Sitgreaves Pass

The Ultimate Father-Son Road Trip in the Ultimate Driving Machine

The Ultimate Father-Son Road Trip in the Ultimate Driving Machine

Father’s Day 2019

This year for Father’s Day, my gift to my dad was the following short story I wrote about the ultimate road trip we took in my new-to-me Ultimate Driving Machine (aka 2016 BMW M235i Convertible).

With Dad’s permission, I’m now sharing the story with you. I hope it triggers some fond memories of your own about trips you enjoyed with your father—or perhaps your son or daughter. And if it does, please share your story in the comments!

Either way, I hope you enjoy the ride!

Thanks again, Dad, for just being you. I’m looking forward to our next road trip together, although this one will be tough to beat.

- Korry

A Father, a Son, and the Magic of Super Pursuit

A Short Story by Korry Franke

Magic Explained

Shel Silverstein once wrote, “But all the magic I have known, I’ve had to make myself.” 

To that I say, how unfortunate. Because some of the best magic I’ve experienced in my life didn’t come from a fancy trick, spell, or potion I concocted myself; rather, it came from my father’s gunmetal gray 1981 Dodge Ram utility van…and the elixir created with a little boost from his right foot. 

Of course, I didn’t realize that at the time. Instead, I thought our plain-Jane van’s magical power stemmed from its secret button—a.k.a. its cigarette lighter—that when pressed would summon the same “super pursuit” capabilities of KITT, the high-tech co-star of the 1980’s show, Knight Rider. After all, one single press of that button—and Dad’s accelerator—would throw 4-year-old me back into my seat, grinning from ear to ear, as the van’s engine roared to life and propelled the two of us forward on any number of little two-lane country roads in central Pennsylvania. 

That, Mr. Silverstein, is true magic. Not the van or its purportedly magic button. But a father and a son. Together on the open road. And it most definitely could not have happened alone.  

A Journey Begins

And so it was, more than 30 years later, when I again found myself together with my dad, making a little magic out on the open road.