Family Time -- Steve Smith

The ad made the products sound like the ultimate baby-sitter:

“Portable TVs greatly decrease the number of times kids ask, ‘Are we

there yet?’ Portable TVs are like coloring books on steroids. What kid

wouldn’t want to take friends like Harry Potter, Creed and Crash

Bandicoot along for the ride? Which means that they won’t have to resort

to the more traditional games like ‘Don’t Touch Me’ tag and ’20 Questions

Till Dad Snaps.”’

This summer will see a record number of families taking to the

highways of America on their annual vacations.

Since Sept. 11, we are flying less to our vacation spots and driving

to them more often. According to the American Automobile Assn., Memorial

Day 2002 saw an estimated 35.2 million people hit the road. The demand

has caused a spike in the price of RV rentals.

All of which is good news for those of us who believe that family road

trips do more to bring families together than almost any other activity.

The bad news is the introduction of the TV/VCR/DVD player into the mix.

Over the years, my wife and I have found road trips to be a good time

to discover how our kids are doing. Away from the pressures of school

and peers, this captive audience becomes themselves. They slow down,

think more and even talk to their parents in civil, intelligent tones.

Road trips are a time for sharing whatever it is families see on the

road or the delicious fruit from any roadside stand or thoughts on life.

It’s hard to have a chat with a child when wrestlers Undertaker and Kane

are slamming opponents into a canvas or Crash Bandicoot is acting

squirrelly.

Thirty-five years ago, my parents took us on the first of many camping

trips throughout California. My mother’s excuse was that we needed to

explore this great state, but we all knew it was because she was deathly

afraid of flying. No matter, those trips rank as my best memories from my

childhood.

On any of our frequent California camping trips, my mother loaded

frying pans, flatware and dishes into the back of our ’64 Rambler station

wagon. The movable kitchen left little room for the tent, sleeping bags

and clothes, so they went on the roof, secured with about 14 miles of

clothesline. My brother and I would sit for hours singing songs, playing

cards and games, reading or just looking out the window.

And, yes, we occasionally asked, “Are we there yet?”

Today, however, it seems as though families use personal stereos and

movies to separate until the nasty driving part of the trip is done. It

is these same parents who insist on filling every spare moment of their

child’s life with some sort of activity, lest they use that extra 20

minutes to become bored or hooked on heroin. I am sorry that the video

families won’t discover the bonding that a road trip brings.

On a recent trip to Mammoth Lakes, we listened to a series of

audiotapes of the “Superman” radio series of the 1940s. It was six hours

of theater of the mind. Without pictures to provide every last detail,

the four of us imagined each scene in our own way. When it was over, the

kids wanted to listen all over again.

If your trip takes you up Highway 395 toward Mammoth or Yosemite, or

even if it doesn’t, I strongly urge you to take the time to visit the

Manzanar National Historical Site. Manzanar was a concentration camp for

Japanese Americans erected in 1942. One of 10 such camps in the country,

it housed 11,061 people, two-thirds of whom were American citizens.

At Manzanar, these Americans raised hogs, grew enough fruits and

vegetables to be 80% self-sufficient and even knitted camouflage nets for

the U.S. war effort.

At Manzanar, dust flies everywhere, all the time.

These Americans lived for years behind barbed wire, surrounded by

armed guards. Before coming to this hell on earth, they were stripped of

their homes, businesses and allowed to take only what could fit into two

suitcases.

At this moment, the National Park Service is building a visitor’s

center at Manzanar, a long overdue monument to the amazing inhabitants of

this camp. In this day of declining liberties, it is more important than

ever that our children understand the importance of maintaining

vigilance over our government.

So here’s a summer travel tip: Leave the home theater at home. Start

your vacation not when you reach your destination but when you leave your

front door. Break up your road trip into 2- to 3-hour segments so you

can stop and smell the Joshua trees.

And when your kids ask, “Are we there yet,” just keep your cool, smile

and say, “Not yet. Anyone up for a game of auto bingo?”

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.