Summertime Travel

Ahhh summertime. School has let out, the weather has gotten steadily better and it's time to find out how to keep the kids occupied for the summer without driving you insane. Those that can afford it will jump on a climate controlled plane or cruise ship and enjoy the scenery.

The rest of us embark on the almighty summer ritual ............. The Road Trip!!

Here in Canada a large portion of us will climb into vehicles with air conditioning is various states of disrepair and roast like a Christmas turkey all on a voyage to summer fun. Ironically it can take a few days to recover from the trip towards summer fun, which if you've only got a few days off, means you've recovered in time to make the voyage home again.

How many of us can't remember at least one trip where we were packing too tight in a vehicle for far too long? When we were little my Dad used to get 2 weeks off from work each summer. We would pack everything we could fit into our tiny Chevette and head north for camping. The first obstacle in our journey was to get a car with three people and way too much equipment over the Skyway bridge. Dad always said if we could clear the bridge we could go camping, and some years my brother and I honestly thought we would have to get out and push to get the car the rest of the way over.

The obstacle being cleared we would schlep our way our north. In order to beat traffic, we would leave at an ungodly hour of the morning when even the sun wouldn't be up yet. My bleary eyed father would point the car north and we'd somehow make it up there alive. Although one year he had to pull over to grab a coffee before he fell asleep when the trip seemed to be longer than anticipated. Thinking we had an hour or so to go, we had breakfast and a sit down while Dad recharged, only to find the campground just over the next hill (about 3 kilometers from the diner).

Once there it was camping time. A glorious break from the social niceties where three guys could fart and fish to their heart's content. We would catch fish and eat them for dinner. We'd fight off swarms of mosquitoes and deer flies, eat meat from cans and stay up late while burning things in the firepit. Our male genetics and Neanderthal nature would be allowed to come out and shine. We'd hike trails and overindulge on berries until we had to face the unique challenge of running to the outhouse in order to beat the intestinal grand prix somehow without running and triggering an early finish. I can only imagine we'd looked like power walkers with a bad leg cramp and fused knees.

I'm going to go in the yard and lie in the hammock tonight. Maybe I'll set up a tent just for old time's sake. The last time I tried a fire though, the fire department came and informed me that we can't do that in city limits. So after a few beers and long chat with them , the firefighters and I put it out and went our separate ways.

Ahhhh summer.

All these years later I still feel the need to head north everytime the weather turns warm. This year we can't go because of the impending mini-Rainy, but rest assured, next year we will be taking the little ones camping and scarificng them to the mosquitos and other assorted bitey bugs for a good time.