How Highway Games Can Evolve into Road Rage and Put Your Family in Danger
A story of how a family road trip turned into the stuff of nightmares
We left the wedding early because we faced the long drive from California to Wisconsin. This time my friend Hines was the groom and I was the best man. It was a reversal from a decade earlier when we both lived in Peru.
I would have preferred to stay and drink and dance along with all the others, but we faced external demands on our time. The fact that we had been able to attend at all was something of a miracle.
We’d managed a leisurely drive on the way out, stopping to visit friends scattered about the country. The trip turned out to be exactly what I needed. I’d just sold my business and I felt like a rudderless ship.
The road trip provided a mental reset. But it had been exhausting, and I’d been trying not to think about the return journey. I knew it would be an all-night adventure, probably two nights.
We took one final picture in the photo booth, and loaded into the car. My wife still wore her wedding makeup, and our two daughters were young and precious in their fancy dresses. I might not have been in such a hurry if I’d known what awaited us in Arizona.
