Family Vacation....

Summer is coming to a screeching halt, and most family vacations are over, school is getting back in session(not for me tho) and that means things are back to normal...for most of us. I have no one in school and I really don't get a summer vacation. I guess that means I'm an adult...insert your own adult joke here.....

Growing up, we were sorta poor, not living in squallier but we sometimes depended on other people to get us groceries and stuff like that. it was always fun to play "dodge the collection agency" when they called, this was pre- caller ID you see. But I have to say we didn't have lots, but we had just enough, thanks to the kindness of other people on occasion.

My grandparents, lived in Wisconsin, way up north, and since we didn't have a lot of money, that was our yearly vacation destination. It was free, other than the cost of gas, and we didn't really have to pay for anything. They lived in a house in the woods. A short walk from a beach on Lake Michigan, and surrounded by nature. We spent our days chasing and catching frogs, helping grandpa, and i use that term loosely, in the garage, and in the yard, baking and cooking with grandma, and fishing and boating. It was really a great time, and at the time i knew it, and now that I'm older i REALLY know it...

One of the best, yes best, parts of the adventure, was the trip there. My pop worked midnights, so sometimes we would leave in the middle of the night. it was always a treat to do that. it was good for him, since we all slept on the way up there. but leaving in the middle of the night, packing the car in the dark always made me feel like i was doing something i shouldn't be. like we were fugitives, living that glamorous life. It was about 8 hours away, and if we left in the night, we slept and pop smoked the whole way up there, listening to AM radio.

You see, to make a trip that long there had to be preparations made. That usually entailed going to the Ben Franklin and buying comic books. That would be used to entertain me and my brother and sister for the long ride north. Also we would have to pack a bunch of food and snacks. dry roasted peanuts, hard candy, rice krispy treats...not alot of chocolate, since it would melt(no AC in the car). We would sometimes fill a cooler with pop and fried chicken and stop on the way up there for a little picnic. I never liked fried chicken, but I always liked the picnic. We would eat and then play Frisbee and stuff like that.

On the day of the trip, we would all pack into the car, mom, pop, and the dog, Windy in the front, and my brother, sister and i in the back. it was cramped, hot and we fought. but it was fun. The great thing about the trip was that my sister didnt like being touched, at all. So we would smash into the car, without AC, and drive windows down in the Midwest heat and humidity trying to NOT touch my sister. But you know, it would happen, our legs would touch, she would punch me, our arms would touch, she would punch me....rinse and repeat....this would happen over and over. The comic books were actually dual purpose, she would use them to "protect" herself from the touching. Imagine if you would, 90 + degrees, 90 + humidity with comic books pressed to and sticking to your legs. My sister would rather have that dumb comic book stick to her than be touched my me...it was truly truly funny. I honestly dont know how my parents put up with us.

We would finally arrive there and then the fun would start. We would spend 1 or 2 glorious weeks in the Wisconsin woods doing all the stuff we could do at home, but just didn't. It was the best. We acutally spent time with the family and laughed all the time. We played games, made up characters made up stories. I think this is were I learned the importance of family, the place where I started to understand.

After I was married and was in college, my grandparents moved and tried to sell the property. It was on the market for a long time. It was finally sold, and I felt like a family member had died sorta. I would never be able to go there, well at least not in the capacity that i had in the past. The people who bought it said we could visit, the actually said they would like to meet us and hear our stories. My folks went up, but no one else. It would not have been the same, and i wanted to keep that part the same, forever.

After the vacation was over, we were ready to go home, there is no place like home you know. so we packed up the car again, and had a bag of NEW snacks for the ride home. We were instructed to not open the bag for 30 minutes. we drove out of the woods, back to civilization, and after about 5 minutes asked pop....has it been 30 minutes yet?? No, not yet....5 minutes later, has it been 3o minutes yet?? no, still not....3 minutes later....30 minutes?? NO....2 minutes later...30 minutes yet..... long pause.....yes...it has been 30 minutes....no wonder why time goes so fast now...