Where Did Your Travels Take You?
Students from grade school through college count the days before summer vacation begins. For them, freedom from teachers, books, and other annoyances beckons with open arms.
?Of course, freedom is subjective because even though school is out, parents still control the reins regarding the extent of a child’s autonomy. So, the parents decide even if the children contribute to family talks about summer vacation destinations.
?By the time our family could afford to take vacations, their eldest, your humble writer, either had a job, took summer classes, or both.
No matter how busy her schedule was, she thanked the gods, the Fates, or whoever orchestrated the circumstances. Please do not judge until you have heard the rest of the story.
?In the beginning, we did not have a car, so the family used public transportation to visit various parks in and around Duluth, Minnesota. That part of the country is beautiful, with places like Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North Shore (which was as far as public transportation went at the time).??
?Our family enjoyed hiking. Also, getting away from the city refreshed our souls. There were plenty of trails in the park “along the Gooseberry River, through aspen, cedar, spruce, and pine forests, and spectacular waterfalls” (the description offered by the Explore Minnesota website).
?As you might have guessed, Mother always packed enough food for the children and Father. He may have been a skinny man back then, but his stomach was a bottomless pit.
?Park Point, a nearby beach, was also a much-anticipated destination. (Years later, when Hubby and his family visited that beach in August, his wife shivered even wearing a jacket. Living in Texas must have thinned her blood.)
After the family had a car, those memorable vacation excursions took the family to places like Canada, New Mexico, and other states. That was when their eldest daughter learned to appreciate not going with them.
?Before we continue, it is essential to note that Father sent his eldest daughter to Driving School and then expected her to teach him how to drive. Suffice it to say; he did not drive how she showed him.
This lady’s siblings recall those family vacations with horror. They shuddered whenever they referred to holidays with their parents in the Galaxy 500.
?Mother had to pack a large cooler with food, mainly for Father because he refused to stop until they reached the designated destination. So while Father drove, she was in the backseat with the cooler and a couple of the children.
Part of the unpleasant memories the siblings had was the smell whenever Mother opened the cooler. The other unfortunate aspect was that Father blared classical music on the radio.
Later, as he aged, he would wrap his legs in a blanket because he was cold and believed it wasted gas to turn on the heater. So, the family shivered while he drove with blanket-wrapped legs.
?Now, you can understand why his eldest daughter preferred taking summer classes and working several jobs to going on those memorably awful vacations with the family.
?It is common for teachers to ease children back into the formalized classroom setting with reasonably simple exercises. For example, “Write an essay and be prepared to read it to the class on what you did this summer.”
?This lady often wondered what her siblings shared about those summer vacations in the Galaxy 500.
?Some adults love to overshare. Their vacation stories sometimes resemble a lengthy travelogue with far too many pictures. Perhaps you recall visiting relatives or neighbors who insisted on sharing their vacation photographs or videos. Talk about butt-numbing and near frontal lobotomy experiences.
?When Mother’s friends asked her about her beautiful tan, her mischievous nature jumped to attention. “Oh. You like my Bermuda tan?”
?“You went to Bermuda?”
?“No, I pulled weeds from my Bermuda grass lawn.”
?Since Hubby and his wife traveled in Europe and Costa Rica, she channels Mother when friends ask her if she traveled this year.
?“I went to Melbourne, Australia, for an Eagles concert.”
She might clarify that her trip was via Netflix.