Holiday Road!

I was flipping channels the other night and ended up watching this movie. It reminded me of the fun photos I have of family vacations, so I decided to post a few.

I have to say that my ancestors were pretty dang adventurous. First of all, they immigrated to the U.S. in colonial days, the earliest to Jamestown in the early 1600's. Here are my grandparents and relatives on a cross-country trip from Kansas to the East Coast. You have to remember that the roads were horrid back then. Can you imagine driving cross-country in that? Somewhere I have a little log book where my grandfather wrote down exactly what he spent on the trip. That's him in the back seat with my grandmother and an unidentified child.

My brother and I on a family trip to New Orleans when I was 4 years old.

This is the year my family took the long vacation from Kansas to California and saw the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Los Angeles, Pacific Ocean, San Francisco, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Salt Lake, and some other sights. My parents were overly ambitious! My father installed seatbelts in the back of his Chrysler thinking that would keep my brother and I separated so we wouldn't fight. Ha! Didn't work! I remember being shocked that there were actually places in the U.S. where you needed sweaters and jackets in the summer! I also remember my dad's struggles with the traffic in California. Those freeways, exits, and city streets had to be pretty confusing to a driver from a tiny town with no traffic light!


Love this photo of Michael! We were hiking in Rocky Mountain Park. He was a trooper on the trail when he was little, but swore off hiking in grade school when he decided it was work.


Okay, I've posted this one before, but re-edited it. This is my all time favorite funny vacation pic! And don't tell Craig I posted this again! We were vacationing on the Oregon Coast. I think this is Lincoln City, Oregon, but it could be the beach at Newport?

Craig relaxing on the deck in Cannon Beach. The offshore monolith is Haystack Rock.

Craig and Michael in a cell at Alcatraz. I think Michael really enjoyed that tour!

Craig and Michael in a funky restaurant in Koloa, Kauai. We used to stay in Poipu, the sunniest location on the island, and drive the short distance down the road to Koloa for dinner and shopping.

These photos were taken on a vacation to Banff and Jasper in the early 90's. This is Pyramid Lake, where we stayed just outside of Jasper. We could never get over how wild and unpopulated parts of B.C. and Alberta were in comparison to the United States.

Craig and Michael at Hell's Gate, British Columbia, on the way home from Jasper.