Who can forget that catchy little ditty Lindsey Buckingham sang in the closing credits of "National Lampoon's Vacation"?
This memorable cinema classic, which spawned several sequels, details the life of the Griswold family and every conceivable disaster that can go wrong on a family vacation...does.
And the thing of it is, we've ALL been there. Hopefully, not all of these crises happened at once. Not every vacation has been debacle-free.
My mind still flashes back to September 2009, two months after our daughter Savannah was born. You who have children can understand the sudden crying fits (of the baby, yours come later) where nothing seems to make the situation better. There's things like finding the brand-new hotel that's so new, no GPS device has the ability to find it. When you have a two-month-old baby who wanted fed an hour ago, never mind their diaper changed, four-letter words can be exchanged and even the most perfect marriage can be put to a severe test.
But it did get easier the following year...sorta.
This year, my wife and I are hoping for another easier trip, as we pack a portable DVD player to keep our daughter entertained during the six-hour trip to Detroit this summer, followed by another three hours to Houghton Lake.
I've also resigned myself to the fact that my own sense of adventure is not shared by my family. While I'm comfortable going to a different destination every couple of days, my wife and daughter prefer to stay in one place and focus on destinations that keep in-car time to a minimum. Anywhere beyond that can be saved for another year.
And I'm OK with that.
Most disasters happen on the road. While I do intend to take the tribe cross-country in the Wagon Queen Family Truckster someday, it doesn't have to be today.
But the year will come where I'll feel the need to challenge myself. Hopefully my wife will be able to talk me out of it.
NEXT WEEK: Pool party
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