When I was a kid my parents thought it was important to take a family vacation every summer. We would pack up the car with a week’s worth of clothes, camping supplies and food and drive to Yellowstone or someplace equally educational. My dad was one of those guys that had to read every Historical roadside sign – aloud while we kids sat in the back seat rolling our eyes and wishing for a big falling rock to land on the car. I’m not sure why the Grand Canyon was Yawnsville compared to the allure of what Tommy Bartlett’s’ Robot World billboard promised, but I can tell you we begged to see countless tacky ol’ fiberglass Dinosaur Parks. Our parents responded to our pleas with their own barfing noises of refusal “Barf bleeaack ack! Why would you want to go see a fake dinosaur when we can go see real dinosaur bones?” I’d reply dripping with sarcasm “Um gee, because it's so fun to go stare at really, really old bones”. I think my poor parents were just looking for a little peace and quiet out there camping on the side of a mountain and we kids were looking for Space Mountain. I did get to see Devils Tower, Old Faithful, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Pike’s Peak among others wonders of America which held all the charm of a history class for me. And there was one astonishing summer we spent in a magnificent compromise at Slide Rock in AZ, which is a kind of natural water slide carved into the mountain. But, I would’ve given my pinkie toe for Santa’s Village (I can hear my mom barfing right now). Dan grew up spending his family vacation at Disney, Epcott, MGM, Walldrug, Ski-boat filled lakes, Six Flags Great America, Circus World Museum and every other cool roadside attraction/hotel/water slide/pool and Hostess filled cornucopia of fun. His dream vacation is to take Ella and me on a tour of Civil War battlefields of the Northeast and read every historical roadside sign we pass. I want to take her to Disneyland, but this year we are going to Vegas (Thank God).
Where do you go on your family vacations?
5 comments:
I think you need to balance the two. Disney and Battlefields. Crazy Horse and Circus World.
Jeff and I are actually planning tow of the vacations you refer to:
~Disney
~South Dakota/Colorado
Right now, we mostly stick to vacations and attractions within a 3-4 hour drive; camping, Wisconsin Dells, etc. The thought of traveling long distances with diapers isn't very appealing to me, so when SugarLips is potty trained (soon we hope) we can broaded our horizons. Can't wait.
I don't know where we were going but I can remember being stuck in the hot car for hours, maybe days, trying to avoid vomiting and yelling everytime my sister touched me. Those holidays must have been extremely tedious for my parents but they still insisted we go on a driving holiday EVERY year. Crazy! For my own sanity I am going to take my girls to places where they will actually have fun, so that I can lie back and let the location entertain my family :)
We got spoiled in 2003 when our older daughter was 1 1/2 -- took 2 big family trips, one to London and one to Vancouver. Since then, we've taken a few short trips in the car to North Carolina (central and Outer Banks), and New York state for family activities. This summer we're doing another beach trip. I actually dream of doing a family cross-country trip, but I don't know if that's just unrealistic or crazy. Maybe someday when the kids are a little bigger.
After taking vacations for years with husband by plane. I will never spend three days in the hot car playing travel bingo again.
Thanks for the great giveaway. Wow, what an amazing giveaway!! Thanks so much.
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