Journal

Tell how, when, where you learned to drive and any memorable experiences.

I learned to drive when I was about 13 years old. We lived in the country and we had a pick up truck. It was standard shift, with the shifter on the column, not on the floor. My mom would sometimes let me drive when we got close to our house. When I was 13 I met Jimmy Ray Brown. Jimmy Ray was a nephew of a neighbor dairy farmer. He was 15 and lived 15 miles away in Pleasant Hill. We went to different schools. Dating was not even in my vocabulary and wouldn't be for 3 more years, thanks to my dad, but we were "going together" on the sly from my daddy. Mama new about him and me and really liked him. Because my daddy was gone a lot until late evenings, often Jimmy Ray would come over and visit and we'd play Wahoo. Basically, Parchisi on a board with little divits drilled out and played with marbles. Well, Jimmy Ray had a Ford Fairlaine, 1964 model, I believe. It had a standard shift too. One summer evening, we talked my mom into letting me go with him to Pleasant Hill (15 minute drive) because Pleasant Hill had a Dairy Dream drive in. It was scary because if my daddy came home while we were gone me, my mom and Jimmy would have been in SERIOUS trouble. So,we hurried back. On the way back, he let me practice driving his car. I had gotten a strawberry milk shake at he Dairy Dream. I didn't have any place to put it, and I set it on the dash. When I let out the clutch, I let it out too quickly and the car lurched and strawberry milkshake spilled all over me, Jimmy Ray and the inside of his car. Eventually, the following year, I took Driver's Ed. in school and learned how to drive properly. Mr. Latham was the Driver's Ed teacher and had been forever. I didn't get my license until I was 17. I took my drivers test driving my cousin's VW Thing. That was a cool car! Kind of a lightweight cross between a jeep and a hummer. Sort of. Do a search for "VW Thing".