with no particular destination, as the needle approached half tank it was time to turn back for home.

Country driving is a good time for thought. Clearing your mind, or contemplating a project. It's a time to take stock of situations. Many a crisis or problem has been solved by simply getting out in the fresh air for a drive with the windows down. Opening up the mind to let the ideas flow.

Now with gasoline cycling between $3 and $4 a gallon, when was the last time you filled the tank just to go for a cruise. Instead of a cheap way to fill some time, now it's become an exorbitant luxury.

Those who can afford to waste $100 for an afternoon drive in their gas guzzling SUV are not enjoying the scenery but instead are flaunting their affluence and disregard for our environment.

Times being what they are, the more a vehicle can stay parked in the driveway, the more responsible the owner of said car. The Sunday afternoon drive through the country side is but a memory now. Until energy can be developed that will be both plentiful and cheap enough to again allow such reckless abandon, families will be forced to rely on activities like television, computer games, e-mail to fill their time.

Sadly our way of life will be the worse for the lose. As time passes on, many will reflect back to the days. The old days way back, when taking a ride in the country was a Sunday afternoon tradition that everyone looked forward too.