Monday, June 4, 2007

Vacation Ain't What It Used To Be!

I am so excited about my trip next week. And a just a wee bit nervous since I will be 32 weeks pregnant! But, one of my closest friends is finally tying the knot and I just have to be there for it. We have invested a lot of prayer in her finding the right guy.
I wish we could fit a family vacation in this year, but as I stated above, its not a good idea this year. I have been reading everybodies blogs lately about traveling and it took me back to when I was little and would do a summer trip every year with my parents and sister. It was so different back then. Think Mid-80's!
We never flew anywhere, because my mom has severe motion sickness. So instead we would pile into our 82 Datsun 2-10 and head out on the open road. Driving, thankfully didn't confine us to the great state of Oregon. We went to Disneyland, Victoria BC, Edmonton, Canada, Lousiana, etc.
Apparently my mom also had a severe sickness that involved no loud music in the car. This was torture for two young girls who wanted to sing their hearts out to "Walk Like An Egyptian", and any thing by Micheal W Smith or Amy Grant. Oh sure, she would have the radio on.... you just had to strain in order to hear it. Go ahead, sit in your car and imagine your are about 8 yrs old, you ask for some music and while most people have theirs set at about a 10-12 on the volume knob, which is not all that loud, my mom kept it at about 3-4. I think the strain itself was more dangerous than the louder decibels might have been. So we would bring along PILES of books and read and read.
As it was, a Datsun, while popular with all the guys in my high school when I drove it, its not a roomy car. And I am WELL KNOWN for not being able to sit up straight or normal. I tuck my legs up, or sit on one with the other stretched out. Or both on the back of the front seat. Sometimes I sat sideways. And unbeknownst to ANYONE, there is a LINE down the middle of the backseat that, according to your older sister, you are not allowed to cross. That puts you into her space and violates all privacy codes. Or something like that. I would sit, curled up in the backseat of a two door car, trying to be comfy on a long hot road trip. Quietly reading my book. My toe would inch over the invisible divider (ON ACCIDENT OF COURSE!) and my sisters internal FAIRNESS meter would sound off. MOOOOOOM, She is ON MY SIDE!!! MAKE HER MOVE!!! She is BUGGING ME!!!!!! And with no radio to drown her out.... Well you can only imagine how fun those 4 day road trips could be.
Once we got to the Hotel, the line from the backseat, magically re-appeared down the middle of the queen size bed my sister and I would share. We had our own rooms at home, always had. So it put us both out that we had to share on these trips. We would fight over covers, and of course over who strayed into the others territory in our sleep. When you should be able to control where you roll of course. One year, my sister brought along SAFETY PINS and pinned down the middle of the bed. Thats right, instead of maybe asking for another blanket and sheet so we didn't have to share covers, now I had to worry about whether I was going to be SKEWERED in the middle of the night by an unfriendly pin. Yep, family vacations are great. So many memories, and I want our kids to have as much fun as I did!!

3 comments:

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Oh, this was great! I love the safety pin part, I would worry about being skewered too! You have fond memories though, that's all that matters. And hey, your mom's thing about the radio encouraged you to read, so that had its perks too.

Enjoyed reading about your vacation memories, great post :)

Anonymous said...

Yay for Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant! Me and my sisters used to listen to them a lot too. This brings back memories for me too, except I'm the oldest who had to have my own space and didn't want to be crowded out by my little sisters. A lot of our "vacations" were camping trips, and my parents say they were one of the few times we didn't fight. :)
Have fun at the wedding!

Hyperactive Lu said...

Enjoyed your blog! Thanks for stopping by mine! Good luck with the traveling!