So! My sister and I have decided that later this summer, she and I are going on a road trip out to the east coast to see our mom in West Virginia! When we visited before, we always flew out to Charleston, but we decided that we want to drive this time. We're excited to drive through gorgeous parts of the country we are unfamiliar with, and, most importantly, spend time with our Mom!
In the spirit of vacation, I've compiled a list of anecdotes from trips I've taken in the past. Credit also goes to Elizabeth Record for helping me think of good ones!
- Many years ago, I went on a trip with my family down to Mexico. It was beautiful! One day we took a boat ride to a little beach that was perfect for swimming and snorkeling. At the beach there was a place where you could kick off your sandals to go play in the water, and we did. Later that night back in the hotel room, my dad noticed that something was strange about his sandals... they weren't his!! Before leaving for the trip, he had bought a $10 pair from Walmart that, by chance, looked almost identical to the much pricier pair he accidentally swiped from the beach. Whoops!
- About 11 years ago, I went on a trip with my mom and grandmother out to Tulsa. I had just adopted tiny little Otis and I wasn't about to leave her, so she came with us! Problem was, not all places are pet-friendly and we couldn't leave her in the car, so we had to smuggle her in. We had a little backpack that we would put her in as we came and went in the hotels. It was the funniest thing! She never yipped or whined once. In the rooms, we mostly kept her in the bathroom, and we were very good about cleaning up after her. But in hindsight, we weren't really as sneaky as we thought... we left behind a lot of yellow paper towels!
- One year around Christmas-time, I went up to Denver with my family and we watched the light parade, which was great! It was cool and pretty to watch. What we did not expect was that Kelsey Grammer was on one of the floats! If you're not familiar with him, he played Frasier Crane on "Cheers" and "Frasier". I grew up watching his shows so that was pretty awesome!
- After my Freshman year in high school, I went on a school trip to Italy. The whole trip was amazing, but our story happened on the night I had my first real alcoholic drink. We were eating at a restaurant and out waiter served us all shots of Limoncello. It was delicious. But the funniest part? I was with three people- two teachers and my mom!
- A very, very long time ago, my sister and I went with our grandparents out to Nebraska to visit some family. I have many fond memories of that trip! I learned to swim on that trip. I remember getting my grandpa to try a Fruit Roll-Up and he forgot to take off the plastic layer before taking a bite! While driving back home, we were pulled over, and while Grandpa chatted with the police officer, I drew a portrait of the officer from the back seat. My Grandma still has that drawing somewhere.
- I took another trip about 11 years ago, this time with the Presbyterian/Methodist youth group. We went out to the Heifer Project in Arkansas and did lots of cool things like rafting and swimming and rock balancing (a true art! As seen in the picture below) and once when swimming my mom almost got bitten by a water snake. And it was on this trip I learned a term I will never forget: "Boo-ho", translation: "Blue Hole". One day on the trip we were hot and sweaty and wanted to find a good place to cool off so we asked some local kids, where was a good swimming spot? "'f y'all wanna coo awff y'all could swim down't the boo-ho. Down the road a bee-ut?" And they were right! It was a magnificent Boo-ho.
- On the Italy trip, one thing we were told repeatedly was, "Watch out for pickpockets!" They target tourists at tourist destinations, and that was our situation exactly. So we were all very careful, and as far as I know, none of us were! Except, once, one of the boys who went on the trip, Alan, decided to try his hand at thievery, using one of the older women on our trip as a target. We were walking down the streets in a beautiful Italian city and Alan crept up behind her. He started to reach for her purse when she sensed him. Quick as a wink, she whirled around and used her purse has a weapon, beating Alan with it. When she realized who it was, she stopped and clutched her chest. "Darn you, Alan!" she scolded, "I thought you really were a pickpocket!" Then she started hitting him with her purse again.
- Last time we went to West Virginia, we went to several fishing destinations, but as life goes, you never get what you want when you want it! One afternoon we were wading in a river, and suddenly my sister squawked and bolted out of the water. "What! What?" we asked her.
"A fish just bit my toe!" she told us. We looked at each other and started to snort. "I swear!" she said. "YOU go stand over there. Maybe he'll bite you too." I very much doubted it, but went over and did so. I wasn't there 30 seconds before I got this odd sensation on my foot, not really a pinch but a weird pressure. So I squawked and ran out of the river right after her! Damn fish!
I just realized I have way more memories than I have time to write! Look out for Part 2!
:)
Happy June!
Sarah
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