Vacations

I have several ways of looking at vacations

First:  When I was a kid, the ONLY vacation destinations we ever had was with relatives at the end of the line.  We had uncles and aunts in Nebraska, so we ventured to Grand Island, Nebraska. An aunt once moved to Denver, so we got to go their.  When I was in high school, we traveled to see an aunt in Richland, Washington. So I stayed in my first motel when I was a junior in High School and it was more a cabin along the road.  We normally drove straight through and stopped at hamburger stands and many of our trips, Mother packed sandwiches or bologna/crackers.

A typical trip was along a two lane highway.  My dad believed in making time, so if I needed to use the bathroom, he would either stop the car along the road or stop at the next DX Sunray service station(if it was on our side of the road!) I think DX was the only credit card we used and my Dad used to work for them.  In the 50's we were brand loyal.  Only drove Fords, bought DX gas, and drank on Pepsi.  The night we stopped in Colorado at the cabin/motel, we were 2 miles from the Royal Gorge.  Dad would not turn off and see it because it was an unnecessary detour.

You can say that I formed some opinions about travel.  I am finally at a spot in my life that I can afford to travel.  It is a narrow window.  I don't know what the next years hold so I am traveling while I can and can afford to.  This year alone we have traveled further in 4 months than my parents travelled in 20 years.  I am not certain if my Dad ever flew.

I don't take such opportunities lightly. I always remember that my family simply could not afford such things.  My kind of travel was and is luxury.

Second:  I think of my kids.  In the early years of our family, we also could not afford big trips.  I did take short ones though and went to 6 Flags, Worlds of Fun, San Antonio, etc.  These trips strained our budget too, but it was important to Carol and I to form these memories.  We now our trying to have family vacations where our whole family travels together.  Its fun and like I said, I know the window for such things is short.  So I hope to plant this tradition as deep as possible.