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March 30, 2014

Travel Thread:Family Vacations in Retrospect [CBD]
— Open Blogger

Y-not is otherwise engaged: apparently she is doing a free climb of Mt. Everest to harvest a rare orchid that grows only on the South slope of the mountain.

Remember all of those interminable trips you took with your family? The ones where you were unsure whether your dad's threat to "pull this damned car over and leave you all in the desert" was actually serious? The realization that you could beat on your younger brother or sister for only so long before it got boring made the trip even more painful. And who cares that some guys spent 15 years carving 60 foot tall heads into solid granite at the top of a mountain in South Dakota? I saw them when I was eight-years-old, and I sure didn't care much then. But now? Every time I see a photo of those magnificent edifices I recall that trip. Hell...whenever I read anything about Teddy Roosevelt I think of how big his nose is on that mountain!

So.....what are those trips from your youth that echo in your adult life?

Here are some of mine...I guess my parents weren't as stupid as I supposed.

My parents dragged us to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) just two months after Israel reconquered Jerusalem in 1967. I remember looking at the wall and wondering why they used different sized stones -- big ones on the bottom and small ones at the top. And why was everyone so happy? it was just a wall.

The events leading up to the Norman conquest, and it was really cool to look at! There was even a big battle at the end!

A mini history of the Roman Catholic Church, and it was about 30 degrees cooler inside than outside.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:30 PM | Comments (238)
Post contains 302 words, total size 2 kb.

1 We never went anywhere on vacation. I did get to visit the Washington Zoo though when my mom visited her relatives in VA in 1958.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 01:34 PM (T2V/1)

2 We went to Sea World's parking lot once.

Posted by: Boss Moss at March 30, 2014 01:38 PM (bitz6)

3 Avoid at all costs Plymouth Rock. A bigger rip off than Vegas and a bigger fraud than Barack Obama. No seriously...

Posted by: Zombie Myles Standish at March 30, 2014 01:39 PM (GgGgG)

4 How fortunate you are, CBD. I would love to visit the Western Wall.

Posted by: grammie winger at March 30, 2014 01:40 PM (oMKp3)

5 Posted by: grammie winger at March 30, 2014 05:40 PM (oMKp3)

My mom is Israeli. So we went a lot to see relatives.

As an adult I have visited Israel, and it's a blast.

But Jerusalem is awe inspiring.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 01:42 PM (QFxY5)

6 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 05:42 PM (QFxY5) I will get there one day, God willing.

Posted by: grammie winger at March 30, 2014 01:45 PM (oMKp3)

7 We drove to Florida in a car with no AC from Missouri to visit some neighbors that had moved there. The father worked for NASA at Cape Canaveral. I was always being moved to the front seat because I got car sick. The day we left, we went to the beach one last time. I filled a frisbee I had with 'cute little clam shells' and hid it in the trunk of the car. Dad started smelling something a couple hours into the trip....he was none too happy to find that surprise.

Posted by: Tami [/i][/b][/u][/s] at March 30, 2014 01:46 PM (bCEmE)

8 I don't think we ever had a family vacation, except for visiting the grandparents and other relatives, which we did quite a lot. Lots of beach time involved.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 01:47 PM (8lmkt)

9 My parents, bless them, always took us kids somewhere on vacation no matter how poor they were at the moment. I regret that I didn't do as well with my kids.

Posted by: Sphynx at March 30, 2014 01:49 PM (cll/q)

10 Suburban pullin' an Avion, it was soooo hot. . .

Posted by: Loquacious Smith at March 30, 2014 01:50 PM (TLmN3)

11 My family was into culture. We vacationed at Disneyland (Rex Trailer group tour out of Boston), in a good year, or a white trash North Shore beach in a bad year. Then I joined the Navy, got exposed to some culture, and found out that my parents had it right.

Posted by: East Bay Jay at March 30, 2014 01:52 PM (7v8o1)

12 My family did the cross country camping. All 6 of us kids kids had specific duties in setting up the tent (12'x8' canvas sears tent with about 50 pole sections). I have fond memories of it now but at the time I thought it all sucked.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 01:53 PM (TI3xG)

13 I went to Quantico with my dad once and he did threaten to leave me there.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at March 30, 2014 01:54 PM (nzKvP)

14 I've taken my kids to Israel and Disney mostly.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at March 30, 2014 01:55 PM (nzKvP)

15 Niagara Falls was cool then, and still is. NYC. Mom's from The Bronx and Dad grew up near the Palisades over in Joisey, and so knew the city well. We would visit Grandma there when I was a kid. Dad took me to see all the standard tourist shit, Rock Center, the museums, Empire State Building, but he knew the city's underbelly well, and we toured the docks, lower Brooklyn near the navy yard, the Bowery, Canal Street, and much more. Anytime we go there now, I think of the gritty parts.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at March 30, 2014 01:55 PM (j/rmN)

16 That two-year trip to California Youth Authority left a lasting impression.

Posted by: Lucky Pierre at March 30, 2014 01:56 PM (5fSr7)

17 Get away from those H8er travel spots! Rushmore celebrates slavers and oppressors! That wall celebrates Zionists! That building is full of evil X-tians! Come to the Folsom Street fair where there is no H8, but only loving each other!!1!

Posted by: San Fransisco Tourism Board at March 30, 2014 01:56 PM (AymDN)

18 Niagara Falls was cool then, and still is. I went to College upstate NY and some drunk high SOB took me and some others to Niagara Falls in the middle of the night to be there by daybreak. Oh wait I was the drunk high SOB? Never mind

Posted by: Nevergiveup at March 30, 2014 01:58 PM (nzKvP)

19 Not so far into the Northwoods fishing that you need a plane but far enough that you knew you were back in civilization on the drive home when you saw a Burger King and a black guy in the same town.

Posted by: DaveA[/i][/b][/s] at March 30, 2014 01:58 PM (DL2i+)

20 We really didn't do much long road-tripping as a family. As my mother viewed it, we already lived in a place (So Cal) which was a tourist destination anyway, so why spend the time and money. We did have occasional short camping trips; my father would take us out to the desert for a one or two night trip, which I remember very well. I think at one point he had an old VW bus fitted out with bunks which were not all that comfortable, but he was a research biologist and gave the most amazing nature walks. Sometimes we would smooth out a stretch of desert sand before the sun went down, and in the morning, Dad would identify all the tracks of animals which had crossed it. I was stationed overseas with my daughter until she was about twelve, and believe me - I dragged her around to everything; just about all the classical sites of Southern Greece, camping trips in the north and south of Spain, and the one extended road trip when we transferred from Athens to Zaragoza and I drove all the way. Car ferry from Patras to Brindisi, up through Italy, over the Brenner Pass, across Austria and southern German, down across France and thence to Zaragoza. She was about five then, and still talks about some of the places that I took her to - and wishes that she could have appreciated them better.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at March 30, 2014 01:59 PM (Asjr7)

21 Think about this and that pic at the top. There is absolutely nothing around Mt Rushmore. How lomng can you look at the mountain. And it is way off the beaten path in South Dakota.

And for people who like camping the GA State Park system is one of the best in the country for camping and fishing.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 01:59 PM (T2V/1)

In rough chronological order begining in the late 1960s (from about age 5-1 :

Dallas/Ft.Worth --Six Flags over Texas

St. Louis (Six Flags again), Hanibel, MO

Colorado--Bar Lazy J Dude Ranch, Cripple Creek (meladrama and Imperial Cripple Creek Hotel)

Colorado again, Mesa Vesa Verde

NE Okalahoma (Western Hills Resort), this was August 1974 and I remember watching Nixon's resignation speech in the resort lobby (I think I was about 10 years old at the time).

Walt Disney World, St. Augustine, Space Coast, Tampa/St. Pete, Cypress Gardens

Ozarks/ Arkansas, Dogpatch

Washington, D.C.

Kentucky/Tenn., Mamouth Cave, Louisville,

Colorado-- Don K Dude Ranch, Cripple Creek, Garden of Gods, Pike's Peak

Mt. Rushmore, Wall Drug, Yellowstone

Bryce/Zion NP, Painted Desert, Grand Canyon

Posted by: mildcigar at March 30, 2014 01:59 PM (751x5)

23 Any vacation that gets you near water is good. Niagara Falls Outer Banks (anywhere) Myrtle Beach St Augustine Key West

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 30, 2014 01:59 PM (o3MSL)

24 My fathers threat was "I've got a belt". So the fear was not being left behind. He never stopped to use it, the threat always seemed to be enough (we knew we had pushed too far and would quit for a little while).

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 02:00 PM (TI3xG)

25 Posted by: San Fransisco Tourism Board
---------------------------------------------------

My step-dad used to take us to SF in the Sixties to laugh at the Hippies.

Posted by: Lucky Pierre at March 30, 2014 02:00 PM (5fSr7)

26 19 Not so far into the Northwoods fishing that you need a plane but far enough that you knew you were back in civilization on the drive home when you saw a Burger King and a black guy in the same town.

