Smith Family Christmas Trip ‘09
A few months ago Chandler proved himself to be a good traveler by being a real champ while enduring 4 plane flights in just a few days. Now that he knows he can handle the mildly friendly skies (to be honest the skies could work on their manners a bit) Chandler is ready to take on a new challenge. And my family is always ready to throw down the guantlet.
It is Christmas vacation which means it is my dad’s time to do his best Clark Griswold impression, pack the whole family Into the car, and make an epic drive from St. Louis, Missouri to Juno Beach, Florida in under 19 hours. Non stop.
That might seem funny but it is not a joke. We do it every year. And when someone in the car complains about feeling claustrophobic or that their bladder is going to explode, my dad says in his best Clark Griswold voice, “it’s all apart of the experience.”
This year our family is a bit larger than normal. Usually it’s just the four of us. My dad, my mom, my sister, and myself. But now, both my sister and I both have spouses. And to top it all off, I have a 4 month old baby. My dad took one look at our mini-van and said, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
So my parents have rented a 15 passenger van for this year’s voyage. Again, I’m not kidding. So for the next 19 hours I’ll be in a 15 passenger van with my parents, my sister and her husband, and my wife and our baby.
I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but it is the law that babies have to be in a car seat any time the vehicle is in motion. Our vehicle will be in motion for 19 hours. Straight.
It’s times like these that I am glad I am a comedian. Because I can look at this experience and think to myself, “Well at least I’m going to have a lot to write about.” I’ll be live-blogging the entire trip. So stay tuned for updates on our adventure.
Have a crazy travel story with your child or family? Share it with us in the comments.
