A ride with my sister is never just a walk in the park. She always needs someone to tell her where she’s going, even if she knows the area. Many times our rides together are always times we will tell to each other in twenty years.

Emily, my older sister, was seventeen while I was fifteen. She just came back from a cross country meet in Eau Clair. I was working and was starting to not feel good. My sister came up to me and asked if I wanted to go with her to Eau Clair.
I was a little unsure of what she meant. After all she just came from there why would she want to go back? Emily told me she wanted to go to Borders to get a book and then the music store to find some sheet music. I said I would like to go but first we had to ask my boss, a.k.a. dad. He told me I could go as, as long as I felt okay. As we left, Emily told me she was going to find Eau Clair all by herself.
I thought that was going to be impossible.
We stopped at home so I could get some medicine, get some money, and tell our half-awake mom, who works a night shift, where we were going. I brought my sunglasses along so the sun wouldn’t get in my eyes. I was also debating about bringing a pillow so I could sleep but thought against it. I had my sweatshirt that I would use as a pillow.
Emily’s car was a small, red one. The air-conditioning didn’t work and it took forever to warm up in the winter. She named the car Suzy after a song while the gas tank is Alfred. We took that to Eau Clair on that day. When Emily drives, I want to scream. I sometimes wonder if she will ever put her brakes on at times. She will also jerk the wheel like our dad does, making my eyes widen like the Grand Canyon. Me, being only fifteen, couldn’t wait to get my license.
In order to get to Eau Clair we had to go through Menomonie, a town about thirty minutes away. Emily took a short cut my mom always takes us on. We came from the side of Menomonie where the Wal-Mart is on and were going to get on the interstate. We first had to meet the traffic. That was no problem it was after we meet them, the people who knew where they were going. We then had to go through the first stop light and cross the other line of cars going the opposite direction to get on the interstate.
Emily was in the right hand lane. I told her she wanted to move in the other lane. That was my mistake; I forgot to mention she should have gotten in the LEFT hand lane. Instead she gets off the road we were on and goes on to the interstate. Don’t get me wrong. We wanted to go there but not back towards Glenwood City, the town we started in!
“Emily,” I said in an ‘as a matter of fact’ tone. “You’re going to wrong way.”
“No I’m not,” Emily insisted.
“Yes you are!” I argued.
“Yes I am,” she finally realized.
I laughed so hard. Even though I was sick doesn’t mean I couldn’t make fun of her. I’m her sister and it’s my sole job. I enjoyed the view from my passenger seat window. The leaves on the trees were changing colors and they were everywhere. At one point the road we were on was higher than the other lane of cars and we could look down on them. It was a beautiful sight. My sister even showed me a familiar hand jester after almost every sarcastic comment I made. That ruined the lovely scenery.
After a while on the wrong road, we got the chance to turn around. She took it, almost getting lost on that road as well. Finally we were on our way in the right direction. On the way to Eau Clair we say a cop car on the other lane. Emily made this clear that if we ever get pulled over, I will not talk. I didn’t think this was fair so I kept talking. My favorite comment from the whole trip was ‘I think I’ve seen this before.’ That was when she gave me one of her lovely hand gestures.
After a while she was on the right path. She didn’t need my help until we got closer to the three Eau Clair exits. When the first one went by; Emily asked me if it was the right one. I told her no, she needed to go to the exit with Action City. We finally got there and went to the stores that we wanted.
Emily couldn’t find the music she wanted but knew of another music store but not how to get there. We got a call from our mother and we asked how to get there. After we got the directions, we still didn’t know where to go. So we hopped in the car and went on an ‘adventure.’
That was a long trip. The first thing that happened was we went the wrong way. It took us a while to find that out but eventually we figured it out. In the end we had to ask for help from a man working at a gas station. He must have thought we were people who never had been in this town before but gave us the directions. We found the store after almost getting hit and lost a few more times.
After Emily found her music, we headed home. The only hard part was getting back on the main road. We did after I helped her, a lot. I read my new book on the way home as well as sleeping just a little. Emily knew how to go home. That was a good thing.
It has been trips like that when we came up with the conclusion that I will be the driver when I get my license. I tell that story to everyone who thinks my sister can’t get lost or to those who knows her. They all laugh and make fun of her like we always do. Emily and I might fight a lot but when she needs my help for direction, I help her out with a sarcastic tone. I don’t think I will ever believe her when she says she can find it on her own. If she can, that is another story.