Posted by: DaveA at March 30, 2014 05:58 PM (DL2i+)

LOL, reminds me of the trip wifey and I made a few years ago to Casstown, Ohio. We stopped at a burger place in the Smoky Mountains to eat. After a few minutes something kept bothering me. Finally I realized what it was. There no no black faces in the place at all. I had never been in a burger place with no blacks at all in it.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 02:02 PM (T2V/1)

27 Best family trip I had was driving up and down California to visit all of the old Missions.

Posted by: The Political Hat at March 30, 2014 02:03 PM (AymDN)

28 Did a thirty day tour of Europe when I was 22 (1980). Did it because a little voice said do it now or you never will. The little voice was right. Listen to your little voice. Most important finding: Norwegian girls in Paris are fucking hot. Soft and warm, too.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 02:03 PM (AO9UG)

29 Family trip from Hell: fifteen hour drive to Nova Scotia because my crazy uncle said the fishing there was unbelievable. It was cool, but my Mom used all her willpower to not strangle my Dad.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 02:07 PM (AO9UG)

30 I had never been in a burger place with no blacks at all in it.

Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2014 06:02 PM (T2V/1)

Then you haven't spent enough time in NYC, or Boston, or Chicago, or SF, or Seattle, or.......

Sense a theme?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 02:07 PM (QFxY5)

31 23 Posted by: Hrothgar at March 30, 2014 05:59 PM (o3MSL)

Myrtle Beach is over developed now and the traffic is awful.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 02:08 PM (T2V/1)

32 Disney World, Bermuda, Jamaica, Busch Gardens, Hershey Park. Not too bad. Does anyone remember that giant stuffed great white shark that used to be at Sea World (FL)? I think they had to throw it out cuz it started rotting sometime in the early 80's.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at March 30, 2014 02:09 PM (V4CBV)

33 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 06:07 PM (QFxY5)

I have been to Chicago and Seattle. No blacks in Seattle but plenty of Indians.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 02:09 PM (T2V/1)

34 30 I had never been in a burger place with no blacks at all in it. Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2014 06:02 PM (T2V/1) Then you haven't spent enough time in NYC, or Boston, or Chicago, or SF, or Seattle, or....... Sense a theme? Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 06:07 PM (QFxY5) Heh. Yeah, I was in The City (SF) a few weeks ago and I saw some Black dudes there. My first thought was to ask them where they were from.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 02:09 PM (AO9UG)

35 "I've got a belt".

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 06:00 PM (TI3xG)

Oh, we got spanked, but I think that taking his belt off would have been undignified. Imagine standing on the side of the road with your pants around your ankles!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 02:09 PM (QFxY5)

36 "Nothing to proud of, Russ." "Fifty yards"

Posted by: Clark W. at March 30, 2014 02:10 PM (8KNrF)

37 Once my dad's dad dispatched him on a trip to visit his crazy sister Marian in California, and find out how she was doing. He decided to combine that mission with our family vacation, and planned this ambitious trip from Wisconsin to CA along the northern tier, then all the way down to San Diego for a week, then back along a southern route, and finally turning north back to home.

It was very ambitious, encompassing Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Tetons, Petrified Forest, La Brea freaking Tar Pits and a host of other things. He rented an enormous RV for the purpose. My brother Matt wasn't born yet, but there were 6 of us in that thing.

There's only so much important shit a 7-year-old kid can absorb before he's saturated, and so it was that on the way back, after Disneyland and all that, Dad went hundreds of miles out of his way so that we could witness the inspiring majesty of the Grand Canyon. But when we got there, I told him that, if was all the same to him, I'd rather practice standing on my head in the RV.

He freaked out and whipped my butt pretty good. I remember sniffling as I looked at the enormous chasm through a pay telescope that it was really great and I was so glad he'd made me see it. And he was just as mad at himself for having lost his temper, so our mutual punishment was that I was to ride in the front of the behemoth with Dad while the rest slept in the back, so we could talk things out, though honestly I didn't have a lot to say.

They were all snoozing, Mom and the three other kids, in the back as Dad drove on, trying to make up for lost time. Theoretically, I was to help keep him company and prevent him from getting sleepy, but I was being sullen. Suddenly, we saw a cow in the road. He swerved . . . right into another one. It made a resounding thunk on the land yacht.

Mom popped her head up, and asked my dad whether everything was okay. He said, "Fine, Caroline." But being a shit, I had to say, "Dad hit a cow!" Of course that sent the other kids crying. Dad said, "I just sideswiped it. It's fine." I said, "You hit it right in the head!" A chorus of wails erupted from the back.

When we pulled into the next available gas station, I knew I was going to get it again. I did.

Posted by: Dan Collins at March 30, 2014 02:11 PM (IE4NT)

38 Yeah, also been to SF. Plenty of blacks there.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at March 30, 2014 02:11 PM (T2V/1)

39 Found a pic of the shark at Sea World: http://tinyurl.com/m88f8q5 Just as ugly as I remembered it.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at March 30, 2014 02:11 PM (V4CBV)

40 Come to the Folsom Street fair where there is no H8, but only loving each other!!1!

Bring your galoshes. And a hanky.

(Zombietime... is inaccessible. ? Anyone else unable to open Zombietime? http://www.zombietime.com/ )

Posted by: The Toilet Gnome at March 30, 2014 02:12 PM (r0yt4)

41 My family went car camping with a 6 person canvas tent. We went all over the US and in Canada. We had many adventures and was one of the best part of growing up. It was an incredible gift from my parents. I didn't know tell I was an adult that we did all that because we were poor.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 30, 2014 02:13 PM (u82oZ)

42 Mt Washington in upstate NH. Family went there and up via the cog RR when I was 13, and I drove my motorcycle up the road a few years back. Same pile of rocks.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at March 30, 2014 02:13 PM (j/rmN)

43 Posted by: Dan Collins at March 30, 2014 06:11 PM (IE4NT)

lmao, Dan! and the belt? oh, yeah, I got that plenty of times. I was a willful child and not shy about it. I think it stopped right after I showed the neighbor lady the welts on my tiny ass one time. my mom couldn't believe it, but it's not like she hadn't met me.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:14 PM (8lmkt)

44 I used to go on trips with my father, mostly camping.

The camping trips, however, came to an end when he drug us out one weekend in April to go camping in the Poconos.

It started fine, with my mother dropping us and the trailer off at the state park, in the dark. We only had one car and she needed it elsewhere the next day. Beofre she left, we setup the tent with the aid of the car lights.

The next morning it started to rain, then it got stronger, then the wind started, finally the radio reported tornado warnings for the area.

The only telephone was about a mile down the road, at the ranger station. My brother walked down, but when he called nobody answered (these were the old pre-cell phone days). He came back through the rain. Later, my dad walked down. On his second trip he finally got a hold of my mom, who said she would be there in about 2 to 3 hours.

The rain kept coming and so did the wind, then finally the car showed up.

Posted by: Fargo North, Decoder at March 30, 2014 02:14 PM (e8kgV)

45 Lots of trips to SoCal in 80s as a kid when I had family there. -Disneyland -Sea World -Spruce Goose/QM Family like to travel in the summer. -Yellowstone -Grand Canyon -Any place in Colorado or New Mexico or Arizona or Utah -Idaho/Oregon All driving. From Texas.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:15 PM (8KNrF)

46 "No mercy for the enemies of the people, the enemies of Socialism, the enemies of the working people! War to the death against the rich and their hangers-on, the bourgeois intellectuals; war on the rogues, the idlers and the rowdies!" -- Lenin, syphilitic bisexual Later, all. God bless. :-)

Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at March 30, 2014 02:15 PM (9W+0f)

47 I guess it's what I didn't do that influences me now. We couldn't afford much in the way of vacations. Almost all of our trips involved driving to various family events that we were obligated to attend. We did go to Niagara Falls, which was amazing. I know my parents did the best they could, but they were not outdoorsy people, so no camping or fishing for us. I take the opposite approach with my family - the more outdoor activities, the better. I finally went to Disney World for the first time ever 2 years ago. Despite my best efforts not to, I fell in love with that place.

Posted by: Hoplite Housewife at March 30, 2014 02:16 PM (7Y+gf)

48 I always wanted to go to Hong Kong. Never made it. Never will.

Posted by: Loquacious Smith at March 30, 2014 02:17 PM (TLmN3)

49 Not quite old enough to drive (1981), we went on a family trip from Chicago to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Drove across Canada from Windsor to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We then went from Buffalo to DC with a stopover at a Washington PA HoJo.

What did I take away from that adventure:

Canada was a lot like the USA, only everything was nicer.

The lifeguard at the HoJo was freckly blond.

I bought a book at the Smithsonian book store and the spine snapped within three days of getting it home.

Posted by: ThreePercent at March 30, 2014 02:17 PM (YPypU)

50 One trip early in our camping career we had a hungry bear get into our food locker in Yosemite NP. The next morning we trailed the Kellogs Snack pack trail. Frosted Flakes and Sugar Pops were eaten first. One box was uneaten. Shredded Wheat. Smart Bear.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 30, 2014 02:17 PM (u82oZ)

51 I took my girls to Mt Rushmore (6 and

. In Custer SD there is a cheesy Flintstones theme park of sorts. The kids had as much fun there as they did at Disney world. It had cartoony stuff and not nearly as busy as Disney. And they let the kids at that time climb on stuff. Which was also why they liked the Garden of the Gods in Colorado when I took them there.

http://www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com/index.php?page=photo-gallery&pic=3

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 02:17 PM (TI3xG)

52 In June of 1966 my dad took my brother and I on a trip around the country in a small plane from the flying club where dad was a member. Dad was a retired navy chief so we were allowed to stop at Ft Polk LA to visit for an hour with my brother-in-law. He was going through basic training at the time. That hour spent in the Company Day Room seared two things into my 14 year old mind...One, when I go into the military, go in as an officer; and two, at all costs avoid that shithole called Ft Polk.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 30, 2014 02:18 PM (08Znv)

53 No, peaches, he threatened the belt sometimes, but used the hand. Sometimes, he'd give me the choice of the spanking or the lecture.

I chose the spanking. The lecture would hover over me like a dark cloud for days.

