Ten Summers
For the third day in a row my class met outside. Birds trying to build a nest at the top of the gutter sent twigs flying down the chute, rattling as they went. Planes drowned out our words. And a lawnmower forced us to raise our voices. But ah-h-h--summer's in the air! So I got to thinking about ten memorable vacations I've had:
1. Cross-country trip, Virginia to Oregon and back, to attend my cousin's wedding when I was eleven or twelve. The feat: We carried her rocking-chair wedding present in our Chevy Carry-all along with the seven of us.
2. A year or two later I spent two weeks with my parents, siblings, and Grama camping in Grand Teton National Park. The group we traveled with got access to stay right on the Snake River at the Bar B C Ranch on private property inside the national park. The bump in the road: My mom had angina-like symptoms thanks to the elevation, landed in the hospital, and had to fly home. We, on the other hand, still had to drive. Also memorable: My brother led a kids'-only overnighter to Bear Paw Lake, and somebody's freeze-dried corn had a freeze-dried grasshopper in it.
3. Cross-country trip, Oregon to Virginia, with my fiance and future in-laws to go to college. What still amazes me: Gas cost 74 cents/gallon, and we thought that was a total rip-off.
4. Honeymoon trip to Florida. Most memorable fiasco: We locked the rental-car keys, our only set, in the trunk while taking photos on a bird refuge. After taking the back seat out of the car, we discovered the gas tank was between the car and the trunk. We hitched a ride with a photographer, who took us to a phone so we could call a locksmith.
5. Backpacking the Grand Canyon with my husband, father, uncle, and in-laws. Two chants drove me forward: "Hot shower" and "the things you do for love."
6. London/Paris/Strasbourg. Every other day some sort of major bummer happened. Like the train strike that left us stuck on a train that never made it to Wales. A better trip to England included a wonderful time touring little towns and making brass rubbings.
7. Cruise of Greece with a stop at Ephesus to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Santorini--a crescent-shaped island--remains of a volcanic sunken cauldron--is as picturesque as it gets with homes and pools chiseled in the side of sheer cliffs.
8. Mission trips to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Made some dear friends for life and got my first dinner bill with seven zeros on the total. Rubles were so devalued that people used them for toilet paper. A tourist in Frankfurt told me I spoke very good English for a German!
9. Group trips to Culican and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. When we told our hosts that the Dallas Cowboys were the Number One Champions, they told us in Spanish that was close to saying our football team were the Number one Mushrooms.
10. Jordan last year. Remember Dippity Do? Floating in the Dead Sea is like being dipped in a vat of that stuff.