Family Station Wagon

Luggage packed, Dad behind the wheel, Mom unfolding a paper map, the cooler wedged between the seats, the kids fighting over the window. Before GPS and smartphones, the family road trip was its own adventure — navigating by atlas, judging every vacation by the hotel pool, hunting the next Stuckey's or roadside dinosaur. The soundtrack came off AM radio, FM stations fading in and out, cassettes, and a visor full of CDs; gas-station snacks, rest-stop picnics, license-plate games. Beach, mountains, Grandma's house, or just across the state line — these are the songs that rolled by as America passed the window. The destination was important; the journey became the memory.