Stretchy Shorts
Earning My Beers
- Joined
- May 19, 2008
- Messages
- 114
Uh&. Youre joking, right dad? There is no way Im milking that thing!
Circa 1976 after a long road trip from Seattle, WA to an area Northeast of Great Falls, MT. We took a family vacation to my grandparents farm and my father was eager to show me country life. For whatever reason, this eagerness to share country-life with his family did not extend to my mother or sister. Just me.
36 years later, I still vividly remember thinking to myself at the age of 10 years old; This is vacation?
My grandparents werent typical. They were cold, hard people who complained about the weather no matter what it was and drank coffee from morning to night. I remember asking my grandmother if I could have a snack before bed and her giving me a piece of ice cold leftover meat from the ice box without ever telling me what it was. When I tell the story to friends, its always mutton& but to be honest& It could have been literally anything.
Other family vacations from my youth included renting a motor home, driving 1,500 miles straight to Las Vegas, and camping in the Silver Slipper Casinos parking lot. This one turned out to be pretty fun because apparently, pre-internet forums, people stayed in touch via Ma Bell & the US Postal Service so there was a small town of Gypsies camped in the parking lot upon our arrival. The adults were all busy every evening in the casinos while the children roamed free.
One particular vagabond, yet very mature 12 year old girl, taught my sister and I a lot on that trip. This was my first experience with a tennis ball cannon built out of pop cans using lighter fluid or slamming a Coke after first dumping in a packet of Pop Rocks.
I vowed from very early on to have REAL vacations that included everyone in the planning and didn't revolve around the parents. These vacations would revolve around the children. There would be no prolonged stays on farms with grandparents, no milking of anything, and no snacking on mystery meat.
My lovely wife and I first reconnoitered Walt Disney World in the fall of 1997, pre-children, and again in 1998 just to get the lay of the land :smile: Short summary of those vacations: We Partied Like Sailors in a South Pacific Port of Call.
Our first child, Trey, was born in 1999 and at the ripe old age of 4 months, went to WDW for the first time. Hes been every year since. Sometimes, twice per year.
My daughter, LeeAndra, was born a few years later in 2001 and she too has been every year since.
Tomorrow, I take my 23rd trip to Walt Disney World for a 14 night excursion to a Cabin at the Ft. Wilderness campground (3-nights), DVC OKW 2-bedroom (4-nights), and finally, 7 nights at a DVC Tree House villa at Disneys SSR resort.
As Disney veterans, we should be able to offer a different perspective on vacationing in WDW since we rarely spend more than 3 hours per day in a theme park and like to explore all the fringe benefits of vacationing at Disney.
We will rent a boat, go to the water parks, horseback ride, enjoy a round of putt-putt golf, fish, and eat our weight at Boma. We have Cal Grille booked and plan to watch the fireworks. Were going to gorge ourselves at Le Cellier for lunch with nothing more than bowls of soup and Pretzel bread.
We will seek out the weird and enjoy uniqueness that only Disney can offer.
No, I never did milk that cow, eat Grandmas mystery meat, nor pound that Pop Rock laced Coke. My childhood vacations may not have been great, but they were memorable. Its not where youre at, its what you do!
The Clan <OKW in Feb 12>:
Circa 1976 after a long road trip from Seattle, WA to an area Northeast of Great Falls, MT. We took a family vacation to my grandparents farm and my father was eager to show me country life. For whatever reason, this eagerness to share country-life with his family did not extend to my mother or sister. Just me.
36 years later, I still vividly remember thinking to myself at the age of 10 years old; This is vacation?
My grandparents werent typical. They were cold, hard people who complained about the weather no matter what it was and drank coffee from morning to night. I remember asking my grandmother if I could have a snack before bed and her giving me a piece of ice cold leftover meat from the ice box without ever telling me what it was. When I tell the story to friends, its always mutton& but to be honest& It could have been literally anything.
Other family vacations from my youth included renting a motor home, driving 1,500 miles straight to Las Vegas, and camping in the Silver Slipper Casinos parking lot. This one turned out to be pretty fun because apparently, pre-internet forums, people stayed in touch via Ma Bell & the US Postal Service so there was a small town of Gypsies camped in the parking lot upon our arrival. The adults were all busy every evening in the casinos while the children roamed free.
One particular vagabond, yet very mature 12 year old girl, taught my sister and I a lot on that trip. This was my first experience with a tennis ball cannon built out of pop cans using lighter fluid or slamming a Coke after first dumping in a packet of Pop Rocks.
I vowed from very early on to have REAL vacations that included everyone in the planning and didn't revolve around the parents. These vacations would revolve around the children. There would be no prolonged stays on farms with grandparents, no milking of anything, and no snacking on mystery meat.
My lovely wife and I first reconnoitered Walt Disney World in the fall of 1997, pre-children, and again in 1998 just to get the lay of the land :smile: Short summary of those vacations: We Partied Like Sailors in a South Pacific Port of Call.
Our first child, Trey, was born in 1999 and at the ripe old age of 4 months, went to WDW for the first time. Hes been every year since. Sometimes, twice per year.
My daughter, LeeAndra, was born a few years later in 2001 and she too has been every year since.
Tomorrow, I take my 23rd trip to Walt Disney World for a 14 night excursion to a Cabin at the Ft. Wilderness campground (3-nights), DVC OKW 2-bedroom (4-nights), and finally, 7 nights at a DVC Tree House villa at Disneys SSR resort.
As Disney veterans, we should be able to offer a different perspective on vacationing in WDW since we rarely spend more than 3 hours per day in a theme park and like to explore all the fringe benefits of vacationing at Disney.
We will rent a boat, go to the water parks, horseback ride, enjoy a round of putt-putt golf, fish, and eat our weight at Boma. We have Cal Grille booked and plan to watch the fireworks. Were going to gorge ourselves at Le Cellier for lunch with nothing more than bowls of soup and Pretzel bread.
We will seek out the weird and enjoy uniqueness that only Disney can offer.
No, I never did milk that cow, eat Grandmas mystery meat, nor pound that Pop Rock laced Coke. My childhood vacations may not have been great, but they were memorable. Its not where youre at, its what you do!
The Clan <OKW in Feb 12>:
