Vacation time! What an exciting and thrilling time in our lives!
I remember as a child, we never took a summer vacation. No tanning at the beach, no climbing any mountains, or any other thrilling escape scenarios. I can remember the one time we took a trip to the beach when we went to see my aunt and uncle who lived on the coast. I believe I was about 6 years old. It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean and the first for my mama and daddy.
My husband and I both like to travel, or we did in our earlier years and were game to journey just about anywhere. We have been to several countries, Mexico, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canada as well as my favorite place, New York.
We traveled with our children to fairly close places as they were growing up. The trips to Dog Patch, Dollywood, Walt Disney World and many other theme parks are great memories. Our children always loved the risky rides at the theme parks but their dad did not.
I remember once, they were riding a very small roller coaster, very small, and he stood straight up at the top, threw his little blue hat down and screamed, “Get me off this thing!” As far as I know, he never left the ground on another amusement ride. Our boys still remind their formidable dad about this “life-threatening” ride.
Then there was the first time we visited the mountains and a day after we arrived, my husband came down with a virus bug and we put him downstairs, away from us, and sent him food down the steps for three days.
The most amusing time has to be the year we visited a wax museum in Branson, Missouri, and one of the wax figures moved and came to life, so to speak. He was a real person planted among the wax people to work the equipment. We all exited that amusement quickly and I’m not sure we used the door.
Then there was the year I got locked in an antique store in northern Arkansas after they closed for the night. That time, the police were summoned. Since then, I have been extremely careful to monitor the times of store closings as I have an unusual fear of being locked in or trapped.
The days of zealous, risky and fanatical trips are things of the past as we travel by ourselves now, just Roy and me. We are more into the mundane commonplace vacation spots nowadays. We still love to go to Branson, no wax museums, not roller coasters, but lots of country music shows and antique stores before evening closings.
I hope that you and your family can make some of these amazing memories with your people before they begin to make their own memories with their offspring.
Our children always rent a house or a condo to vacation and cook some of their meals. Here’s one that’s easy to do when you cook on vacation.
Three Ingredient Pulled Pork for Sandwiches
2-pound pork tenderloin
12-ounce bottle of root beer
18-ounce bottle of barbeque sauce
8 hamburger buns.
Place pork tenderloin in slow cooker and pour root beer over. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Pull apart pork and pour on barbeque sauce and serve on buns.