Posted by: Dan Collins at March 30, 2014 02:18 PM (IE4NT)

54 We didn't really go anywhere on vacation when I was a kid. We did rent a cabin on Bolivar Peninsula, TX with some of our other family members regularly. It was a blast. Now that I'm grown with a family of my own, we try to take weekend trips wherever we are located. My kids have already seen more of this country than I did up until my adult life. It's great to see the wonder in their eyes.

Posted by: no good deed at March 30, 2014 02:18 PM (vBhbc)

55 My parents (but mostly mom because of dad's limited vacation days) took us kids on two summer-long road trips, Colorado-->Maine (and on one of the trips, up to Nova Scotia)-->Florida-->Texas-->home, with all sorts of stops to visit friends, family and historic spots along the way. A good part of it was spent camping (because we couldn't afford hotels stays every night). Many, many great memories, such as the time we stayed in a cabin in Nova Scotia and one of the other vacationers practiced his bag pipes while walking along the cliffs (of course it was misty), or spending every daylight hour on the beach for a week on the Jersey shore, or the time we were so frickin' hot while camping in Williamsburg that mom took us to the air conditioned movie theater - which would have been a good idea if the movie hadn't been "The Shining" (no sleep that night!). It actually taught us how to get along while spending hours in that cramped station wagon with no DVD player, etc.

Thanks to those two big road/camping trips and many smaller ones to various national parks in the West I've always loved driving more than flying, and exploring more than tightly scheduled vacations.

Posted by: Lizzy at March 30, 2014 02:19 PM (udjuE)

56 Mount Rushmore, eh. I saw Cary Grant get shot at the Mount Rushmore visitor's center.

Posted by: Premonition Kid, with his hands over his ears at March 30, 2014 02:19 PM (odrIx)

57 I'm very jealous of those that have been to Israel. Our church's pastor, along with several members of the church, made the trip about 5 or 6 years ago. I would love to be able to go.

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at March 30, 2014 02:19 PM (GEICT)

58 oh, I got the belt. and the spanking stick that we custom-decorated with little humorous scenes for my mom with our wood-working kit. i wonder where that is, it would be kinda cool to have it. the pearls and stuff are nice, but nobody has a spanking stick.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:20 PM (8lmkt)

59 3 Avoid at all costs Plymouth Rock. A bigger rip off than Vegas and a bigger fraud than Barack Obama. No seriously... My parent took me there as a lad. Built it all up. So I did the same with wife and kids. They haven't forgiven me yet 25 years ago bwa hahahabahahah

Posted by: NativeNH at March 30, 2014 02:20 PM (BhjVQ)

60 My parents could have afforded some trips but they choose not to. Don't blame them, a couple trips lasting two or three hours with five kids in the car to see relatives every year was bad enough.

Posted by: lowandslow at March 30, 2014 02:20 PM (IV4od)

61 "at all costs avoid that shithole called Ft Polk." My dad spent time at Ft. Polk. You confirm his "shithole" description of the place. He denies it, but, he must have pissed somebody off while serving.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:21 PM (8KNrF)

62 Nothing to see at Plymouth Rock, but Plimoth Plantation is a decent Old Williamsburg type of place. If you find yourself in the need of 19th century comforts at the same time you happen to be passing through Central MA, may I suggest Old Sturbridge Village? I was married in the Meetinghouse.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 02:21 PM (ZshNr)

63 We went camping on Deer Island, Moosehead Lake Maine every fucking year. I still go back now and again. Made me into a life time camper

Posted by: NativeNH at March 30, 2014 02:23 PM (BhjVQ)

64 62 Nothing to see at Plymouth Rock, but Plimoth Plantation is a decent Old Williamsburg type of place. If you find yourself in the need of 19th century comforts at the same time you happen to be passing through Central MA, may I suggest Old Sturbridge Village? I was married in the Meetinghouse. Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 06:21 PM (ZshNr) A good destination in the zombie apocalypse.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 02:24 PM (AO9UG)

65 The biggest disappointment for me has been The Grand Canyon. Unless you're planning on doing some sort of activity (hiking, rafting, North Rim) then it really is pretty much like the scene in "Vacation." Walk up to the edge, look at great big canyon for a few minutes, say "Yep, big effin' hole in the ground," and then get back on the road.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:26 PM (8KNrF)

66 My kids have been to.....Singapore & Hong Kong (we lived in those two places), Australia (twice), Thailand (multiple times), Indonesia, Malaysia, China, England.... But not Disney...which they informed me when we moved back to the US.

Brats...

Posted by: Tami [/i][/b][/u][/s] at March 30, 2014 02:26 PM (bCEmE)

67 My most memorable vacation was to my Grandmothers home in Kentucky. That's where I heard Elvis had died.

Posted by: Burt Toste at March 30, 2014 02:27 PM (1rEgY)

68 Little House on the Prarie scenic highway. Seriously. Follows the Ingalls travels and the books. Good stuff for three early/preteen girls. I got a migraine

Posted by: Far Post at March 30, 2014 02:28 PM (Y5vIe)

69 OMG, yes, Plymouth rock is such a disappointment!

Maybe it's because I was raised in the West, but I expected a mammoth rock, like something they saw from a distance and said, "We'll land there!"
Yeah, no. And when I saw it people had tossed coins onto it like it was a wishing well - bizarre.

Posted by: Lizzy at March 30, 2014 02:28 PM (udjuE)

70 When I was about 12 I went on a package tour of California with Mom. Saw a lot of beautiful scenery, but the memory I cherish the most is accidentally getting snockered on Andre Cold Duck and all the off-color jokes the senior citizens told as we got progressively blotto.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 02:28 PM (QBm1P)

71 It appears that the two oldest kids and myself (at the least) will be going to Mongolia this summer. It's for a mission trip not vacation per-se (all our vacations are to see the grandparents) but should make some interesting memories.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 02:29 PM (GDulk)

72 Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 06:28 PM (QBm1P)

Wow, you embraced the moron lifestyle at 12? I stand in awe.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:30 PM (8lmkt)

73 Remember all of those interminable trips you took with your family? The ones where you were unsure whether your dad's threat to "pull this damned car over and leave you all in the desert" was actually serious? Oh yes I remember those. Frankly I wish I'd just been left in the damn desert. Those family vacations pretty much blew goat chunks.

Posted by: Insomniac at March 30, 2014 02:30 PM (mx5oN)

74 Everyone just saw the pic of Mt Rushmore. Without looking at it again can you name the Presidents from left to right? Surprisingly a great percentage of people cannot.

Posted by: Burt Toste at March 30, 2014 02:31 PM (1rEgY)

75 I liked the Grand Canyon, but we (stupidly) decided on a whim to hike down and back in one day (think I was in 7th grade). None of us could walk the next day and we were experienced hikers.

Also, the Grand Tetons and Glacier National Park are just gorgeous.
One place I've always wanted to go is Yosemite National Park (makes note to self).

Posted by: Lizzy at March 30, 2014 02:31 PM (udjuE)

76 @74 Washington, Jefferson, TR, and, Lincoln.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:32 PM (8KNrF)

77 If you look closely at the Bayeaux Tapestry you'll see what looks like raptors and stompy boots.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 02:32 PM (oFCZn)

78 Also, the Grand Tetons and Glacier National Park are just gorgeous. What moron wouldn't want to see mountains literally named "big titties"?

Posted by: Insomniac at March 30, 2014 02:33 PM (mx5oN)

79 Long to visit Yorkshire. A lot of family ancients buried there.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 02:33 PM (aDwsi)

80 I did see Mt. Rushmore though. When we got there we went up to the platform at night and it was pitch black. Not impressed. Someone threw a switch. WOW.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 02:33 PM (oFCZn)

81 Frankly I wish I'd just been left in the damn desert. Those family vacations pretty much blew goat chunks.

Posted by: Insomniac at March 30, 2014 06:30 PM (mx5oN)

This is precisely why I never felt bad that our family did not have "family vacations." None of my friends ever had a single good thing to say about theirs. My whole life was like a vacation, until I was about 50, when I realized I'd better get serious about planning for my dotage.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:33 PM (8lmkt)

82 Spent one night and a day in Jerusalem. Our guide was great, born in Jerusalem. New his way around. Want to go back since there is so much to see.
Also went to Egypt that trip. Shithole. About all I can say. Need to move those pyramids somewhere else.

Posted by: never enough caffeine at March 30, 2014 02:34 PM (Qp3K5)

83 If you ever really want to show/teach/experience cool Pilgrim History, ignore Plymouth Rock. Take the extra couple hour drive from Plymouth and see where the Pilgrims really made landfall and really had first contact with the Indians. It's not a Tourist destination, but it is a protected area. Truro, Bing map from that. Drink from the same spring the Pilgrims drew their first New World water from. No tickets, no lines, just being in the same spot 400 years later, drinking the same water. ..... If it's flowing, never has been in the last couple years.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 02:36 PM (ZshNr)

84 Vacation? No, who has time for that?...used to get a fifth of whiskey, a hotel room and make some bimbo earn $50.00 the hard way....

