Looking back, I didn't really get to do a lot of road trips with other people during college. There was the one I did with Chud my freshman year. That was a major trip that took us across the state line. With the adventures we had, it was a real road trip.
But I had other minor trips as well, but which required at least an hour's worth of driving. I was a passenger for my Thanksgiving ride home my Freshman semester. I also drove Chud down to my hometown of Artesia, NM for the weekend during the summer of 1983. Right before Christmas of 1983, I drove a female Theatre student (who later became seriously involved with Bid) to her parents' house in Roswell, NM. I took Kird down to Artesia for a week in the summer of 1984. For Thanksgiving of 1985, my brother Loyd and a couple of his classmates from West Texas State University came through Portales to pick me up and drive me to Artesia. (It was only on their first leg that they crossed a state line, so it was a major one for them.)
I didn't get to do another major college road trip until January of 1985. This was when Bid, Chud and myself, along with several other students, went to Ft. Worth, TX to audition at the Southwest Theatre Conference. All the regional theatre groups from throughout Texas, New Mexico and surrounding areas would gather at a hotel to find talent for their summer productions. It was basically a cattle call. Actors had to prepare 1 1/2 minutes' worth of material (usually a monologue and a song) to perform for the recruiters. The recruiters would then post the actors they wanted to see on the bulletin board. Actors would then meet with the recruiters. They were also there to hire technical people. Some of the recruiters represented local colleges who needed to pay people to be part of their productions because so many students leave for the summer.
I was able to borrow my parents' Buick Riviera to drive to Ft. Worth. One of the problems with the car was that you had to wait a few seconds before turning the ignition once you got in. Also, you were supposed to plug in the block heater so that you wouldn't ruin the starter by running the car when it was cold. I had no possible way of plugging the car in anywhere that didn't require a 300-foot extension cord. I had to hope that it wasn't going to get too cold, but it started snowing when I was driving back to Portales from Artesia. The snow stayed on the ground all week. However, I could always start the car, so I didn't think that was a problem.
There were seven of us who went to the auditions. Bid, Chud and I were in the Buick with the girl who got the shaft worse than I did. Everyone else was in the other vehicle. They led the way, but they pulled that usual stunt of blasting off and leaving us way behind. I drove the first leg, but Bid got fed up with me driving the limit. He took over to try to catch up. After a short period of time, we got pulled over by an unmarked police car. The officer actually had Bid get out of our car and sit with him in the squad car. After about 10 minutes, Bid got back into the Buick. When he sat down, he started laughing.
"Did you get a ticket?"
"Yeah, he gave me a ticket."
"So why are you laughing?"
"Oh, you have to laugh when you get a ticket."
We finally got to Ft. Worth and the Motel 6 where we were staying. Bid, Chud and I were in one room. After we got inside the room, Bid left. During the mid-1980s, Motel 6 was known for charging you to watch their TV. You had to pay to get a key that would make the TV work. After Bid left the room. Chud and I tried to turn on the TV. It actually came on without the key. (People who frequently stayed at Motel 6's back then always knew to do this first.) Just then, Bid walked back into the room. He had purchased a key for the TV. He saw we had it on. "I just wasted 75 cents."
We didn't do anything special that night. We were all worn out from the all-day trip and would have a full day ahead of us. I'll go into detail about that tomorrow.
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