Summer Vacation

We miss our childhood summer vacations.

Back in the early 1990s, 1991 to be exact, we drove across the United States from Lake Arrowhead, CA to Newburyport, MA. We drove the 3,000+ miles in a brand new, fire engine red Chevy Suburban. With 3 rows of gray corduroy-ish bench seats, we were prepared to be packed in and entertained for the next month.

Our dad and Josh loaded our summer wardrobes onto the roof of the car in our fancy new turtle shell roof rack. Our mom, Jessica and I packed the car up tight with travel car games (think Sorry, Guess Who and Gameboys), snacks (chips and sandwich fixings), and candy (imagine Gobstoppers, mini donuts, Runts, Lemon Heads, and double bubble bubble gum).

We had our travel lap boxes filled with books (both reading and coloring), crayons and markers, Mad Libs, and any other activity you could imagine to keep us occupied and CALM on the long, long drive. I’m sure all that candy had the opposite side effect of calm! 

As we traveled across the country, we stayed at Holidomes, Best Westerns, fancy hotels that had phones in the bathrooms, and ate plenty of breakfasts in the hotels and swam in lots of indoor pools. 

What an epic Summer Vacation. I wish I could go back to that trip and re-live the same experiences now. I wish we could re-visit the historical places we went to and saw; re- see the images of Boston and Plum Island, and spend time with each other with no cares in the world. 

Aww, summertime in New England. I can still feel you in my heart of hearts ❤️🇺🇸