In a household with two parents who own their own businesses, summer vacations are sometimes hard to come by. Especially when one of those parents is a home reno contractor and you happen to live in a city when renovations are hitting an all time high during the summer months. Needless to say, since Alice’s birth, we have not been able to take a real summer vacation that doesn’t include time up at my parent’s cottage. I mean, a vacation we actually planned and followed through with. Imagine.
So we decided, this summer, to embark on a road trip throughout New England. Some of you may already know this, but the history of Matt and I is all wrapped up in a pretty package of a road trip across America. We were a one night stand that turned into a marriage. When we first met, we dated for three weeks before Matt left for a tree planting gig in B.C. We arranged to meet up in Kamloops after his work ended, climbed into a 1980 VW Rabbit he bought for $600, and proceeded to really get to know each other as we drove through the northern States. It was crazy and spontaneous and beautiful and a little nuts really – but wonderful. And so when we realised it was the 10th anniversary this summer of that famous trip, we decided to introduce our 4 year old to the wonders of living on the road.
And now usually, this is the part where I contradict what I said above. Where I tell you it was a terrible idea and how Alice hated it the whole time and how we hated each other and couldn’t wait to get home. But really? It was great and close to magical at times (except the food – but that’s another story). We tried to make sure we were only driving 3 – 4 hours a day, with lots of time to stop in between for side trips…
and crazy-making carnivals
and the ocean! The ocean!
and this absolutely ridiculous-but-right-up-our-alley statue of Uncle Sam. You know we HAD to pull over when we saw this.
All in all, a wonderful trip with lots of memories to keep me for awhile. Spending time with just Alice and Matt reminded me of why they happen to be my two favourite people in the world. And living on the road, stopping at a new place to sleep every night, was absolutely this side of magical.
b*babbler said
Sounds like a fabulous family vacation! Glad you had a great time!
And that photo of Alice at the seashore? She looks like such a grown-up girl in it, and it in such contrast to her holding her dolly in the car photo. Big girl and little girl all at the same time.
Jen said
That’s awesome. I’m glad you had a great time. And Alice is old enough that I’m sure she will remember the trip fondly.
DaniGirl said
Oh, what a great retelling of what seems like a perfect trip. We reinvented the family road trip in a major way this summer, and I’m amazed that they can be as fun now as they were when I was in my 20s.
And, um, I can’t help but notice, was the bulge on Uncle Sam that noticable in person???
crazymumma said
Selfishly, I wish that you posted more often.
Naomi (Urban Mummy) said
That sounds like so much fun!! What a nice trip!
Lisa b said
What a beautiful story Kate.
landismom said
Great photos, and it sounds like a wonderful trip. My parents spent the summer driving across the country with their three kids (all 5 and under) the summer that I turned 5, and it’s one of my fondest childhood memories. Although now that I’m a parent, I wonder how they survived!