The First Time My Dad Wore a Seatbelt

My dad always had the best stories. He’d tell them over and over, and I’d get so annoyed hearing the same ones. But now, I’m really glad he did. It means I remember them, and one of my favorites is about the first time he ever wore a seatbelt.

He grew up out west, spending a lot of time in the desert, and he loved cars—he had some pretty cool ones. So, when he finally bought his first car with a seatbelt sometime in the late 50s or early 60s, it felt more like an accessory than anything else. He spent most of his time driving through no man’s land and didn’t think much of using it.

But one day, on a long, boring stretch of road with no other cars in sight, he decided to buckle up. He figured he’d pass the time by reading a magazine. It was the Sixties, after all. Everything was going smoothly until he looked up and saw something big and brown in the road. Before he could swerve or stop, he hit it—turns out it was a wild horse, standing right in the middle of the road. He was okay. The horse and the car were not so lucky.

Thank goodness he had decided to wear his seatbelt. If only that horse had a guardian angel too, telling it not to stand in the middle of a road in nowhere! I’m grateful he told that story so often; it’s stuck with me long after he’s gone.

I don’t know if he was on what’s called the Loneliest Road in America, but after reading about it, he might have been.

U.S. Route 50 - The Loneliest Road in America

U.S. Route 50 (US 50), which was created in 1926 as part of the original U.S. Highway system, was once the fastest way to cross the country. According to Wikipedia, the route was built over a historic corridor that once served the Pony Express and the Central Overland Route. It later became part of the Lincoln Highway, connecting the past with the present. It stretches over 3,000 miles from West Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland. It winds through rural deserts, around the Rocky Mountains, over the Missouri River, and past both small towns and big cities like St. Louis and Cincinnati.

In 1986, Life magazine, dubbed part of Route 50 the Loneliest Road in America. According to road trip enthusiasts who traveled the road, after you pass Lake Tahoe, you, "travel through miles and miles of nothing, where the only things that meet the eye are mountains, deserts and slices of blue sky."

The part of Route 50 that passes through southern Illinois and Indiana is anything but lonely, though.

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Route 50 in Illinois

The route runs from the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri, and continues east to the Red Skelton Memorial Bridge, which spans the Wabash River into Indiana. It’s amazing how it connects so many important landmarks along the way!

US 50 in Indiana

US 50 enters Indiana in Vincennes where it skirts around Washington, Loogootee, Shoals, and heads toward Paoli. It passes through Bedford before meeting the Ohio River at Aurora and crossing into Ohio, running right through downtown Cincinnati.

It’s a route filled with history and stories, just like my dad’s. Who knows - maybe he made the whole story up to get me to wear my seatbelt. Well, I've got news for your dad. It worked!

If you are a road tripper, add US 50 to your bucket list and be sure to take in all its beauty along the way. Just make sure you wear your seatbelt and look out for wild horses.

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