Me: Very young.
My family decided to take a trip to California one summer. We had almost two weeks from what I remember. And the movie "Vacation" with Chevy Chase is loosely based on my trip... Except my dad didn't skinny dip in a motel swimming pool... because frankly, we were too poor to stay very often in a motel. We either planned our trips between distant relatives houses or slept in the car or dragged out the circus tent which always had sand and spiders... ick.Anyway.. on this trip. There were 6 of us kids. I think Mom was pregnant with one of my youngest sisters. Someone sat up front between Mom and Dad, 3 in the backseat. One or two in the feet areas and then whichever one couldn't stand being under the feet, fought to lay in the back window. Did I mention we were driving my sister's Chevy Impala sedan? Yeah... I don't remember why we did that.
Memories of that trip...
1) Mom made sandwiches in the front seat for our meals as we drove. Mostly bologna or braunschweiger with mustard.
2) If we stopped for fast food, Dad put a limit on $2 per person.
3) Getting a
4) Showering off under a huge barrel at the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
5) Getting autographs in Provo, Utah from the lesser Osmonds because Marie was cooking and wouldn't come out of the kitchen and Donnie wasn't home. Can you believe a gas station guy told us where they lived??? "Um yeah... they live just around this corner and down a couple blocks." and he was right!
6) Practicing a song that my brother and sister wrote so we could be on the Gong Show when we got to California. Then finding out when we get there that the waiting list to get on is months long...
7) Hearing the song "Someone's knocking on the door - Let em in!" the whole way there and still knowing all the words from it because of that trip. I'm surprised Dad let us listen to something that wasn't country or talk radio! Oh! That dates our trip! That was the summer of 1976 and Mom was only a few months along with my sister Kristin!
8) Swimming in a very distant cousins swimming pool shaped like a small peanut in their backyard somewhere around LA.
9) Going to Disney World and riding on the It's A Small World ride. The song still sticks with me and haunts me to this day...
10) Being very jealous of my older siblings that got to go on the Matterhorn bobsled ride and I didn't!
11) When driving thru the desert, it was SOOO hot! I remember my parents getting the free ice water at some fast food joint and when the ice melted, we dumped it in our laps in the car. It was dry within 30 minutes and then we were hot again.
12) Someone little had to go potty in the front seat and Dad was on a schedule so he couldn't stop EVERY time someone had to go. Mom helped them out and then pitched it out the front window and it sprayed into the back window onto my brother!
13) Passing Pike's Peak and watching people ski in bathing suits! That was weird!
14) Windows down ALL the time except in the mountains.
15) Watching a semi trucks lose their brakes on a mountain pass and end up in one of the emergency sand pits.
16) The teenagers sticking their feet into the face of the front seat people just so they could get their feet off the floor people. Yes, we had names for everywhere you got to sit.
I guess that's all I can remember this morning. That was such a memorable trip! When my mom and dad celebrated their 50th anniversary a few years ago, each of the kids recorded a memory of growing up in the Johnson household and one of my brother in laws put it all together on a very heart warming video to play at the party. Along with pictures of each of us growing up. I think every single one of us, except for Kristin of course, listed this as one of their favorite vacations.
EPIC.
12 comments:
This trip does sound epic!
I love that there were kids all over the car. Your parents were troopers for dealing with all of you!
And pee out the window? Classic!
I don't think I could handle being a foot person. And it's so crazy you met the lesser known Osmonds!
That sounds like an awesome trip, actually!
The song in It's A Small World haunts many of us.
"floor people"-LOL!!! You were so lucky to grow up in such a loving home!!
This is SO TYPICAL of my memories of our family vacations...thanks for the post! I'm smiling as I remember our family travels.
Very SPECIAL memories! Who were the lesser Osmonds? Would have given my eye teeth to meet Donnie back in the day (swoon).. lol! -Tammy
This was interesting post, seems like you had fun, even though you did not have much money.
I remember family trips too! My dad was famous for playing the same song over and over on the 8 track. He had it figured out in a way that we only heard 2-3 songs out of the 15! He also had a CB radio which we found more entertaining than his choice of music.
What a great post! Thanks for stopping by my Top 2 Tuesday list. Have a GREAT week!
What fun, sounds like some of our trips.
Awwww, I have happy memories of driving down highway one with my mama and lil' sis. Good times!
Your family vaca sounds similar to what we had too....2 weeks in a car, driving all over the south or the northeast/new england and canada, camping out on very little money, stopping at an odd relatives(odd, not as in 'bizarre') house now and again. We did it with less kids tho(feet people? good lord!LOL)and my recollection was it was NOT much fun. Well, let me rephrase that....being the youngest and the only girl I had the most fun....for the rest of them it was work and no picnic. When I wasn't having fun, I was trying to disappear into the background and avoid all the free floating anxiety. Have I mentioned that my family was quite dysfunctional?lol Someday I'll blog about our vacas so everyone can appreciate theirs more!!hehe
I'm glad your vaca was a cool experience!
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