One of my favorite vacations was a trip that my sister and I went on with our parents. I was in 5th grade and she was in 3rd grade.
My dad NEVER wore shorts. We all thought he had great legs, but we were young. My mom convinced him to wear them to drive, insisting he would be cooler.
We were headed to Mississippi to see my Aunt Kathleen and Aunt Elizabeth. My mother was the co-pilot, and, as all women do, she had him going in the wrong direction.
We were on the interstate and there were no roads to turn around. We would have to drive to the next exist and they didn't know how far away that was. However, they did have the U-turn lanes that were for emergency only. My mom told dad to turn around in one of those. Dad told her that as soon as he did, a cop would show up and give him a ticket.
Mom insisted there were no police around, so dad made a U-turn. As soon as he did, we all heard sirens. And then we heard my dad. "Jan, I told you I shouldn't have turned, and now I am going to have to get out of the car in these shorts."
Dad pulled over, and the policeman asked him to get out of the car. I don't think I mentioned that I had a brownie camera. When dad got out, so did I - to take a picture. From the look my dad gave me, it could have been the last thing I did.
I got back in the car, and we were all snickering in the car. The policeman wanted to know what was so funny. (Were the cops friendlier then, or were we lucky?)
Whatever the case, dad got off with a warning, and so did I.
We had a great time in Mississippi, and then stopped in Kentucky to visit with some of my dad's cousins.
I didn't mention that we were in a new car. Dad was very proud of his car. My sister and I had crayolas to entertain us while we were driving. When we were using them, we put them in the back car window. They ended up melting and made a huge mess.
I guess all of these things are why this is one of my favorite vacation memories.