Posted by: IrishEd at March 30, 2014 02:36 PM (bfm04)

85 @75 That's the thing about TGC, it's truly a multiple day destination to fully experience it. Looking at it from the rim is not doing it justice. I may go back some day and do some of those things. Hear good things about the north side.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:36 PM (8KNrF)

86 "used to get a fifth of whiskey, a hotel room and make some bimbo earn $50.00 the hard way." They say "staycations" are "in" due to the economy.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:37 PM (8KNrF)

87 A good thing to do in SF is to start at the Ferry Building and walk up Market Street and then crawl your way up to Twin Peaks. Then look around. On the way up Market you get a good tour of SF from rich to poor, crazy to sane. In some sections keep eyes front and keep walking.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 02:39 PM (AO9UG)

88 72 Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 06:28 PM (QBm1P) Wow, you embraced the moron lifestyle at 12? I stand in awe. Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 06:30 PM (8lmkt) ------ No, it embraced me, Peaches. It was my Road to Damascus moment, except it was at a Comfort Inn on Highway 1.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 02:39 PM (QBm1P)

89 For those who have made it Rushmore, help me with my perception of it. Many pictures, post cards, etc show it appearing large and imposing. Pics like the one above make it appear rather less so. What's it like from the viewing areas?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:39 PM (8KNrF)

90 84 Vacation? No, who has time for that?...used to get a fifth of whiskey, a hotel room and make some bimbo earn $50.00 the hard way.... Posted by: IrishEd at March 30, 2014 06:36 PM (bfm04) I'd like to make a reservation with an upgrade, please.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 02:39 PM (oFCZn)

91 89 For those who have made it Rushmore, help me with my perception of it. Many pictures, post cards, etc show it appearing large and imposing. Pics like the one above make it appear rather less so. What's it like from the viewing areas? Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 06:39 PM (8KNrF) Impressive. It looms over you.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 02:40 PM (oFCZn)

92 I have been to Mt. Rushmore and it's totes cool. Plus, I saw a lot of buffalo out around there somewhere, which was fun. Your results may vary. But, you're right, it's pretty much smack in the middle of nowhere.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:41 PM (8lmkt)

93 Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 06:39 PM (8KNrF) Pretty impressive, it really is a pretty large section that's been carved. Not sure how far away they were to get that perspective.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 02:42 PM (GDulk)

94 Nice! CBD brings the culture to the blog!

I am embarrassed to say that I have not seen some of our better landmarks in person yet. Mt. Rushmore is on the list of things to be seen.

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 02:42 PM (doBIb)

95 And BC!

Message received!

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 02:43 PM (doBIb)

96 We never went on vacation when I was a kid. So I made up for that by taking my kids on vacations every summer. It gives them memories they can share with each other, forever, long after we check out. And Mt. Rushmore is way cool. And it is PERFECT with just four presidents!!!!

Posted by: whyme at March 30, 2014 02:43 PM (l9mF2)

97 I like to get all my information from the movies, so according to Team America: World Police, Mt. Rushmore ain't all that big.

Posted by: lowandslow at March 30, 2014 02:44 PM (IV4od)

98 and make some bimbo earn $50.00 the hard way...>>

You told her your life story?

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 02:44 PM (TI3xG)

99 The Crazy Horse monument is impressive too even though it is incomplete.

Posted by: no good deed at March 30, 2014 02:45 PM (vBhbc)

100 I've mentioned this a million times before, but if you like Stuff In The Side Of Mountains Porn, do an image search for Church in the Rock, Idar-Obetstein.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 02:47 PM (ZshNr)

101 95 And BC! Message received! Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 06:43 PM (doBIb) More on the ONT tonight. Just figured I'd send you one.

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at March 30, 2014 02:47 PM (GEICT)

102 All right, Rushmore back on the list for someday.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:48 PM (8KNrF)

103
More on the ONT tonight. Just figured I'd send you one.

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at March 30, 2014 06:47 PM (GEICT)

Maybe I'll throw something up too.

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 02:48 PM (doBIb)

104 More on the ONT tonight. Just figured I'd send you one.

Posted by: BCochran1981 - Credible Hulk at March 30, 2014 06:47 PM (GEICT)

Oh great....more photos of a drunk, naked BCochran.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 02:49 PM (QFxY5)

105 >> But being a shit, I had to say, "Dad hit a cow!" Oh, of course.

Posted by: Mama AJ at March 30, 2014 02:49 PM (SUKHu)

106 Or if you're in the mood for some old stuff carved into the mountain, check out Canyon de Chelly in AZ. Very cool.

Posted by: Lizzy at March 30, 2014 02:49 PM (udjuE)

107 Oberstein

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 02:49 PM (ZshNr)

108 We met the grandparents in Manzanita, Oregon a few years ago. It's the most photographed stretch of the Oregon coast, I've been told. Drove out to Agate Beach. Multnomah Falls is also very beautiful.

Posted by: no good deed at March 30, 2014 02:50 PM (vBhbc)

109 "check out Canyon de Chelly in AZ. Very cool" Nice catch. Driven by it a dozen times going somewhere else but never stopped.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 02:51 PM (8KNrF)

110 We mostly camped in the White Mountains. One year my father decided to haul us off to Expo 67. Sad to say, the only things I remember were the monorail and the gigantic picture of John Wayne in the U.S. building.

Posted by: Caliban at March 30, 2014 02:51 PM (2ArJQ)

111 For you racists you could visit Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta. Impressive night show.

Posted by: Burt Toste at March 30, 2014 02:51 PM (1rEgY)

112 Oh great....more photos of a drunk, naked BCochran.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 30, 2014 06:49 PM (QFxY5)

Well then, BC has changed. A LOT!!!

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 02:52 PM (doBIb)

113 I have been to Chicago and Seattle. No blacks in Seattle but plenty of Indians. Posted by: Vic at March 30, 2014 06:09 PM (T2V/1) Went on a tour of West Africa a few years back Don't know why they call it New Guinea. No guineas there, just a lot of --------

Posted by: Joe Biden at March 30, 2014 02:55 PM (aTXUx)

114 no gardening thread, but over 100, so what opinions does the horde have about this got a wood fence in backyard which is the back neighbors. it's falling apart, but i think they've moved. i want to replace it. complicating matters is the back neighbors yard is significantly overgrown with raspberry bushes along the fence.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at March 30, 2014 02:56 PM (KgN8K)

115 Heh. Yeah, I was in The City (SF) a few weeks ago and I saw some Black dudes there. My first thought was to ask them where they were from. Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 06:09 PM (AO9UG) Shit, we fell asleep on the BART again!

Posted by: Black Dudes from Oakland at March 30, 2014 02:58 PM (aTXUx)

116 Maybe I'll throw something up too.

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 06:48 PM (doBIb)

now you sound like one of my feline overlords

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 02:58 PM (8lmkt)

117 Make raspberry jam then replace the fence.

Posted by: Burt Toste at March 30, 2014 02:58 PM (1rEgY)

118 Heh, a couple of years ago I saw a mom pulled into the medium on I-10 and she had four kids lined up. One crying already, one getting whomped with the belt and two waiting. Dad could only leave the oil wells for two weeks at a stretch but we went all over the place; Rushmore, Colorado, walked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back out, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc. I have been all over the world with my work too. Climbed part way up the Great Pyramid before dawn and they made me get down. Next month the GF and I fly to SF to go to Yosemite for three days then Seattle and Vancouver for a couple days each then we take a nine day train ride through the Canadian Rockies to Kamloop, Lake Louise, Banff and Whistler.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at March 30, 2014 02:58 PM (o7nzY)

119 114 Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at March 30, 2014 06:56 PM (KgN8K) Can you use one of those big brush cutter mowers I see advertised? You would certainly be within rights up to the end of your property and where it interferes with renovations, right?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 02:59 PM (QBm1P)

120 "what opinions does the horde have about this"

Make a pie with the raspberries.

Posted by: lowandslow at March 30, 2014 02:59 PM (IV4od)

121 My second thought was, flame thrower.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 02:59 PM (QBm1P)

122 now you sound like one of my feline overlords

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 06:58 PM (8lmkt)

GAAAAACK!!!!

Here you go!

Posted by: EC at March 30, 2014 02:59 PM (doBIb)

123 War Between The States battlegrounds during the centennial in SC/NC/GA/TN/VA for educational purposes. Vacations at Beaufort, Pawley's Island and Myrtle Beach more times than I can count. Columbia/Greenville/Spartanburg/Charleston for educational trips. The majority with family, mostly during 54-66 timeframe. Been to all the above again (and 1/3 of the rest of the world) since then. I miss my Mama and Daddy.

Posted by: Erowmero at March 30, 2014 03:00 PM (1gcFZ)

124 nine day train ride through the Canadian Rockies to Kamloop, Lake Louise, Banff and Whistler.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at March 30, 2014 06:58 PM (o7nzY)

Nice! Banff is one of my favorite places I've ever been. Been back many times. Only during ski season, though.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:01 PM (8lmkt)

125 119 nope his side of the fence. that house stands empty i think

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at March 30, 2014 03:03 PM (KgN8K)

126 what opinions does the horde have about this
got a wood fence in backyard which is the back neighbors. it's falling apart, but i think they've moved. i want to replace it.>>

Options just do what you want and replace it and count on whoever moves in to have no clue who's fence it was. (better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission)

Or if you don't mind losing a little of the yard build a new on e parallel to it.

Gamble on the new owners clearing the brush or pick the max height for the fence so you don't care.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 03:05 PM (TI3xG)

127 Used to take family trips to Upstate NY and Canada when I was a kid. We went to the Expo in Montreal in 1967 and not a one of us could speak French. Once we crossed on the Quebec line on the Canadian freeways everything is in French. My dad kept seeing signs at the off ramps that said "Sortie". After 15 miles of "Sortie" signs, he says "where the hell is this damn Sortie, you think we'd see the goddamn town by now". Montreal is a beautiful city in the summer, but the French Canadians are so rude they make New Yorkers look folksy.

