The Epic Trek

This week's Homespun Symposium Question comes from Considerettes (good reading, btw).

What was your favorite family vacation (when you were a kid), and why? If you have children, have you taken your kids on that same vacation? If so, what did they think of it?

My own favorite vacation was when I was pretty young - My mom, dad, myself, two sisters, two brothers (one of whom was a baby), one aunt, two uncles, and my Grandmother piled into our family Suburban, and went south from Rexburg ID, south through Utah, then into Arizona. Then we turned east, passing through New Mexico, Texas, and finally out to Shreveport, LA, where we visited some of the relatives on my Mom's side. Long, long, long trip. But it was a lot of fun. It was on this trip that I found myself talking to another little kid in the swimming pool about religion. (I was nine). I had so much fun talking to this kid, that I started talking to another kid at another swimming pool. It was at that point that my uncles cut my proselytizing career short when they told me it was illegal to talk about religion in public places.

It was on this trip that the air conditioning started acting really, really wierd - spitting water out at us all through Texas. My Grandma had me doing situps every night all the way east. (She was really disappointed when I stopped). I remember eating some of the best peaches I've ever had when we bought them at a little roadside fruit stand somewhere in Texas. We got to Sheveport, and my Dad, who had been telling us through this entire trip that we were going to make it all the way to Orlando and Disney World decided there that we should all just go back, because "It's all just rides" according to my relatives. That was a particularly bitter pill, let me tell you. I've never talked to those relatives since. To try to make it up to us, Dad took us to Six Flags over Texas on the way back, but it really wasn't the same (Besides, Six Flags really is "all just rides"). I was a chicken little kid at ten, and wouldn't go on any of the really scary rides. I was afraid I'd fall out of the roller coaster (something that I swear almost happened to me when I was even younger at Lagoon - the amusement park north of Salt Lake City - I distinctly remember riding that with my Aunt Carla, almost coming out of the car, and her grabbing me and pushing me down in the seat). It was on the way back, which took us up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and into the Dakotas (where we saw more relatives), that we saw E.T. in the theater. Then west through Montana and Wyoming and finally home. We replaced the Suburban after that trip.

We haven't tried anything quite so ambitious yet in our family - we've flown to Texas a few times to see my wife's family, and we've driven that from Salt Lake to Austin once or twice with my wife's parents, but nothing yet for just me, Reeta, and Claire. Maybe someday we'll make a go at a cross-country road trip. (Then again, maybe not). But if I do, let me say this - if I've all the way from Idaho to Louisiana, I'm pushing all the way to Orlando, baby!

Hmmm, Mapquest says that's another ... 900 miles. Okay, well, maybe not.

Other responses:
Being Thomas Luongo
Daddypundit
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