APRIL 24th - Road Tripping



On this day in 1908, Jacob Murdock packed his family into a Packard and left Los Angeles for New York, beginning the longest transcontinental trip in the U.S. by automobile. The Murdocks reached New York 32 days later. A long trip for sure, but there were no interstates or highways in 1908. So except for pit stops and respites (7 non driving days), the Murdock family was in a car for 32 days. Twas a family of five consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Murdock, two daughters and a son. They also brought along a friend (for a portion of the trip) and a mechanic just to round things out. That’s a heck of a lot of time for seven people to be in a car together. And it wasn’t like any of them could just turn on her iPod and tune the others out. Car radios wouldn’t come out for another 14 years, which is probably how long that trip felt. I’m all for road trips. The excitement of heading somewhere out of your normal routine can be invigorating, but 32 days of invigoration? I don’t think so. It’s like going to see a Lord of the Ring’s movie. You’re pretty excited the first two hours, but you spend the third hour wondering why Jackson cut so much stuff, and the last hour realizing it was because you’ve been sitting in a theater for three and half hours for only a ⅓ of the story. It’s like that. Except that the Murdocks were more travelling to Mordor than watching the extended highlights. 32 days in a car with 7 other people. If they were strangers they would have run out of things to talk about after the first week. If Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee had been in their group, besides being a severely different trip, the Murdocks could have witnessed a marriage and a divorce before they reached New York--and probably some other stuff. But they made it. Despite all that time, despite endless bathroom stops, and getting lost, and dead-end dirt roads, and coyotes, they made it. 1908 America was probably a sight to behold, and they were able to see it in all its splendor because they didn’t quit. Sometimes that is the most important thing.

This day has been Marked.

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