Posted by: kbdabear at March 30, 2014 03:07 PM (aTXUx)

128 Bigby, it's only a problem if you get caught. Tear that shit out and put up what you want.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:07 PM (8lmkt)

129 last I'll post on it to respect thread topic thought about parallel but garage closely abuts. I think, but am not sure, that i need to figure out who the realtor is, if anybody

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at March 30, 2014 03:09 PM (KgN8K)

130 I just recently saw some photos of the Western Wall just after liberation. And the nicest thing was seeing men and women together without being segregated and no fur hats. It's a shame that the state gave complete control of the site to uber orthodox.

Posted by: War Pug at March 30, 2014 03:09 PM (vFh9Q)

131 Oh great....more photos of a drunk, naked BCochran. -------- Just look at the flowers........

Posted by: Carol (not the ette) at March 30, 2014 03:10 PM (Aif/5)

132 Michigan and Kentucky tied with 27 seconds to go.

Posted by: grammie winger at March 30, 2014 03:10 PM (oMKp3)

133 I thought my mom and dad was out of their minds when they told us we were going to Cathedral Caverns. It was in private hands at the time and the whole trip in and out was about three hours. Truly magnificent cave formations. The park service in Alabama eventually bought it and turned it into a state park. They added restrooms, picnic tables and made it handicap accessible. Well worth the detour if you are in the northern Alabama area. The Air and Space Museum is good bet to.

Posted by: mamawolf at March 30, 2014 03:11 PM (PVBzL)

134 My dad never threatened to leave us anywhere. He did tell us if we "kept it up" he'd beat the sh*t o urof us. By the time we got to Souix City we all knew he was not "Read my lips" us. 64 years later the black and blue still hurts. "Child Abuse"? What is that?

Posted by: Rod at March 30, 2014 03:12 PM (niGHE)

135 Kentucky's in.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:13 PM (8lmkt)

136 What a basket!!! Holy shit!

Posted by: Tami [/i][/b][/u][/s] at March 30, 2014 03:13 PM (bCEmE)

137 Replace the fence, if you're 100% sure it's on your side of the property line. It is considered rude, even if not intentionally, to build a new fence immediately after a new neighbor moves in, unless you can make the case that the job was already planned.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 03:15 PM (ZshNr)

138 Kentucky is in the Final Four

Posted by: grammie winger at March 30, 2014 03:15 PM (oMKp3)

139

We made an epic road trip when I was 12. We'd planned to see the Grand Canyon for five years (Dad was a geologist, I was a geek, Mom liked scenery- a perfect trip) but it was delayed due to moves, grandma and grandpa's deaths, etc. Every year we'd say, no problem, it will be two inches deeper next year.

We left New Orleans in early June, saw friends of the parents (FOP) in the Texas Hill Country, went to the HemisFair in San Antonio (yes, I'm old). More FOPs in Alpine Texas who took us to Big Bend for a day. Davis Mountains in west Texas, Carlsbad Caverns, overnight in Albuquerque, the Painted desert (Dad and I both picked up a couple small rocks. Don't tell the FBI.) Overnight in Flagstaff, where it was 38 at 5 pm and the motel's heated pool looked like Old Faithful. Oak Creek Canyon (parents had seen pictures of it in Arizona Highways magazine for years) and then on to the Grand Canyon. A day each at the north and south rims. a motel in Kanab Arizona as a base for the north rim, Bryce and Zion. Dad was proud we saw both Bryce and Zion in one day. "Everybody told us you couldn't do that."

I was in Scouts and had to do three five mile hikes to get my Second class badge so Mom drove us five mile out of Kanab one afternoon and Dad and I walked back into town along Highway 89. Hot but no humidity, a nice change from New Orleans

Toured Glen Canyon Dam (probably why I became a civil engineer), drove through the Navajo- Hopi reservation to Four Corners where we took pictures of the family standing on four states at once. I recall it as a litter strewn, fly infested picnic area in the middle of a god- forsaken wasteland.

We stayed two nights in Durango, went to Mesa Verde, saw a rodeo, took the train to Silverton. That night the parents called friends who had a summer cabin in the mountains between Durango and Colorado Springs, but could not reach them. Family meeting: do we see the aunts, uncles and cousins in Nebraska or head home? Unanimous vote- Dad ad Mom (mainly Dad ) drove two 800+ mile days from Durango back to New Orleans. I think we stayed overnight in Childress Texas. Kids, most of that was two lane non interstate.

Did we really see much of the parks? No. It was the American West version of "If This is Tuesday it must be Belgium." We saw as much as my mom and sister wanted to see and would tolerate (they weren't hikers) and saw a heck of a lot more country than I'd ever seen before.

Posted by: Jim in Virginia at March 30, 2014 03:15 PM (kKIJY)

140 Rent a walk behind brush hog like this. And while doing the work wear a orange vest.

bit.ly/1ofS0cR

If anyone asks just ask dumb and say you assumed the city did it.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 03:15 PM (TI3xG)

141 Somewhere I have a picture of me in my kilt at the harbor in Banff, Scotland when I lived there. Great golf course there along the cliffs on the North Sea.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at March 30, 2014 03:16 PM (o7nzY)

142 fixed link for 140.

http://tinyurl.com/kevclqx

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 03:17 PM (TI3xG)

143 66 My kids have been to.....Singapore & Hong Kong (we lived in those two places), Australia (twice), Thailand (multiple times), Indonesia, Malaysia, China, England.... But not Disney...which they informed me when we moved back to the US. Brats... Posted by: Tami at March 30, 2014 06:26 PM (bCEmE) That sounds like out kids-we lived all over the world, took them to Petra, diving in the Red Sea, the Panama Canal, all over eastern Europe and Egypt, and they said the same damn thing. "How come we can't go to Disneyworld like all the other kids???" Ingrates.

Posted by: moki at March 30, 2014 03:17 PM (EvHC8)

144 Vacation memories? I think my favorite is going to Galveston at age 10. Up til then I'd never seen the ocean. It was awesome. When I had kids of my own, my dad really wanted to take his grandkids to the beach, to be there when they saw the ocean for the first time, so he has generously subsidized beach vacations for us several times. Three of my kids cooperated by giving us a great awestruck face when they walked out on the beach, but my cautious older daughter wasn't having it. The first time she went to the beach, at age 3, she looked out at the water, declared "I'm not going in that!" and turned around to march back to the hotel herself. I spent a long day minding her very far away from the water while everyone else enjoyed the waves

Posted by: Jenny Hates Her Phone at March 30, 2014 03:18 PM (3j1zs)

145 When I was a youngun and teenager we'd go to South Florida for vacation to visit relatives in Broward County. In the late 60s through the mid 70s I-95 wasn't built in half of SC and GA yet, so it was the two lane US 301 and US 17. Quite a thrill having a semi blow by the other way at 75 mph. Then there was US 27 in FL below Lake Okeechobee before they expanded it to dual highway. Heat and humidity along with a flat roadway cause the traffic coming the other way to appear further away than it is, just like it says in your mirror. At gas station in South Bay they'd leave cars smashed in headon collisions as a cautionary display I also remember on the trip from NJ to FL loads of Stuckey's billboards, Pedro's South of the Border billboards, and what seemed like the world's longest tunnel, I-95 through northern North Carolina

Posted by: kbdabear at March 30, 2014 03:19 PM (aTXUx)

146 Our vacations were mostly to visit grandparents in Middletown, Kentucky, a small town near Louisville (pronounced Luhvull). It really was quite a lot like the town in To Kill a Mockingbird. The fire siren went off every day at noon. If it went off any other town time, there was a fire. Loved going there when I was small but it was too boring as I got older. We did take a car trip to the Boston area, combined with my dad's work trip to Otis AFB on Cape Cod. This was in the early '60's. Pres. Kennedy flew in to Otis on Friday's for his weekends at Hyannis Port. He would land at Otis, walk to a waiting helicopter and fly to the Kennedy compound. It was a big deal to be on base and get to stand at the fence and watch him walk across the tarmac the few hundred feet to the chopper. I was 14 and had my Kodak camera and got a few grainy pics of him. (I can remember my mom saying that she was 16 before she knew that "Damn Democrat" was 2 words.

Posted by: Susanamantha at March 30, 2014 03:20 PM (J0VjC)

147 Thank you CBD for the food and travel threads. I'll regress to a stop in SC forty-plus years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/y857uaw

Does the men's room at Main Street Station in Vegas still have a section of the Berlin Wall where the urinals are? IIRC it was Bob Snow who built MSS of Church Street Station -- Rosie O'Grady's fame in Orlando. Have a good week horde!

Posted by: Forty Baht Barack at March 30, 2014 03:22 PM (g+Lcr)

148 Been all over the lower 48. Every state. Favorite place on earth is still a cabin on a lake in the woods off the Gunflint Trail. I plan on retiring there.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at March 30, 2014 03:27 PM (jucos)

149 ah the bayeaux tapestry, it and the domesday book are either the bane or boon of my existence, depends upon the odd or even.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:29 PM (rDidD)

150 sick as a dog lying in the back of a station wagon, delirious with fever and smelling the rotten eggs smell of Old Faithful. They finally took me to a doctor in Wyoming. But we went to a dude ranch and I saw a colt get born and rode horse everyday and it was awesome!

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:29 PM (zOTsN)

151 Yay, Truck and thunderb and Y5!! Love your vaca story, thunderb, that is way cool.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:30 PM (8lmkt)

152 Bigby! make jam and clean them up for the next season....

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 30, 2014 03:31 PM (60Vyp)

153 CBD, I suspect even gentiles sympathetic to Israel are not fully aware of the history. When the eastern part of Jerusalem (not "East Jerusalem", there is no such place) was under Arab control from 1948 to 1967 no Jews were allowed to visit. Not just Israelis, but Jews from anywhere in the world. That is why your family visited there right after the 6-day war. And when Israel reclaimed the city, they found that Arabs had used Jewish holy sites as garbage dumps and latrines.

