I must begin by saying two things; first, my father loves going on vacation. Dad is never happier than when he has atlas in hand searching out a new destination for us to visit. It may be an awe-inspiring national park, bustling city, peaceful colonial town, or a crowded amusement park. It doesn’t matter he is in heaven highlighting our proposed route on the pages. Secondly, I must say that my father is extremely frugal. Our family trips are always planned in the most cost effective manner possible, utilizing every possible minute of the day so we can enjoy each “vacation” to the fullest. We have slept in parking lots, beach chairs, and tents waiting for parks to open or check in times to arrive. There has never even been a hint at the possibility of getting a room early. When we go to Disney World or Dollywood, my father wears a fanny pack the size of a small trunk filled with snacks to avoid buying costly amusement park food. He searches for coupons, special packages, or any promotion that might possibly save money. While this quality can be annoying, it does enable us to travel to places that we probably couldn’t otherwise afford.
Trust me, my family would not have gone to
The trip to
Each day we enjoyed the fresh mountain air by walking several blocks to the public transportation which transported us to our planned activity of the day. Dad had searched out ways to ski, snowmobile, and tube very economically. Of course thousands of others had discovered this as well so our patience was tested as we stood in very lengthy lines. The only source of trepidation on this vacation was the promotional sales pitch we were expected to attend on our last day. The wonderful deal my father had gotten was a high pressured promotion to sell shares in the resort where we were staying. The first young salesman knew immediately he was no match for my father but the second, seasoned, salesman lasted three long hours before finally giving up and wishing us a safe journey home.
The day our departure for home came extremely early, we had to catch the bus at 6 a.m. to
A few hours later, we were dining at an upscale restaurant at our posh hotel in
The next morning, as we were settling in our first class seats, I looked over at my mother. She was excitedly choosing what she wanted from the breakfast menu, her second juice in hand. Mom said, “I would have given up my seat just for the chance to ride in first class.” As Mom told the flight attendant her order, I spotted Dad pulling his seasoned atlas out of his backpack as he began planning our next adventure-filled trip.
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