Sunday, June 24, 2007

What I did on my Summer Vacation--Part 1

If you read the mess in the entry below this one you saw, buried somewhere in all of that, the mention of a vacation... The first one that G and I had taken in almost 3 years. Why so long? Hmmm... well in the way things have of being, we just had never had everything come together for us to take more than a couple of days off at any one time. We had 2 weeks coming and we planned to enjoy them!

We spent the first few days of freedom just vegging at home and packing :p  But we had big plans for the remainder of the time before we would need to come back to reality. We were making a road trip! Spending time together and driving is something we've always loved and was actually cheaper than the two of us flying close to our destination and then renting a car.

Our road trip would take us out of Florida, up thru Georgia, into Tennessee and finally the beautiful state of Kentucky. The end of our trek would find us at my Grandmother's house. We would be there for 8 days visiting with my Grandmother (who turned 92 this year) and my Mother. My Mother lives with Gram and helps her out. But not as much as you would think. My Mother still works a full time job and Gram is by herself for eight hours most every day.

Seeing my Gram and Mom, who I hadn't seen for a while, was pretty great, but four days into our stay would come the bestest part: My Son, DIL, and four year old Grandson would arrive to spend 3 days with us. Although we had all visited each other in several varied combinations, this would be the first time we ALL got together under one roof at the same time. It would also be the first time my Grandmother (who doesn't travel well anymore--she likes to be in familiar surroundings since my grandfather died a few years ago) had gotten to see her Great, Great Grandson!

The highlight of the trip was the taking of a photo... a very special photo... it would contain 5 generations of my family. The day we took the picture we would also enjoy a surprise visit by my Uncle and Aunt, who live near my grandmother, stopping by to meet their Great nephew. My Cousin (daughter of said Aunt and Uncle) and her husband and two sons would also stop by to say Hi to all of the out of towners.

 

 

We all gravitated to the front porch as the house became too full. It was a wonderful afternoon spent on the porch, swinging on the porch swing, sitting on the steps and various porch chairs, sipping glasses of tea and soda with the air full of  "Do you remember..." and "Remember the time" and "Wow, the last time we..."

It may not have been the most remarkable trip I have ever taken, or the most exciting time G and I  have ever had together. No Roller Coasters, or amazing scenery, or exciting city to explore. But I think it was probably one of the best vacation I have ever had and will probably be treasured more than any other I have taken in a long time. 

Note: The picture is of my Grandmother (92), my Mother (65), myself (46), my son (31), and my Grandon (4..almost 5).. Yep, that would be Five Generations!

Next Post: What I did on my Summer Vacation: Part 2

2 comments:

Becky said...

This is so cool! One of the sad things about having children so late in life is they miss out on meeting and knowing a large portion of the family. All my grandparents were gone and all but John's grandma on his mom's side were gone. Plus his dad was gone by the time Tyler arrived. At least my SIL was pregnant at the time my FIL died so he knew he was going to be a grandpa. That was important to him.

DesLily said...

wow JJ..that's a picture that will be passed down in the family!!

You sure took a long drive!! With gas prices I'm surprised anyone can afford a "drive yourself vacation" , but glad you went and made wonderful memories!!!