Lawrence

I had been driving the Mystery Machine for well over a year. It had proved its roadworthiness to me time and time again. The trip to Lawrence was a milestone only in that it would be the first time I drove the Machine out of state. We loaded the Machine with box after box of old car parts and took them to the old car swap meet in Lawrence, Kansas. As usual, she cruised the Interstate with ease. We stopped at Independence Center to eat supper, but decide to keep rolling when the crowd of kids waiting in line outside the movie theater turned to cheer for the Mystery Machine. We were still looking for a parking place when the riotous adolescents started running after us. Suddenly, fear overcame reason. I was unprepared to deal with that many screaming voices. It was a shameful act, but rather than face those excited kids, we drove away in fear. For the rest of the trip, I kept looking in my mirrors. I feared one of those kids may have gotten close enough to climb on the bumper and hitch a ride. Irrational as it was, I kept expecting a child to start climbing his way forward on the outside of the van like some kind of miniature Indiana Jones. We arrived at the swap meet to greetings from my dad and his friends who had saved a spot for the Mystery Machine on the fairgrounds. We unloaded our car parts for display and set out to purchase some bargains of our own. We slept Friday night in the Mystery Machine in anticipation of the swap meet going into full swing on Saturday. The Mystery Machine slept great. I vowed to take more camping trips in the roomy and comfortable van. Everyone seemed interested in buying the Mystery Machine. At the time, I had no plans of selling it. To avoid answering the question, "How much are you asking for the Mystery Machine?" repeatedly, I put a sign in the window that said: "Will trade for Batmobile." The sign amused people, and someone even gave me a Batmobile model kit. Before leaving the swap meet, we bought a 1959 Chevy pickup. The pickup wasn't exactly roadworthy, but I convinced Dad to haul it home in his enclosed car trailer. In exchange for doing that, I had to haul a good portion of the things he brought up in his trailer back inside the Mystery Machine. We packed it to the ceiling. It was amazing how much stuff fit in that little van. We had great weather for the swap meet. We drove home through heavy rains, which was just the thing for washing the bugs off the windshield. Tracey leaned over on the engine cover and napped. It was another great trip in the Mystery Machine.

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