Evening star., 1946-04-30

rap. we nave paid for gas, Oil,
food, lodging and some little major
repairs on the car. We wouldn't
mind this so much if We thought
we were getting a fair deal on the
seating arrangements, but we aren't.
We are on the back seat, all but
smothered by luggage. am perched
on a steamer trunk, with hat box
for lap robe, and Jean is wedged
in between two Gladstones and a
valet pack and has set of golf clubs
for a head rest.
From where we sit, visibility is
zero. The inside of the back seat
is draped with suits and dresses on
hangers. They flap and sway like
scarecroWs. Every time I come up
for air a chartreuse dinner dress
smacks me in the face, and the most
exciting bit of scenery Jean has
seen is the rayon lining of a gray
flannel suit.
Getting No Place Rapidly.
Another thing is, we are getting
no place. We were supposed to
leave at eight in the morning, but
Bill and Flo didn't come by until
ten-thirty. Our first stop was a
filling station three blocks from
our house, where we had to have
the oil changed, the tank filled, the
tires checked, water put in the bat
terry, and the windshield wipers
repaired.
We lost another IS minutes while
Bill wrote in a little notebook. 1t
seems that he is the type who keeps
a log whenever he is on a motor
trip. He wrote in the time we left
our house, the time of the arrival
at the filling station, the amount
of gas and oil purchased, and the
moment of our departure. Flo said,
with touch Of pride, that Bill had
the logs of every trip they had ever
taken, and If he had to could prove
exactly how much gas and oil it
took them to 60 from Phoenix to
Ell Paso when they were touring
the West in 1881.
Our next stop was a. restaurant,
still inside the city limits. Seems
as if they hadn't had time for
more than a cup of coffee before
leaving home.
Finally we got out of town and
Jean and I stopped nudging one
another and breathed a sigh of
relief. 1t was a full hour before
we stopped again. Flo spotted some
homemade tufted bedspreads hang
ing on lines out in front of a farm
house. Just the thing, Bill" she
cried, "for Aunt Liza next Christ
mas" They came back with two
of the spreads. You don't mind
if we put them on the back seat
with you?" Flo asked. You'll have
to be careful not to get them dirty,
though. The lady didn't have any
paper to wrap them in
Hunt for Restaurant.
We spent the better part Of an
hour in Jacksonville, looking for a
restaurant recommended by Duncan
Hines. That fellow Hines surely
knows his food" Bill said, thumb
ing the Hines guide.
An hour or SO later Flo said she
would like a soft drink. Bill stopped
at the first place we came to, al
though it was on the wrong side
of the road. Look at that" Jean
snickered, "he didn't wait a second"
Then she reminded me of the time
I drove from San Antonio to Dallas
after she had asked for a drink of
water, for fear some of the trucks
and cars I had passed would get
ahead of me.
Bill entered the price of the drinks
in his log, and also the number of
miles we had covered since buying
the bedspread.
At in the afternoon, with the
sun still high in the heavens, Bill
started worrying about a place to
stop for the night He wouldn't
consider driving until dark. He said
that going west we would soon have
the sun directly in our eyes, and
that that was dangerous. He quoted
a batch of statistics in proof.
So we stopped in a hotel which,
if it had had one more story, would
have enabled me to stand on the
roof and see back home.
Tomorrow I'll continue these ad-
ventures, and I'll bet you'll never
guess what I hit Bill in the back of
the head with.
4 r \