I can still see my blonde haired Barbie dangling in the wind out the rear window of our station wagon by her golden locks, somewhere in "nowhere" Nevada, with my two older brothers threatening to drop her. It's as vivid a memory, as the myriad of smells that always accompanied those two. Mile after mile, I endured their torture. Fighting them, boredom, and piles of luggage from burying me into oblivion in the backseat.
It was our family road trip from Arizona to Washington state. A journey that like most, started out with smiles, anticipation, and games... and ended with my father slamming the car door....and taking a long walk around the block by himself. We didn't see him for an hour.
Recently, I set out on my own family road trip with my kids. We drove from San Diego to Sedona, Arizona, The Four Corners National Monument, up to Telluride, Colorado, across to Bryce Canyon National Park and into Zion, Utah, through Las Vegas... and back home. Needless to say, it was a lot of driving. But there was symmetry to this trip. It was the continuum of both my husband and my childhoods...bleeding into our own kids' memory banks. We knew with each mile we logged, we were making memories for them. And suddenly, we felt this awesome responsibility. This was their childhood! These will be the experiences that will shape who they are and what they'll reflect back on. And we can only hope...they look back on them fondly. Like we do.
All the teasing, annoyances, Madlibs and mishaps, that can only be created in the vacuum of a family road trip, is something every child should both experience and endure. It's not a vacation, it's a rite of passage. And a ride, I wouldn't miss for the world.
Leave a comment