Traveling

We did not really get a summer vacation this year. Time was tied up with summer camps and sharing time with other parents and frankly, the budget is stressed from past vacations, so we just stayed put.

The exception was a short work trip for my job in which we ventured north for just a few days to Sioux City Iowa. It is not a lovely city and the time on the trip was soaked up detouring around floods. We made the most of this car time by driving through the business district of each small town we passed.

In Sabetha Kansas we ended up inadvertently participating in a parade of tractors. Being the odd ball car we livened things up by waving at everyone. In reality, my son and I waved at everyone. My stepson and husband, the more reasonable members of the family, laughed and told us to stop and laughed some more. My son, who was still dealing with chaffing from camp and who had removed his pants many miles back, kept proclaiming "Hi people, I'm not wearing pants!" as we inched down the main street of this town tucked in between tractors of all ages and varieties. My husband worried that some pants police would become alarmed and investigate the cheeky kid in boxers then detain us. We did not fit in there and after a quick break at the Casey's General Store (pants returned to pants position) we were on our way.

Driving through the small towns made our trip longer but more interesting. My instinct is always to pull into the tavern that exists in every town (that is not a dry town). It has one smallish door and not many windows. It is the one that has a faded sign, opens at 8am, and where the dejected members of the community or the retired folks gather to while away the days. There are a few bars like this in the town where we live and I wouldn't imagine going there to spend my days, but in a strange small town filled with strangers the idea of stopping to meet the locals is compelling. On this drive north we did not stop. The kids would not have liked it if we would have gotten derailed from the hotel pool in southeast Nebraska due to a lively chat with Bob and Thelma.

We did have fun finding the candy "Zots" --a blast from my candy eating past and we actually found candy cigarettes for sale at a gas station in Nebraska. I was surprised they still make them. We found Sioux City to be quite awful, but there were a few highlights. The breakfast location was out of the late 70's with the chunky TV and the best bacon I have ever eaten. There the boys lingered over the funny papers while sitting on the retro breakfast bar stools.

The best part about the trip is that we had a chance to get away from our routines and enjoy the time together. At home it is easy to mill around into other parts of the house or yard and become interested in solo activities. When traveling as a family or small group you have to rely on each other for companionship and fun.

So we played up the non-vacation as much as we could. And really? The boys didn't know the difference between this jaunt and an expensive lavish trip. They felt happy to be riding along the back roads making memories out of towns that are as rarely visited as the more coveted places they will pay to see in their lifetimes and where for sure they will never get to be in a parade without pants!