Dear Neighbor,
How are you and your family? Any fun trips planned for this summer? We are looking forward to going to Dolly Wood! We try to make a trip there every year, and last year we decided to try going in the Fall. I am not sure which season I like the best. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter as long as the kids have fun.
I have been reflecting on trips with my family growing up. My Mom and Dad loved to go on a road trip with a very loose timeline. We would have a destination and a rough idea of when we wanted to get there, and rest was where the road took us.
Well, really, where the waitresses sent us.
My Dad would ask at every stop “Where should we go from here? What’s the coolest thing going nearby?”
These phrases took us to some fun and weird places. We went to an outdoor play in Amarillo and on a long a winding hunt for a buffalo hide rug in Canada. I have seen so much from the back seat of an Astro Van. Now my Dad has dementia and conversations are a little more difficult and I wonder if he remembers the trips. I tell him stories that he already knows in hopes to jog some happy memories.
I was his baby girl, and I remember the adventure like it was yesterday. I am sure he was much like me and just wanted the four kids that were packed in the back of that van to have fun and even if he doesn’t remember it, I know I will.
I hope yall have some fun trips planned. Remember sometimes the best part of the trip isn’t planned, unless the only plan is to make your kids lasting memories!
Write me back and tell me all the great plans you have for this summer!