Spring Break RV Style

We have not been known for our outstanding family vacations. To tell you the truth, when the four of us return from a family vacation speaking to each other, we deem it a success. Because of this, our family vacations are either brief (no more than two days) or spaced several years apart. I don’t know why cramming the four of us into a vehicle for more than 2 hours brings out the worst in us. I mean, we should be able to travel and have a relaxing time, but for some reason it doesn’t seem to work out that way for us. It was with some trepidation that we told Robby that we would take him wherever he wanted to go on his senior spring break. We were relieved when he chose Florida because we are familiar with that state and how to get there, but nervous because that would mean 25 hours in a cramped car together which at times has been a deal-breaker. We tried to avoid that by looking at airfare, but the prices were not within our anticipated budget. So we decided to try renting an RV. The other problem we have is that the four of us all have completely different ideas of what fun is. As the trip approached I suffered a couple of migraines worrying that we just wouldn’t be able to come to any sort of agreements about where we would go in Florida or what we would do. Tom surprised me the most saying that it would be “great” and that he was excited to go.  We had one spirited (to say the least) family meeting about our activities and settled on a few different things to do. I was actually looking forward to ride in the RV. I had daydreams of whipping up a delicious meal while we tooled down the highway. I quickly realized that my imagination had obviously gotten the better of me. The night before we left I had an attack of vertigo and found myself mostly confined to the front seat.  Moving around in an older RV heading down the highway is far from smooth sailing. It’s more like hurricane sailing. I didn’t get sick, but I have a variety of bruises from being thrown around as Tom kept us from getting sucked into the path of a passing semi or rear-ending someone in the bumper to bumper stop and go traffic in Indianapolis. Since we could usually go no faster than about 63 miles per hour, the trip to Florida took about 5 hours longer than expected. But a funny thing happened. We all got along. It’s amazing to me that a little space and an on-board bathroom does wonders for peoples moods. We got some much needed R&R and quality family time. I can honestly say that we had a good trip. Actually, I’d have to say it was outstanding.