When I was a kid and Spring Break, Winter Break or even Summer Break would arrive, our family would most often be ready to book-it out of town the instant school got out. Often times the back seat of the family mini-van would be taken out and converted into some type of bed or area to lounge on for the longish car trip ahead. With the car-top carrier over flowing with camping gear, stinky wet suits, surf/boogie boards and whatever else we thought we needed, I have no doubt that we looked like The Griswolds.
This most recent North Dakota trip has catapulted my family back to those days in a round-about way and it makes me acutely aware of how lucky I am to have a family that goes on vacations together. As much as I hated sharing a tent with my two stinky brothers all those years, I’m so grateful that we had parents that were willing to take us places and spend time with us. That is true today just as much as it was a couple decades ago.
Aside from the time that my dad made Phil and me walk through a lava field in Hawaii because we were fighting, I think I can say that my parents enjoyed seeing us grow up on those trips. This trip to North Dakota seems a bit like icing on the cake in terms of our nuclear family. We split off from the rest of the group the other day, taking more time to get to Devils Lake than the others.
We stopped for a couple hours in Old Jamestown and discovered that the fake cowboy town is actually a nice museum with a fantastic junk store. After we got our token picture taken at the world’s largest buffalo, we splintered off from one another and wandered the one-horse town, happily discovering a fantastic collection of things that make us happy: Phil, a real working print shop, my dad, a junk store that he nearly got lost in the button collection, my mom, goats and ducks to share with Maggie, and Izak leather belts and wallets. I was none too pleased to snap photos and listen to the twang of cowboys singing old tunes.
It wasn’t posing in front of the world’s largest buffalo, or even discovering Old Jamestown that reminded me those car trips of my childhood where we’d all be jam packed into the car headed for somewhere other than home. It was the time that we spent hours later, after arriving to our hotel in Devils Lake, splashing around in the pool, playing with the huge beach balls….cracking up with every spike off of somebody’s head.
You see, we’re a quirky bunch. Full of humor, color and lots of zest. And we like each other. We love each other and choose to spend time together when we can. This, I believe, makes our family unique.
For the second evening in a row, we took over the hotel pool, had loud races from one end to the other and a splash-filled volleyball game. I felt like I was 12 again, trying to do the same thing as my older brother, bossing around my younger brother, and wondering if my parent’s hands were as pruned as my own.
We’re not crammed into the same car this trip, and we certainly aren’t sharing a tent. Maggie’s arrival has slowed the pace down significantly, and we’re all delighted to appease her. I think most of all we’re feeling grateful for this time that we have to spend together, because once reality shows up again we’re all going to hit the floor running and late night pool parties and large buffalo pictures just aren’t the same in the middle of a work week.
