Why I Love and Hate Family Vacations

Going On A Family Vacation - Just Taking a Trip through the past and re-reading a blog post I did years ago. 

Sight see the below post, from the traveler of years past. And I survived and I got the pictures to prove it. LOL

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I found out long ago, it’s a long way down the Holiday Road.


It’s that time of year again. The most fun time of the year I tell yah! – Family Vacation Time!

This year we're driving to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. 

From the Oldest Vacationer on the Web, I’m telling You,,,,

- Why I Love and Hate Family Vacations!-

Planning It;s all about my choices because I have an MBA in Vacation Planning. DH just suggests some destinations and leaves the planning to me. 
OMG-It’s all my choices! What if they don’t like the sights, hotel and activities I’ve planned? Relax? Never heard of that word. Every Freakin minute is Planned I tell Yah, in this vacation!

Driving
Seeing new Stuff, Playing road games, listening to different radio stations, Sunsets, Sunrises - NEW is the word here. Explorer is the “E” in DebbieKinIL’s name.
Road construction, rest stops, detours, gas prices, weather, bug hitting the windshield, miles of endless flat stuff- Not a sight to behold except the back of my husband’s head as I sit in the middle of the white mini-van (it’s the law in Naperville to own a white mini-van) praying that I do not die from boredom because I am not driving! Go GPS yourself!

Are We There Yet?
Coming Up with new wise-crack answers to the endless Are We There Yet question. It’s the 1^st joke as we pull onto the interstate. Humor can make the trip bearable.
Do You Want Whine with that Cheese? And if I hear that you are: bored, tired, thirsty, hungry, angry, cold, or hot, one more time I will personally give you a tour of the moon! Why did I teach this child to talk???LOL!

Music
I get to play some or all of my Jimmy Buffett CD’s and dusted off some classics for old time’s sake. Like to sing to them too…Yes, I am a Pirate, 200 Years too Late. Reaching for Bob Seeger for driving fast, fast, faster, fastest!
If I have to listen to that Disney Pre-Teen crap (too high pitched voices) just more time, I will yank the freakin CDs out of the player and play Freeway Frisbee with them! Hannah Montana, you’re outta here! And the Hamster Dance, Burn in Hell Rodents!

Souvenirs
Finding the perfect treasure. I know from past experience to grab it, cause we rarely visit any place twice!
May I ask”Why is all the Mt. Rushmore stuff made in China? "


Family Time
Enjoying my wonderful husband and darling daughter for an entire week. HooYah!
OMG, a 13 hr car trip with the AntiChrist and Mr. Impatient who wants to drive, by all by himself, all of 900 miles from ILL-In-Noise to South Dakota. Kill Me Now!    Nah, I’ll wait until I see Mt Rushmore and then make that date with a pitcher of Margaritas, it’s much easier being with my family when I’m intoxicated relaxed.

The Sights and Stuff
Finding out that all my hard work in planning paid off and we actually enjoyed ourselves and the vacation.
Ouch! Who was the one who came up with the idea of driving 200 miles out of our way to see the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine?”


Pictures
Digital cameras rule! (remember this was before the cell phone camera) 
I am a master in Printshop and do a dynamite photo scrap book. I was photo scrapbooking way before Al Gore invented the Net!
Well, there are always internet images to steal or download.   And Postcards make great pictures. “Listen, Professionals know what they are doing, Honey.” I don’t want to spend all my time looking through the lens to see the sights.        And I don’t want to turn into the Photo Freakin’ Mom, who must have 47 angles of every spot. 

Packing/UnPacking
I have learned packing from the “Pro” DH, who taught a mean, tight, roll em up, for all my clothes. When we come home, I leave the suitcases right in the laundry room, so I can toss the dirty clothes right into the washer as I unpack.
“Alright, I know I packed my PJ’s. But now I just can’t seem to find them.” “AntiChrist, I said you can not put on the same pair of underwear 3 days in a row” “Put those stinky socks in this WalMart plastic bag and I’ll fumigate them when I get home.” “Don’t’ Panic, I know there are stores in SD, where we can actually buy
toothpaste if we need it.”