Family Vacation By the Numbers
My husband decided we needed to take a family vacation. Not one that focused on visiting one set of relatives or another, but a REAL just-the-four-of-us vacation. Of course we all jumped on the idea like fleas on a dog. Originally, we decided to go to Southern California for a week then drive to Arizona and New Mexico where Husband has a few relatives he hadn't seen in forever. No, we weren't going there *just* to visit them. We had plans to see the Grand Canyon and other wonders of the Southwest.
Then we realized we'd be four Alaskans traveling through the desert. In June. Yeah, not a good idea. The wildfires kicked up about then and we put the kibosh on that direction.
Option Number Two: Stay in SoCal for a while then travel up the coast to Monterey.
Ahhhh. Much better. And cooler. So that's what we did. Oh, and we did take a side trip to visit his family in eastern Washington for five days. When you live in Alaska, you look at the idea of "while you're in the area" a little differently :)
Rather than give you a long travelogue of our adventure, here's a down and dirty look at the trip.
Days Gone: 21
Air Miles Traveled: 4,000+
Airplanes Traveled in: 6
Rental Car Miles: 1,300
Foot Miles: Too many to count
Blisters: 4
Attractions/Museums/Parks: 15
(including: SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari, gobs of museums at Balboa Park--loved that place!--Universal Studios, Disneyland, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium)
(now you understand the Foot Miles and Blisters :P )
Hotels: 7
Pools Used By Kids: 1 (I still don't understand how that happened)
Beaches: 1 (ditto)
Tubes of Sunscreen: 1
Pairs of Sandals Broken: 1
Lost Sunglasses: 1
Souvenir Hats Purchased: 3
Souvenir Hats Lost: 1
Souvenir T-Shirts Purchased: 14
Friends Visited: 5
Agents Met: 1
Happy Tourists: 4
We returned relaxed and tanned (except for DD#2 who is so very fair-skinned) but happy to see home again.
Not only did this vacation give us the opportunity to get out of our small town, but I think it brought us together as a family. There were never any moments where I wanted to leave my kids or husband along Highway 1, and I hope they were good with keeping me in the car as well. We enjoyed ourselves and each other immensely. Which is the point of a family vacation, isn't it?
Labels: on my mind, vacated
posted by Cathy in AK @ 9:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Only four blisters. I'd say you were darn lucky.
What a great way to spend a vacation. It's always sad when you reach that point when the family stops taking vacations together. Enjoy them while you can.
Welcome back!
All four blisters were mine, though :( I had to get new sandals after the first pair broke and I hadn't adjusted the straps properly. Add Husband's determination to walk us to death :) and owie!
But it was a great time. I think our next trip might be in-state, though. We certainly aren't lacking for stunning vistas and critters here :)
Thanks for dropping by!
21 days! Wow, that's a nice vacation time.
That's kind of too bad you couldn't make it to the Grand Canyon, but really, with all those fires going on, who needs problems?
CA has so much to offer. Sounds like you guys had a great time. And hanging with family like that is always a good thing.
My parents took us on a trip every year to somewhere, sometimes a 3 day drive to Iowa in a Volkswagon Beetle (ah the 60's LOL), but I have such great memories of it. Your kids will too!
It was a longer than usual time, but so nice not to have to try to pack tons of stuff in. We did what we wanted, when we wanted. I think that helped make it more relaxing overall.
When I was growing up, we never went on a vacation like that. Not all together. I do recall staying at a mountain lake cabin, but my dad drove us all up and went back to work for the week. Can't really blame him. There were five of us kids. He probably enjoyed the peace and quiet :)
wow nice pictures..
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I'm so glad that you had a great time! Your girls will remember it forever...it'll be fun to hear them say, "Remember that time..." :)
Glad you're home safe and sound. Can't wait to read the new book! :)
Thanks, Meretta. I hope the girls will remember it fondly, rather than the gazillion miles of walking or the sunburn :)
I can't wait for you to read it too. A few more weeks! Yikes!
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