Posted by: FOAF at March 30, 2014 03:31 PM (rZ7kp)

154 everyone should go to a dude ranch. it is amazing how expensive they have become.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:32 PM (rDidD)

155 both parents smoked and if the AC was on it was forbidden to roll the windows down! It was as thick with smoke as a jazz club in there!

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:32 PM (zOTsN)

156 Peaches!

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:33 PM (rDidD)

157 everyone should go to a dude ranch. it is amazing how expensive they have become. Posted by: yankeefifth it was the coolest experience a kid could have. You rode the same horse everyday, and you had to brush them down every day, although I am sure the ranch hands did a proper job of it when we went back to the cabin

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:35 PM (zOTsN)

158 Visiting Rushmore for itself is pretty much an afternoon, and that's it. There is a lot more to see, though. Custer State Park (76,000 acres) has a nature loop, and driving through you get to see all kinds of wildlife. Bison, antelope, bighorn sheep. The buffalo hunt in "Dances with Wolves" was filmed in Custer State Park. The Iron Hills are across the valley from Rushmore, and are a really pretty drive through the woods and hills. Rapid City is a tourist trap, but if you have kids, there is some fun stuff to do there. The Black Hills themselves are quite beautiful. Driving through them you realize why the Sioux thought of them as holy land. We stayed at Silver Lake lodge for a couple of nights (make reservations FAR in advance), and that place is just beautiful. The food at the lodge was actually pretty good. We had bison burgers for lunch and bison steak for dinner, and it was scrumptious. Visit the Badlands on the way in (from the east). They are really weird but beautiful. The Devil's Tower ("Close Encounters") is about 45 minutes away in Wyoming. There is also The Mammoth Site, which is an archaelogical dig that has unearthed literally dozens of mammoth skeletons from a mud flat that existed about 25,000 years ago, Really interesting place.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 03:35 PM (+1T7c)

159 No family vacations for me. Went to the Royal Gorge Bridge with relatives. Rode the incline down to the Arkansas River. We was poor and stuff. It's probably best we didn't have family vacations. The old man was always pissed about something. I would have likely been his favorite target on a long car ride.

Posted by: Ronster at March 30, 2014 03:35 PM (puNd6)

160 My Dad's work was somewhat seasonal, so vacations were not really in the plan, although we spent many summers on the lake, which in retrospect, was just as good.

Also... Dad was in the Korean War, and would NEVER EVER consider camping.

Not camping was such an amazing gift to both me and my Mom.

Posted by: shibumi who is exceptionally cynical today at March 30, 2014 03:36 PM (25HWz)

161 Rapid City is a tourist trap, but if you have kids, there is some fun stuff to do there.

isn't that where you get those jackalope postcards?

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:37 PM (8lmkt)

162 If you get a change watch Peter Greenburg's travel program in Israel with Bibi Netanyahu. It is a must watch for any lover if Israel. Bibi's description of the start and end of the 6 day war gave me goose bumps. His description of gathering at the wall on the last day after Jerusalem was liberated gave my goose bumps goose bumps. It is a PBS program.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at March 30, 2014 03:37 PM (jucos)

163 My first airline ride to Orlando was just as exciting to me as the rest of the trip at Disney. But then, I was a weird kid. Eastern L-1011. Even got to check out the cockpit, thanks to my frequent flying dad. My brother puked his breakfast though.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at March 30, 2014 03:37 PM (V4CBV)

164 i think a funny thing about family vacations from the 60 and 70, especially those involving station wagons, is how nearly everyone violated every law involving kids in force today and everyone survived. well, more or less. my grandpa used a put me on his lap, without either of us having a seatbelt, drive with the roof down, while tearing around on narrow country roads in a land yacht, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a can of soda, and feeding me chocolate bars; I think it was soda, it sure as hell was not a bottled water. everything worked out, well I never got hurt anyway.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:37 PM (rDidD)

165 My favorite place in the world is standing on the Brewster Flats, oysters in one hand, a medium-rated pole in the other...

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 03:39 PM (ZshNr)

166 it was the coolest experience a kid could have. You rode the same horse everyday, and you had to brush them down every day, although I am sure the ranch hands did a proper job of it when we went back to the cabin Posted by: thunderb indeed. campfires, cowboy breakfasts of scrambled eggs and biscuits made over a campfire. beans of some sort at lunch. I would go tomorrow.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:39 PM (rDidD)

167 isn't that where you get those jackalope postcards? Posted by: Peaches Either there or Wall Drug (out east of Rapid City on I-80).

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 03:39 PM (+1T7c)

168 Devil's Tower is freaky and massive, at least to me as a kid. You go through Yellowstone Park and you see coyotes and bear and bison. Last winter we set up a projector and went through some old slides with my mom. We didn't even know what was in them. It was hilarious. My Dads fishing trips in Canada and my mom and her relatives posing with a bear, a real unchained not tame bear, in Yellowstone. It was so stupid we laughed and laughed

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:40 PM (zOTsN)

169 That sounds like out kids-we lived all over the world, took them to Petra, diving in the Red Sea, the Panama Canal, all over eastern Europe and Egypt, and they said the same damn thing. "How come we can't go to Disneyworld like all the other kids???" Ingrates. Posted by: moki at March 30, 2014 07:17 PM (EvHC

I know, right? "Mommmmm, all my friends have been to Disney!" "Have they hiked the great wall of China? No? Have they been to the Daintree rainforest? No? Have they snorkeled in the Hayman Islands? No? Have they been to Chang Mai Thailand? No?....shaddup then." Why I outta....

Posted by: Tami [/i][/b][/u][/s] at March 30, 2014 03:41 PM (bCEmE)

170 Traveling with two brothers in a station wagon and the ways we used to piss each other off..... wow, memories. My mom would make one of us sit in the backward facing rear seat and the other two had half of the back seat. We would still manage to brawl just by crossing imaginary lines. I now realize why my mom beat us. She had to.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at March 30, 2014 03:42 PM (jucos)

171 Y-5: we had a 1959 Pontiac station wagon (a big red fire engine). What a great car. My little sister and I always rode in the bag, on a foam pad (no seats). Playing highway road games in trips to all over the Midwest. We went to Michigan a lot because my Mom's best friend lived on a farm up there. Northern Michigan (still the lower peninsula), the west coast of Michigan on the lake. Beautiful place. Beautiful beaches backed by pine forests. And the water is always cold.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 03:42 PM (+1T7c)

172 my grandpa used a put me on his lap, without either of us having a seatbelt, drive with the roof down, while tearing around on narrow country roads in a land yacht, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a can of soda, and feeding me chocolate bars; I think it was soda, it sure as hell was not a bottled water. everything worked out, well I never got hurt anyway. Posted by: yankeefifth my Dad had a Thunderbird and we would beg him to drive us to the lake and let mom take the station wagon with all the stuff to open the cabin for the summer. He would drive like a bat out of hell and we would be jumping up and down on the seats telling him to go faster. We felt like we were with James Bond

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:43 PM (zOTsN)

173 oh yeah, family vacations and planes, I started out "dressing up", went through "casual", and am now suffering "ghetto slovenly". I also remember when stewardesses actually deserved an "ess" suffix. I also remember when I pushed the stewardess call button and was WARNED never to do that again by nurse ratchet's older uglier sister.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:44 PM (rDidD)

174 Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 07:37 PM (rDidD)

Amazing that. Mrs H and I would still be looking out from behind bars with all our kids raised by CPS if all the well-meaning nanny state auto regulations of today had been in force back in the day. I think it just made us drive a little more carefully. We were able to take our kids to a number of interesting places, including some camping adventures, and a lot of beach time.

Posted by: Hrothgar at March 30, 2014 03:44 PM (o3MSL)

175 Now this would be something to wrap into a visit to MT Rushmore.

http://www.buffalobutte.com/prairie-dog-hunting/

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 03:46 PM (TI3xG)

176 Either there or Wall Drug (out east of Rapid City on I-80).

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 07:39 PM (+1T7c)

Bingo! Been there, no compelling reason to ever go back, lol.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:46 PM (8lmkt)

177 Time for a fawning 60 Minutes piece on Elon Musk and the magical electric car. Truth be told I don't know much about Musk and that last I heard about Tesla cars is that they burst into flames. But I definitely wouldn't take anything I hear in this story as gospel.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 03:46 PM (oFCZn)

178 my parents would put us in the car at night and drive away. We never knew we were going anywhere. We did the cross country trips like that, my brother and I, and the dogs and parents. With our kids we did the same thing, but we did tell them where we were going. We took them camping to Yellowstone almost every summer and at least one trip to the beach squeezed in before the summer ended. My kids still talk about going out west, how they were never allowed to ask "are we there yet?" because my husband and I told them we would turn the car around and go home if we heard that. They and we all had a great time. We told our rockhound daughter that they had all the rocks tagged at Yellowstone and would know if she took one. She came to me after one trip and had a tiny pebble she took from Yellowstone Lake and was scared she would be put into jail. She wanted to mail it back. I told her I would call and tell them but I thought it was too small to mail back. She remembers that too.

