See instead of RV standing for Recreational Vehicle, RV=Redmond Vacation
I've been combing through old family videos of vacations for my brother's graduation video. I use clips of these old videos and use them to highlight my brother's life. However, I can't make it through any of these vacation videos without laughing until my side aches in pain.
Our family vacations were...entertaining, to say the least. Haha. Over my childhood, we traveled to: the Black Hills, Yellowstone, Las Vegas, Florida, Hawaii, Glacier National Park, Smokey Mountains, and every place in between, as most of the time we drove.
With each trip came its own set of memories and laughs. Honestly, you can take any of my family members and at some point, there is some witty comment or comeback on these tapes. We are all actually quite funny when we want to be. And of course there was fighting....okay....a lot of fighting. We were kids, what did you expect?
But grandma was always there to cut an apple to shut us up...even if only for 15 minutes. Haha.
I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. I was watching the video from our 2000 vacation to the Black Hills. Think about that...that was 15 years ago...Sam was 4, and we came upon a pack of wild donkeys in Custer State Park. Our family had brought along a bucket of corn to feed them and Sam's high pitch screaming "MOM! BEHIND YOU!" as a donkey was following her was hilarious!
Or at Glacier National Park, where the 3 of us had a snow ball fight in the middle of June. You swear to God we had never seen snow before. Haha.
It's these little memories that make up our lives. Looking back at all these times, it makes you really miss them and wonder how it went by so fast? I definitely miss our family vacations. I remember when we heard every year where we were going, us kids would grumble about visiting another National Park, but looking back, they were so much fun. We got to be outdoors and seeing some of the most beautiful scenery in this country.
And the car rides. I think people underestimate the value of car rides. Yes, it may have taken us days to travel somewhere, but that was half the fun...sometimes. Haha. It did get long at times. The 3 of us kids sitting in a cramped back seat, fighting over which movie we were going to watch next. Somehow Sam always got to choose despite him being outvoted by Krissy and I (benefits of being the baby I guess). Stopping at a rest stop so everyone can make themselves a sandwich to it. Or traveling passed a rest stop and THEN hearing, "I have to go to the bathroom!" Haha
As I graduated from college and my brother is now graduating from high school here soon, there is one thing I do wish....I wish we could go on ONE more family vacation. Just the 5 of us. To the Black Hills. Because no matter how many times we have been there, I still feel like that is our family spot. Tee Pee Campground. Heck, we are the reason why Bob and Peg (the owners) built the sleeper cabins. After that summer when we had to sleep in the shed because of severe weather and we were in tents. The last time I went to the Black Hills, it was just me, mom and Krissy. We had so much fun just us girls, but I think if all of us went one more time, it would really make the world not only for me, but everyone. Hopefully...maybe if we plan far enough in advance, we can make that happen in a future summer.
So as I continue to watch these family vacation videos, I just laugh and laugh. It's quite amusing to see how much we've all changed, and not-so-changed. Sam got a little taller, and a deeper voice. Krissy and I's fashion sense have thankfully grown. Haha. Dad has lot of the same shirts, lol. Mom's hair changes from trip to trip. These are our memories, and honestly, we probably could make a movie out of them!
So remember.....RV=REDMOND VACATION!!!
