Outdoors: Richardson: Road trip signals end to youthful escapades

In prior episodes, I have mentioned my waning desire for participating in adventurous exploits.

I think that trend is caused by a diminishing fervor for excitement, plus an accelerating tendency toward cowardice. As I look back on the foolish things I've done, I can pinpoint exactly when this inclination toward a more benign lifestyle began.

It was 1983, I was 28 years old and newly married. At that precise moment, the flame of ignorance burned brightly inside me and I confirmed that fact once more when I made a decision to willingly participate in a road trip that would set my life on a new path.

At the time, it seemed not only like a good idea, but an outstanding one.

The University of Georgia's men's basketball team had cruised through the NCAA tournament. For the first (and only) time in their history, the Bulldogs were going to the Final Four and I, being a bleeder of Red and Black, was hysterical with joy.

That joy took on a dream-like quality upon discovering that there was a ticket available to me. I felt like I'd been blessed by the Pope.

There was only one slight problem. That game would be played in Albuquerque, N.M., and I did not possess the requisite cash to buy an plane ticket.

Undeterred, a plan evolved to take the overland route. At that juncture in history, there was no such thing as mapquest or GPS devices, just regular maps, and those maps didn't clearly tell you how far it was to a particular destination (without going to a lot of trouble with a ruler).

I learned much later on that it was 1,527 miles - one way - to my target. Not that it would have mattered. I didn't really have a grasp of how far 1,500 miles was via car and didn't care.

Like I said, the flame of ignorance was ablaze in my body.

I did not take on this grand endeavor alone, so I now introduce you to my partners in crime.

The lead dog (so to speak) for the expedition was Gino Gianfrancesco. Now, if you are a true Bulldog basketball fan, you recognize that name.

Think hard.

Gino's name is still in the UGA record books. He holds the record for assists in a game (15 vs Georgia Tech in 1972).

I followed Gino as the boys basketball coach at Lincoln County High School after he went into a much more lucrative business - selling insurance. I'd played a lot of pickup basketball with him over the years and would have never known he held any kind of assist record because, by that time, he was tired of passing the ball to others and was enamored with his shooting ability.

His role in this trip was important because he secured the tickets and had the only car even remotely capable of going the required distance.

Another member of

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