Posted by: Megthered at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (iR4Dg)

179 In Houston, a Tesla was driven in a light rain and then put in the garage. It burst into flames an burned the house down too. They don't do well in places where it rains from time to time. Tesla also threatened to sue the homeowner too if they went public with it

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (zOTsN)

180 Elon Musk is a very smart man, but he is also good at feeding at the public trough. But in all honesty, the same could be said about a lot of defense contractors, like Lockheed-Martin, the people that are trying to bring you the F-35.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (+1T7c)

181 Bossy Conservative riding Orca, thunderb we had a buick wagon and later a mercury wagon, the later with wood paneling. we used a make a long 24 hour trip and mom and dad would put foam mattresses in the back for us to lay on, some times with the back window rolled down and our feet resting on the window edge. one of our vacation spots required us to drive down a poorly graded gravel road which we younguns referred to as "ten hills road" because there were about ten spots which if you topped while driving too fast would make your stomach jump into your throat, it was somehwere around 75 mph.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (rDidD)

182 Playing highway road games in trips to all over the Midwest. We went to Michigan a lot because my Mom's best friend lived on a farm up there. --------------------------- We had several games that my sister and I played while we were traveling. Counting cows, she got the right side, I got the left. We played an alphabet game, whereby you attempted to 'collect' the entire alphabet from signs along the way. Again, left side, right side, and you had to call out the word and the letter that you were harvesting. Interstates and commercial farms have probably made those games obsolete.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (aDwsi)

183 Tesla also threatened to sue the homeowner too if they went public with it

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 07:49 PM (zOTsN)

Well, how the fuckity does that work? Gotta be some Texas lawyer would have a field day with it.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 03:51 PM (8lmkt)

184 If you get a change watch Peter Greenburg's travel program in Israel with Bibi Netanyahu. It is a must watch for any lover if Israel. Bibi's description of the start and end of the 6 day war gave me goose bumps. His description of gathering at the wall on the last day after Jerusalem was liberated gave my goose bumps goose bumps. It is a PBS program.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at March 30, 2014 07:37 PM (jucos)

I saw that one night last week. If it's on again, and since it's PBS it probably will be, try to catch it. Netanyahu is one of those leaders you'd like to spend an evening with discussing history and politics.

Posted by: Retread at March 30, 2014 03:51 PM (cHwk5)

185 Amazing that. Mrs H and I would still be looking out from behind bars with all our kids raised by CPS if all the well-meaning nanny state auto regulations of today had been in force back in the day. I think it just made us drive a little more carefully. We were able to take our kids to a number of interesting places, including some camping adventures, and a lot of beach time. Posted by: Hrothgar at March seriously, the most dangerous part of our trip was half an hour after dad ate lunch.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:51 PM (rDidD)

186 we played license plate bingo. and sing. and play other games. and torture each other

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:52 PM (zOTsN)

187 Mike We played the same alphabet game when we were kids. Now when we travel, we play "going on a picnic", using the alphabet. Since my sons are teenagers now, it can get pretty pornographic.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative riding Orca at March 30, 2014 03:53 PM (+1T7c)

188 everything worked out, well I never got hurt anyway. >>

When we went to our cabin in the woods in northern MN back in the mid 70s. 6 kids regular cab Dodge Sno-Fiter pickup with topper on the bed. Parents and sister in the front and 5 boys on beanbag chairs in the bed. In the winter we got a sunflower propane heater. Only reason we lived is the topper leaked cold air like a sieve.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 03:53 PM (TI3xG)

189 My dad was a Marine pilot - for 27 years - he would save up his time off so that we could take 1-2 month vacations every time we changed duty stations. I have some of the BEST memories of vacations in our motor home travelling across country, or across Canada. I am actually tearing up here - I'm 47, hard as stone given my life experiences - and I still tear up thinking about the amazing life altering experiences of my vacations with my brother and 2 sisters. Great times, life lessons, and I hope to live up to my parent's example.

Posted by: grey2112 at March 30, 2014 03:53 PM (EUVKV)

190 When we went to our cabin in the woods in northern MN back in the mid 70s. 6 kids regular cab Dodge Sno-Fiter pickup with topper on the bed. Parents and sister in the front and 5 boys on beanbag chairs in the bed. In the winter we got a sunflower propane heater. Only reason we lived is the topper leaked cold air like a sieve. Posted by: The Hickster heh

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:54 PM (rDidD)

191 our cabin was at Big Toad Lake, which was way more chic than my grandparent's place on Little Toad Lake!

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:54 PM (zOTsN)

192 My grand-niece and nephews now ride in the back of their mother's van and stare slack-jawed at a video screen. I suspect they will be perfectly happy with auto-drive vehicles.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 03:55 PM (aDwsi)

193 We played the "horse game" on road trips. Each color of horse was worth different points and all your horses died if you passed a graveyard. We also listened to praise music and read books (Nancy Drew is one I remember) out loud, "collected" license plates from different states, and generally got along well enough that it didn't suck to be in the car for hours.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 03:56 PM (GDulk)

194 archie comic books, nancy drew, hardy boys

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:56 PM (zOTsN)

195 Hickster, when I was in boy scouts we would go winter camping in Wisconsin. a bunch of us got nearly beat when a scount master found us breaking slabs of ice off from the shore and making rafts out of em in january. absolutely stupid, everyone should died, but, no one did. no one went to jail either.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 03:58 PM (rDidD)

196 we took our kids from LA to Joshua Tree to Salton Sea and San Diego and Las Vegas in one RV trip. Their cell phones didn't work most the time. It was awesome

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 03:58 PM (zOTsN)

197 Polliwog - Mrs. Hammer gave her collection of Nancy Drew to one of our grand-nieces. We later asked her mother if the kid had enjoyed them. Her mother replied, "No... she just can't relate to them."

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 03:58 PM (aDwsi)

198 Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 07:55 PM (aDwsi) That's why I turned down the video option on our minivan (think the salesman was shocked). Some of the best talking my family did was in vehicles and I wanted my kids to have the same opportunity. Know what? Some of the best conversations we have are in the car.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 03:59 PM (GDulk)

199 Musk could be a good guy. If he can make an electric car that is actually worthwhile, great. And getting space travel out of the hands of government is fine by me.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 30, 2014 03:59 PM (oFCZn)

200 Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 07:58 PM (aDwsi) How sad. I know that era is gone, but still...

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 04:00 PM (GDulk)

201 we had a couple of rv trips, they were kinda fun. on one I was obsessed with trying to figure out why the toilet was broken. every time we stopped I was taking everything apart to see if I could make it work. dad needed half an hour before every departure to make certain I did not have any left over parts.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 04:01 PM (rDidD)

202 @139 Epic trip. I have been to every place you mentioned except for NOLA and Oak Creek Canyon. Although, not in one trip.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 04:01 PM (8KNrF)

203 201 we had a couple of rv trips, they were kinda fun. on one I was obsessed with trying to figure out why the toilet was broken. every time we stopped I was taking everything apart to see if I could make it work. dad needed half an hour before every departure to make certain I did not have any left over parts. Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 08:01 PM (rDidD) I also obsessed about the loo when I was a kid. Actually, I'm still obsessed with them.

Posted by: Martin Bashir at March 30, 2014 04:02 PM (oFCZn)

204 found us breaking slabs of ice off from the shore and making rafts out of em in january. absolutely stupid, everyone should died, but, no one did.>>

Grew up across the street from a large pond. Me and my dumbass friends would see who would go the furthest out on the thin ice as a sorta contest. That and many other things we did make me wonder how I survived to adulthood.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 04:04 PM (TI3xG)

205 A black 1960 Ford Falcon Station wagon, camping gear and 3 boys under 10 on the way to Gettysburg about a 100 years after the battle. Some of the history stuck.

Posted by: tmitsss at March 30, 2014 04:06 PM (Pa9vP)

206 Myself and a couple of buddies started mixing up gunpowder, at age 11. Great fun. Still have all finger/thumbs.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 04:06 PM (aDwsi)

207 I was the youngest and therefore had to use the bathroom more often. They would send me in to various rest stop bathrooms and make me report back as the cleanliness of it and then decide if the rest of them wanted to use it. They called it my "back house reports", which I guess is another term for outhouse

Posted by: thunderb at March 30, 2014 04:06 PM (zOTsN)

208 Grew up across the street from a large pond. Me and my dumbass friends would see who would go the furthest out on the thin ice as a sorta contest. That and many other things we did make me wonder how I survived to adulthood. Posted by: The Hickster at March my friends and I were throwing a tennis ball onto a frozen pond so his stupid golden retriever - love dogs but his was stupid - would go running and skidding on the ice to get the ball. eventually his stupid dog fell through and could only get her front paws up on the ice and we - stupidly - decided we had better slide out and get her before an adult heard what was going on and we tot in trouble. again, worked out ok but is should have been a news story.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 04:09 PM (rDidD)

209 At the risk of saying something everybody already knows: They are going to add 2 more faces to Mt. Rushmore- Bill Clinton. Oh, and I' ve seen Mt Rushmore, but it was in Japan. Go figure. http://preview.tinyurl.com/nnwr5a4

Posted by: bergerbilder at March 30, 2014 04:09 PM (8MjqI)

210 how I survived to adulthood.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 08:04 PM (TI3xG)

it was before half the fuckin' breeders in this country decided that was the gubmint's job.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 04:10 PM (8lmkt)

211 I was the youngest and therefore had to use the bathroom more often. They would send me in to various rest stop bathrooms and make me report back as the cleanliness of it and then decide if the rest of them wanted to use it. They called it my "back house reports", which I guess is another term for outhouse Posted by: thunderb snort, heh.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 04:10 PM (rDidD)

212 I was the youngest and therefore had to use the bathroom more often. They would send me in to various rest stop bathrooms and make me report back as the cleanliness of it and then decide if the rest of them wanted to use it. They called it my "back house reports", which I guess is another term for outhouse Posted by: thunderb *fist bump*

Posted by: Martin Bashir at March 30, 2014 04:12 PM (oFCZn)

213 Those of you who drove from New York to Miami before I95 had to make a left turn in my home town. Just past the Baptist and Catholic Churches and before you got to the Howard Johnson's. The Catholic Church and the HoJo are now gone. The fire at the Catholic church was one of biggest my town ever saw and they rebuilt on the edge of town.

