Scratch your summer itch with a road trip

It's summer in the northern hemisphere and that can only mean one thing: It's time for some serious cruising seat time.

OK, there are other things to talk about when it comes to summer (like the beach, flowers and birds and stuff like that), but this is an automotive column, and I feel the need to hit the highway.

All of you with your hot rods, classics and convertibles that you probably don't dare uncover during the winter months are undoubtedly thrilled to be back on the road.

So, where are we headed?

Me? I plan to put the convertible top down and indulge in many relaxing rides up the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway north of Los Angeles, Calif.

Those short drives are fantastic and refreshing and help remind us that there's more to life than work and stress. Yes, they really do.

But what about those much longer rides, such as those notorious, fun-filled and usually chaotic family road trips? You know the kind that typically involve tourist-trap destinations, a myriad of hard-to-decipher maps, coolers full of snacks and children who remark every few minutes that they need to use the bathroom. You might be thinking of a certain trip right now that had far too many people packed into the vehicle and way too much cargo packed on top of it. Maybe it was a station wagon or even a motor home.

I don't know about you, but my family certainly made some great memories during spring and summer road trips, journeys that would make Clark Griswold (of National Lampoon's "Vacation" fame, of course) proud. How about you? Drop me a note and share your stories.

In the meantime, I'll share one or two of my own.

My fondest summer vacation memories took place in our family's GMC motor home. As kids, we thought we were so cool back in the 1980s riding along in that monstrous vehicle. It was like a long, narrow living room teetering on wheels. Nearly every weekend we would pack in with our family of about 10, including grandma and grandpa, and any other families and friends who wanted to join the adventure or come to watch the car races. Regular readers will recall that my father was a race driver and that we spent many weekends with him at the various tracks around the United States. Perhaps not coincidentally, my dad was always our driver, although he would sometimes let my sister and I sit on his lap and pretend to steer.

Mom always took the responsibility for navigating and attempting to read the maps from her reclining-and-spinning passenger chair. The rest of us were just along for the ride. We would rush in, "call" a bed, set up camp and then just bust out the cards and games. Since there were only two bunk beds and one big bed in the back, that generally meant multiple kids had to share each space. But we didn't mind. And we didn't do much sleeping, anyway. The excitement level was always at full throttle.

Our driving music consisted of about six of our favorite eight-track tapes (they're going to make a comeback, I swear!) and despite the repetition, we never grew tired of them. The artists I remember most vividly were Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton John, Kenny Rogers and Patsy Cline. We had our favorite songs and would belt out the words to them over and over as we sat looking out the windows at scenery whizzing by while playing card games.

In this particular vehicle we had a tiny bathroom, so our stops were infrequent, usually for gas or to get out for a stretch. My dad's favorite snack was ice cream, so we regularly stopped at Dairy Queen locations to keep him happy and alert during our journeys. This soon became our ritual. We eventually knew the exact distance between Dairy Queens throughout the U.S. Midwest and would gauge our meal times around these stops. In case you're wondering, my choice snack was the Buster Bar or Peanut Buster Parfait. Dad's was always an enormous, overflowing banana split. That definitely wasn't the healthiest snack choice, but it didn't stop him from winning races. Maybe it even helped.

We probably traveled in the motor home to hundreds of races, yet it was never monotonous or tedious. We always looked forward to the next adventure. And we loved the motor home so much that, even when we arrived at our destinations, my sister and I would opt to sleep there. No matter how dark or cold or far from our parents, we didn't want to get out.

My family's road-trip adventures are some of the happiest times of my life. I'm sure you can relate. Well, whether you have a cool old hot rod, an 1980s-style motor home, or something in between, I hope we can all make it our goal to take advantage of the wonderful shining sun, the beautiful surroundings, our loving families and the wheels that make us smile ... and get out and cruise.

Among her numerous accomplishments, Courtney Hansen is the author of "Garage Girl's Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Your Car," the host of Spike TV's "Power Block," the former host of TLC's "Overhaulin'" program and a writer with Wheelbase Media and Auto Shift Weekly magazine. You can email her by logging on to www.wheelbase.ws and using the contact link.