Ah, summer!
There’s something about the warm air that brings back memories of family vacations. The whole family piling into the station wagon, bags tied to the top, a paper map in the front seat, and nothing but a new interstate ahead. Gas was cheap and adventure was around every corner. It didn’t matter if the car was heading toward a campground, the new Disneyland park, the Catskills, Jersey shore, or grandma’s house, long days of sun, fun, diners, and probably a drive-in movie were ahead. There’s something about the thought of a road trip that just makes us feel good!
Coburg residents Carol and Bob Langone know just what it means to answer the call of the road. Originally from the New York City area, Bob and Carol moved north after they married. Money was tight and they struggled to buy a house, but they did it. They ended up in the same home for 30 years, raising their children. They knew they were going to work hard and send their kids to the colleges of their choice even if it meant taking on extra work when they needed to. Family vacations were usually things like a long weekend on Cape Cod, the Jersey shore, or visiting the Pennsylvania Dutch area. They’d visit Carol’s sister on Long Island, and the kids would have a chunk of their summer there while Bob worked and met them on the weekends. As the kids got older, Bob and Carol took a couple of cruises as well.
It was during a cruise to Alaska when the idea for their road trip hit. They’d rented an RV to see more of the Alaskan frontier during their stay, and they realized that was the best way to travel. You can see so much more of the country from the road than you can from a boat or plane. They decided that when it came time to retire, they were going to sell their house, buy an RV, and go somewhere without snow.
And they did just that. Retiring early in their fifties, they hit the road, excited for adventure ahead. The first year was a learning year. They bought a 35-foot RV and hopscotched around, trying to hit as much as possible. But by year two, they realized they didn’t have to move around so much. They towed a mini-Jeep with them and began staying longer at each destination to better explore the area. During the summers, they would make their way home and spend time with their kids and family who were still in New York, but the rest of the year was exploring time.
Over the years, they managed to see a major chunk of the country, hitting over 40 national parks, driving the coastlines, and visiting places like Tuscan, San Diego, Palm Springs, mining towns in Colorado, Yosemite, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands of South Dakota, Texas, the Canadian Rockies, and so much more. They stopped off to explore ghost towns and monstrous 40-foot sand dunes where people surfed down the sand on surf boards. They hit a balloon festival in Albuquerque and visited Native sites on cliffs, the Lewis & Clark encampment and Little Bighorn Battlefield, and played in the snow on the mountains behind where they stayed in Tuscan. They were staying in Yellowstone National Park when 9/11 hit. They had no radio, TV, or cell reception there, so they didn’t find out what was happening until they met some friends for breakfast that morning. As soon as they heard, they found a TV and turned it on in time to see the second plane crash into the towers.
Their time on the road allowed them to take things as they came, stopping when something looked interesting, and exploring parts of the country they would’ve never seen with only two weeks’ vacation and a flight to a specific destination. Eventually, they bought a house in Florida to use as a home base, and in 2013, they decided to sell the camper. They felt it was time. They had traveled so much of the country, and it was a lot of work to maintain it. As the years passed, they wanted to move back closer to their family but knew they didn’t want to own a house again. They bumped into someone visiting Florida from Coburg Village. After hearing all about it, Bob and Carol thought it sounded like the perfect place for them—and added bonus—it was only ten minutes away from their son!
Bob and Carol look back on their ultimate road trip as some of their best years. “Everyone we met was like a long-lost cousin. They were the best neighbors. We never came across a location where they didn’t treat you like family.”
They may not be roaming the roads anymore, but Bob and Carol still travel. Now that they’ve seen the country, they’ve widened their net and have taken trips to Hawaii, Italy, France, Prague, a European tour, and multiple trips to China to visit their other son, among other places. Every year is still an adventure!
