In honor of Mother’s Day and my television debut, I’ve decided to republish my Chicken Soup for the Soul: Mothers and Daughters contribution, with photos.
(Blue Streak, Beartooth’s Pass, circa 1975)
Ten Thousand Miles in Blue Streak
As a child, raised by a single mother, my experience in the 1970’s was different from that of my friends. I was a latchkey kid with more responsibilities than other children my age. But Mom worked hard, saved every penny, and made a comfortable life for us — one that included her passion for travel.
She purchased a 1973 Midas motor home and named it “Blue Streak”. During a ten-year span, we traveled to 47 states. In my late teens, we pulled a horse trailer and competed in shows throughout Wisconsin, and as far away as Ohio, Texas, and even Walla Walla, Washington. I’ll never forget the summer after I got my license. We crossed the Continental Divide with me sitting in the driver’s seat. I wondered how many 16-year-olds had ever done that.
(Niagara Falls, 1970’s)
Recently Mom was reminiscing about our earliest travels. “Remember when we visited Graceland and toured Elvis’ home?” she asked. “And wasn’t it great overlooking Niagara Falls?” My blank response frustrated her — the only destinations I remembered before age ten were those she kept in photo scrapbooks.
“I took you all those places and you don’t remember a thing,” she complained. I felt guilty —she was right. Then I contemplated my memory.
“No, Mom, I don’t remember all the places we went,” I said. “I don’t recall this statue, or that museum, or even the lobster we ate in Maine.”
(Nova Scotia, 1970’s)
“What I do remember, though, is that you were always there. It was just you and me for thousands of miles. I remember the orange shag carpet and the faded yellow curtains. I remember the RV water that smelled and the oven that didn’t work because mice made a nest in the insulation. I remember reading the map for you and figuring out how many miles before the next rest stop.”
(Florida, 1970’s)
“And I remember how you drove late into the night, while I fell asleep in the bunk above. You sang songs that started with each letter of the alphabet: Are You Lonesome Tonight, Band of Gold, Chances Are, Don’t be Cruel…”
“I remember listening to your ‘should-have-been-famous’ voice. That was my lullaby.”
Now, over thirty years after my first trip with my mom, I’ve started traveling with my own daughter. I ask her to pick the destination, but she doesn’t seem to care where we go.
“I just want us to go together,” she says.
Mom gave me many gifts: an appreciation for culture, a strong work ethic, and the confidence I can do whatever I put my mind to. But one of her greatest lessons was unintended:
Where you’re going doesn’t matter as much as who’s with you on the journey.
(Chesapeake Bay, 2005)
This post is a part of the Carnival of Chicks – Mother’s Day edition — at Girls Can’t What?, and also the one-year anniversary of Kailani’s Carnival of Family Life!
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Tags: daughter, mother, Mother's Day, motorhome, Published writing, travel with kids
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8:37 am
Awww, Kelly. *sniff, sniff* If that hadn’t made the book, you’d have been robbed! *wink* BRAVO again!
9:12 am
FacesofMoms.com is another great way to honor Moms with pictures. You can create a webpage after uploading photos to an ecard and sending it to your Mom.
9:41 am
I hope this is going to the BC Carnival.
Love my autographed copy
10:33 am
I just submitted it – to the carnival of family life too! Thanks for the reminder, Pamela!
Glad you liked the story, Beth;)
11:01 am
Beautiful!!!!
7:58 am
And I have this in my very own book!!! That is so beautiful…but I love it even more with the pictures. Really beautiful. I hope I can provide memories like that for MY son.
10:50 am
This made me cry.
Thanks for posting it.
4:30 pm
Aww, thanks you guys!
12:04 am
[...] Kelly, at Pass the Torch, celebrates motherhood, as well as her TV debut, with her photo-illustrated Chicken Soup for the Soul contribution, in Ten-Thousand miles in Blue Streak. [...]
11:10 am
This is a wonderful story. And what a blessing your mom is still around so that you can tell her how special she made you feel. God bless you and your mom.
11:13 am
[...] If you haven’t read the ad-infinitum about my Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating Mothers and Daughters story, here it is. [...]
12:44 pm
Your mother was a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word. To take off like that in a motorhome in the 1970’s was daring. I can’t name a single woman who would have done that without being accompanied by a man in those pre-cell phone days. Wow. What great experiences. Your mom sounds like someone I would enjoy meeting and spending time talking with. What a brave soul.
12:45 pm
What a great touching post. Your Mom sounds like such a wonderful person. It’s so those kinds of memories that you’ll always treasure.
Thank you for sharing this with the Carnival of Family Life.
3:53 pm
Hopeful – my mom was so daring in so many ways. She has many stories to tell!
Kailani – thanks for including my post!
8:57 pm
What a wonderful post – and great words of wisdom. I like that – Where you’re going doesn’t matter as much as who’s with you on the journey Wonderful sentiments!!!!!!!
3:43 am
[...] A great Mother-Daughter story! Kelly of Pass The Torch celebrates her TV debut and motherhood, with photos and her Chicken Soup for the Soul story in Ten Thousand Miles in Blue Streak. [...]
1:16 pm
[...] From Kelly at Pass the Torch, Ten Thousand Miles in Blue Streak, is one of my favorite Mother-Daughter stories. [...]
7:29 am
[...] For the mother that drags her child all over the country to compete in horseshows, because that’s the child’s passion. [...]
3:36 pm
sheesh- what an incredible life!
9:47 am
[...] The Bahamas? Tybee Island? Bear Tooth’s Pass? [...]
7:21 am
[...] I remember smashing aluminum cans for recycling, in the dog pen my mom built out the back door of the garage. And I remember the motorhome parked beside our oversized garage, just waiting for the tire plant to shut down for a two-week inventory, so it could take us on an adventure. [...]