Anarene to Mexico? (spoiler)
The boys planned to drive from north Texas to Mexico and back over a weekend in a beat-up pickup that Sam the Lion doubted could even handle the trip.
That's a kind of unbelievable plotline, even for teenagers.
I just checked the distance from Archer City to Juarez, Mexico and Google Earth says it's 564 miles and a 9 hr. drive. Of course, the boys could have shaved quite a bit off the distance and time by going to some other border town that was a little closer. I just watched the movie and don't remember if they mentioned the town in Mexico.
I love this movie because I grew up in a small town in Texas much like this one. I saw this movie when I was in h.s., so it's set 20 yrs. prior to the time I was the boy's age, but we used to load up and drive to Liberal, Kansas to get beer because the drinking age was 21 in Texas at the time and was 18 in Kansas. (we weren't 18 yet, but it's easier to look 18 when you're 17 than the older age. The Kansas stores also prob. didn't care about Texas teens drinking like they did Kansas kids, who knows?) That wasn't nearly the drive, being "only" a 2 1/2 hr. drive but driving all that way for a case of beer might seem unbelievable to some.
Not to argue, but I've done crazier things when I was a kid. I understand your point, but I think the guys didn't give a thought to spending more time driving than they would in Mexico.
The Kansas-Texas thing was true in other parts of the US in 1940's and 1950s. New York state had an 18 age requirement for alcohol at that time, while surrounding states has 21.
So, teenagers from Connecticut, New Jersey, and others would drive to NY and get their booze. Then, they'd get killed or injured driving home. NY didn't seem to care, as long as it could get the alcohol sales.
When I was growing up, drinking and driving wasn't illegal. This was before breathalysers and blood tests, so the determination as to if someone was drunk was left up to the officer. Even then the penalties weren't that severe, something like a $25 fine and nothing was done about multiple violations. I'm usually for less laws and regulations, but cracking down on DWI was...and is...a good thing.
Thanks f/ the reply.
You can blame it on NY, or you can blame it on the repressed mores of the other states.
At any rate, the boys probably drove to Nuevo Laredo, since they mention going through San Antonio. That's around 480 miles, or 8 and a half hours. I just drove from Archer City to Houston in about seven.
I suspected they were on U.S. Hwy 281 until they got to San Antonio, then probably on Laredo Hwy or U.S. Hwy 90 the rest of the way
But yeah, I would have been reluctant to travel that far in a beater in 1951, back when you had only 2 lane highways outside of California and not exactly a filling station or rest stop every 30 minutes
They would have been driving as fast as that truck would go, as Texas then was pretty unregulated. 480 miles at 70 mph would take about 7 hours plus a little time for gassing up etc. They were 17 or 18 and driving that much for a short "wild adventure" would have seemed worth it. Especially given the boring, claustrophobic place they were leaving behind.
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