Vacation Countdown Has Begun

When I was a kid, vacation time was taken for granted in the summers and around winter break. I still long for those days, having a whole summer free, and sometimes regret not becoming a teacher as I'd originally planned when it's 110 degrees outside and I'm shlepping around in my business casual.

The best vacations were the trips to see Grandma (my mother's mother) in Pennsylvania, since we'd go for Thanksgiving and I'd get to miss a few extra days of school. Sure, those trips guaranteed that I wouldn't win a silver dollar for perfect attendance, but at least I was having fun!

It seemed like we would bring the Northern snow back with us on those trips--we'd arrive in the wee hours of the morning, since Dad usually insisted on doing the 16 hour drive in one hop with very few stops. We'd wake sometime the next morning to a blanket of snow covering Fairfax, and I'd beg to go out back with my plastic sheet sled. Mom would say no, since she was warm and cozy in bed, so I'd ride the sheet sled down the carpeted stairs over and over and over until Mom finally got up, got me dressed, and tossed me out the backdoor so she could get some peace.

And yes, I have been thinking that my son will be doing that to me, under some different circumstances, in the next few years.

Any trips outside of where we lived were always family trips. I hadn't traveled with anyone else until Junior year of high school, when the Clan took Lydia and me to Cumberland, Carson-Newman, and Tusculum, and then to Gatlinburg for my first visit there. I think that may have been my first real visit to Tennessee, with the exception of going over Jellico and back on a couple of occasions. I suppose one could say I'm still on vacation, since I haven't really returned from my "visit" to Arizona to meet that crazy Internet guy.

I wonder whatever happened to him? Since he left for work this morning, I mean.

Tom and I began a tradition of "just because" vacations during our carefree years. We've been to Vegas several times and got married there. It'll be a few years before we go back; I want to wait till CJ is old enough to enjoy the silly things, like the Manhattan Express at New York, New York, or the lions at MGM Grand, or the white tigers at the Mirage, Coca-Cola land and that big M&M place I've been dying to go to but Tom has no interest in seeing. I want to see the jousting at the Excalibur and watch my kid try to tackle a turkey leg, waiting for the moment when he realizes he can let the id go and tear into that sucker without worrying about utensils or a napkin.

Last year, we took an intense trip to introduce the newest grandchild. CJ was just over six months old and had luckily learned to sit up. He handled the airplanes well. We flew into Louisville, rented a car, and drove to see my folks in Georgetown for a few days. Then it was up to Ohio for a day to see my brother-in-law and his family, then up to Burlington, Vermont, to see Tom's alma mater and spend a day wandering down Church Street, watching the sunset over Lake Champlain, and marveling at how much the real estate market exploded since he lived there 20 years ago.

That was squeezed into a week. CJ was already sick of his carseat. Then it was down to the Cape for a few days to see Tom's parents, check out more lighthouses, and walk down to the private beach and stick our toes in the surf. I have a picture of CJ's little footprints in the sand--just the balls of his feet and toes since we had to hold him up. My other brother-in-law who lives near Boston drove down and grilled bluefish, which is strong, but very tasty when basted with olive oil and mustard. My mother-in-law always has a supply of bluefish since her neighbors love to fish for it, but hate eating it.

Then it was back across Mass Pike and the NY Thruway to Georgetown, with a travel stop in Buffalo, for a few more days until we drove back up to Louisville, returned the rental car in need of an oil change, and flew back home.

We were at the Cape again this winter for Tom's father's funeral, so as packed as our trip was last year, I wouldn't change a minute of it.

In two weeks, we leave for Massachusetts, again, flying into Boston and heading down to the Cape for two full weeks. I've been looking forward to the trip since we booked it two months ago. The time before we go will be busy, spent wrapping up reporting and sending out of office delegation notices and arranging for someone to watch our cats while we're away. But I cannot wait until we can walk down to the bay beach, pulling a wagon with towels, plastic buckets and shovels, and cooler of water bottles, so I can settle down under a nice shade tree and watch my son play in the surf.