Posted by: tmitsss at March 30, 2014 04:12 PM (Pa9vP)

214 Myself and a couple of buddies started mixing up gunpowder, at age 11. Great fun. Still have all finger/thumbs. Posted by: Mike Hammer I never did get to the black powder stuff. I had a friend who did. my mom found out about it and she threatened my sufficiently to make certain I avoided him like the plague when he was doing that stuff. he eventually blew of a finger and a thumb.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 04:16 PM (rDidD)

215 >>> 206 Myself and a couple of buddies started mixing up gunpowder, at age 11. Great fun. Still have all finger/thumbs. When I was twelve, we did Molotov cocktails in a storm sewer. I saw them in a movie about dinosaurs attacking a village. I never knew until years later that that particular incendiary device had a name.

Posted by: bergerbilder at March 30, 2014 04:18 PM (8MjqI)

216 it was before half the fuckin' breeders in this country decided that was the gubmint's job.>>

I'm sure a lot of the reason so many of us survived was through all the painfull stupid stuff we did when we were even younger. I look back and go wow but there was a a recognition of the envelope. I had at 10 learned a lot about cause and effect since we were set free to be stupid. That kids today don't have.

Posted by: The Hickster at March 30, 2014 04:21 PM (TI3xG)

217 Speaking of SOB (South of the Border) on I 95 do y'all know that Ben Bernake worked their during High School.

Posted by: tmitsss at March 30, 2014 04:21 PM (Pa9vP)

218 We spat at death! I remember tearing down a fir tree-covered hill on my flexible flyer at night, snowing, sans glasses, onto a frozen pond with a big gaping hole in the ice two feet from my tracks. Exhilarating stuff for a nerdlet. To this day I still love being out at night in winter.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 04:23 PM (QBm1P)

219 Vacations in a Minivans with A/C are nothing like traveling long distance in a station wagon with the windows rolled down in the southern heat,

Posted by: tmitsss at March 30, 2014 04:24 PM (Pa9vP)

220 Myself and a couple of buddies started mixing up gunpowder, at age 11. Great fun. Still have all finger/thumbs. Posted by: Mike Hammer at March 30, 2014 08:06 PM (aDwsi) *** On display in a jar on the mantel, or in a back closet? (Muldoon family vacation circa 1960 link in nick)

Posted by: S. Muldoon at March 30, 2014 04:25 PM (g4TxM)

221 216 I look back and go wow but there was a recognition of the envelope. ------------------- Yeah, how do you develop that sense of what's physically possible if you don't do it? How can you wire your brain for spatial relationships if you don't run, jump and climb like a proto-hominid on crack? Serious you guys.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 30, 2014 04:27 PM (QBm1P)

222 I was a kid growing up in Ohio in the 60s and we used to take vacations every year. We would go places in the midwest or visit my grandparents in Maryland. I honestly don't remember going to national parks or other major tourist destinations. One year we went to Michigan. I don't remember our ultimate destination; I think it was a commercial campground with cabins. My main memory of that trip is that my dad and I saw a baseball game at Tiger Stadium. I also remember visiting a waterfall and cavern somewhere in West Virginia or western Pennsylvania but I don't remember the name. When we visited my grandparents, we would go to the beach at Ocean City, MD. One year we visited NASA's test facility at Wallops Island, VA. This was during the height of the space race, and I was disappointed that I didn't see any rockets. The main thing I recall were the motels. I loved staying in Holiday Inns and Howard Johnsons, and swimming in the pools and eating in the restaurants. Back in those days, eating out was a rare treat; not like today when I can get burgers, pizza, Chinese, or whatever anytime I feel like it. Looking back on it, I think that in many cases the motels actually were the destinations. They gave my mom and dad a chance to kick back and relax without working, cooking, cleaning, etc. I was fine with that, since as I said, I loved the motels. Stuckey's too, as someone else mentioned. *** Many years later, in 1986, while living in Pennsylvania, I took a road trip and spent a couple of weeks following the Grateful Dead on tour through the midwest. Along the way I relived some of my childhood memories, staying in roadside motels, seeing a game at Wrigley Field on an off-day, and stopping at a Frisch's Big Boy while passing through Ohio. The burger was just as good as I remembered them.

Posted by: rickl at March 30, 2014 04:27 PM (sdi6R)

223 and another thing, we used a run around for hours, literally, hours with plastic guns playing cops and robbers / cowboys and indians pretending to shoot each other. absolutely stupid, nothing ever came out of any of our guns, however, it was great exercise.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 30, 2014 04:30 PM (rDidD)

224 Thanks for the thread. This one has been nice.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at March 30, 2014 04:32 PM (8KNrF)

225 HoJo's had the best hot dogs in the world.

Posted by: Peaches at March 30, 2014 04:32 PM (8lmkt)

226 One place I've always wanted to go is Yosemite National Park (makes note to self). Posted by: Lizzy at March 30, 2014 06:31 PM (udjuE) ------------------ Lizzy: If you EVER get the chance to go to Yosemite...DO IT!!!!! I've been fortunate in life to have traveled on every continent except Antarctica and there are indeed SPECTACULAR places to see everywhere. However, Yosemite in the winter (Mid January to Mid February) is like no other place on earth. I am NOT a religious person, but standing in the Yosemite valley in the winter (in TOTAL SILENCE) alongside the Merced River, with snow-burdened redwoods and granite face cliffs all around ..You look in all directions and are forced to say to yourself: "If there is indeed a God in the universe....His Headquarters have GOT to be right here!

Posted by: alwyr at March 30, 2014 04:32 PM (V0j3u)

227 Oh yeah, road games. Back in those days I was obsessed with Volkswagens and kept a running count of them during our drives. I could never convince my dad to buy one, although I'm sure he got sick of hearing me talk about them.

Posted by: rickl at March 30, 2014 04:38 PM (sdi6R)

228 So many road trips when I was a kid. My dad was in the AF and dragged us all over the country. Spent a lot of time in the back seat of a station wagon with a German Shepherd drooling on my shoulder.

Posted by: freaked at March 30, 2014 04:58 PM (JdEZJ)

229 I am NOT a religious person, but standing in the Yosemite valley in the winter (in TOTAL SILENCE) alongside the Merced River, with snow-burdened redwoods and granite face cliffs all around ..You look in all directions and are forced to say to yourself:

"If there is indeed a God in the universe....His Headquarters have GOT to be right here!

Posted by: alwyr at March 30, 2014 08:32 PM (V0j3u)

Try the Grand Canyon at sunset. Even with a couple dozen strangers standing nearby I felt the presence of God.

After being pretty chatty, everyone got quiet as the sun neared the horizon, and stayed quiet. Very moving.

Posted by: Retread at March 30, 2014 05:01 PM (cHwk5)

230 We lived at Edwards AFB in the early 70s and made various excursions into the Rockies and Sierras while we were out there. Those memories and experiences are ireplaceable.

Posted by: freaked at March 30, 2014 05:02 PM (JdEZJ)

231 We take our 2 boys on excursions in the old GMC motorhome now. My favorite answer to the age old question Are we there yet? yes.

Posted by: freaked at March 30, 2014 05:08 PM (JdEZJ)

232 No childhood can be considered complete without a visit to the Corn Palace.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at March 30, 2014 05:32 PM (/i3Yt)

233 My dad took me and my sister on a road trip from California to Canada to visit his girlfriend. My sister was so whiny and annoying he very nearly put her on a bus back home. The sad thing is she's even worse as an adult. Most of the family refuses to talk to her anymore, but its still everyone else's fault. The sights were pretty bitchin' on that trip though.

Posted by: Obama at March 30, 2014 06:06 PM (2RKkk)

234 Oops on the last post. Stupid Obama sock.

Posted by: Serena at March 30, 2014 06:07 PM (2RKkk)

235 We didn't get to go on a lot of vacations when I was young, but one year, we went to Williamsburg, VA. We ate at one of the taverns in the restored town, and I had duck. The waiter made a big deal about this little girl having duck, and to this day, when I order duck at a restaurant, I think about that night.

Posted by: Kendall's Mom at March 30, 2014 06:12 PM (AA+mC)

236 My parents took me to Gettysburg when I was 12, and ever since I haven't been able to drive by a Civil War battlefield without stopping. My wife and I have an agreement that stipulates no more than one battlefield per day on driving trips, but that's no problem with proper planning. One one trip a couple of years ago we saw Corinth, Shiloh, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Winchester, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Charleston and Savannah. I tried to sneak in Chancellorsville as part of Fredericksburg, but she saw through my cunning plan.

Posted by: Curate at March 30, 2014 06:22 PM (KXgbn)

237 "So.....what are those trips from your youth that echo in your adult life?" The only lesson I learned was "when driving on hilly/winding/rural roads at night, get behind someone with local tags, keep a safe following distance, and follow him/her; they know where all the damned blind turns are". Useful, but not really prosaic.

Posted by: gekkobear at March 30, 2014 11:01 PM (2zHxV)

238 The "carving" was mostly done with dynamite, which makes the whole achievement that much more awesome.

Posted by: herbork at March 31, 2014 05:53 AM (t1s5e)

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