Rememberances of "the big family trip".

Words 1249
The Meridian Star Newspaper
Meridian, Mississippi
January 15, 2005

GRAND CANYON OR BUST




You remember that big family trip, don’t you? You know the one – the trip that you didn’t think you could afford at the time but you felt obligated to make memories for your children.
Our big family trip was to the Grand Canyon. Our two sons were about eight and eleven years old, sort of curtain-climber type kids, and they still are, come to think of it. But anyway it was Grand Canyon or bust for the McKee’s – that was our motto and at the time we didn’t realize just how close we would get to the bust part!
All you working folks know the routine…checking the vacation calendar at your employment for the both of you, synchronizing with other office employees…”no, can’t go then cause the work load is too heavy, no, can’t go then cause Lucy Jo is off that week” no, not then, such and such is having surgery”, oh-h-h-h, but finally….a compatible week is worked out…then, I got real brave or either real crazy and asked for an additional three days because after all…this is The Grand Canyon!!!
After receiving the guilt trip from management, I had my eight days of pure heaven! You ask how did I manage this, well…it’s easy. My question was, “If I am so valuable that you can’t allow me an extra three days…then, I certainly expect my valuable self to be on the listing of salary increases.” Just as I thought, suddenly it was decided everything could move along without me for three additional days – knowing there’s no salary increase coming my way, after all I did receive a raise about two years ago…don’t want to spoil me.
Now that it’s all set….time to shop, shop, shop for the trip. The kids need new sneakers, Mom needs new, well, a lot of new for her and Dad could use anything in style – cause when you’re about to take that big family trip, gotta go styling!!!
But the main-most new for the McKee’s is their comfy 24-foot travel trailer complete with the bunk beds in the back for the boys, a full kitchen and bathroom along with a private queen-size bed for Mom and Dad. Oh, it was a beaut!
In order to afford our nice new travel trailer we had to pull it with our old but trusty 4-wheel drive truck with no air conditioning and a hole in the muffler; however the way we figured it…..we’d cool off with the a/c in the trailer at night and would enjoy the fresh air during the day with all the windows down on the truck, yeah, that’s the way we had planned and when planning it did sound good……...
Now I know our guardian angel was watching us close because before we could even leave town, we broke down on the South Frontage Road in our home town, only five miles from our house…just handy though, cause it was right in front of the dealership where we had purchased our ole trusty truck – so we got the truck patched up and took off! I can still feel the thrill of charting unknown territory…well, unknown for the McKee’s.
We arrived at the south rim of the canyon a day and one half later with stars in our eyes and over-the-top tourism in our blood. We had left the heavy humid heat of Mississippi behind and picked up the dry windy heat of Arizona. It was refreshing to us even in the 113-degree heat of Phoenix in the ole truck that lacked air conditioning. However late in the afternoons when we would pull into a picturesque campground, turn up the a/c in the travel trailer, kick on our portable charcoal grill, well, life just couldn’t get any better!
After a few days of ogling all of the canyon sites, I mentioned to my husband, since we were so very close to Vegas it would be a shame if we didn’t at least drive through since neither he or I had been to the gambling Mecca. So we left the trailer at the campground and drove toward Vegas in our ole beige bomb (our loving nickname for the family truck) with Mississippi plates and a growing hole in the muffler.
As we approached Lake Meade my husband pulled off at a scenic over-look. We pulled down the tailgate and we made ourselves some bologna sandwiches. My husband commented, “Now, when we tell of our trip, we must say we had lunch over looking Lake Mead” - and we did.
After lunch we hopped back in our beige bomb and headed west. By the time we made it to Vegas no one could ignore the growling muffler – no one but us, that is. We were so spell-bound by all of the Vegas lights, that little ole noise did not bother us at all. With oohs and aahs and Mountain Dews in our hands (which came out of our cooler) my husband added another sentence to our trip narrative. “Be sure and mention the fact that we had a drink in Vegas,” - and of course, we did.
Hooking back up with the trailer we turned south down to Ole Mexico - thinking that we would park our 24 foot treasure before crossing the Rio Grande would be smart because of insurance issues…I mean, that was a grand plan however we were in six lanes of traffic and no way to stop. So as we slowly drove into Ciudad Juarez, suddenly we became the top attraction, which made us, find a quick turn around and head back north and safety from a possible non-payable insurance claim. We did enjoy our trip into Ole Mexico even though it was ve r-r-r-y short!
Next we took the south route back to Mississippi stopping to tour the Carlsbad Caverns even though again, a short tour. You see, we arrived at the Caverns at 4:30p and it closed at 5:00p. We looked up the steep mountain-side to the entrance and decided to risk pulling the trailer up because we did not have the time to unhook and park with time to tour the caverns before it closed – knowing we must leave for the final leg of our return trip early the next morning in order to go back to work, yeah work, the following day. Once again it was crunch time!
My husband issued the order for everyone to think light as our old beige bomb chugged up the mountainside. Our trusty truck groaned and moaned but got the job done and just in time as the final tour began. I have pictures of our family as we toured this last sightseeing event of our trip. We look as if we are touring the ugly side of Hades and there’s no way out! And I know those caverns were beautiful…we were just experiencing, I think, family trip overload!
That was many years ago but it’s interesting how often the big family trip has been mentioned over time and what is even more interesting is the phone call we received from our oldest son recently. It seems he and his wife have decided to purchase a travel trailer, almost identical to the one we traveled in so long ago. It will be just perfect for his family with their two children; only, this time there’s room for MeMaw and PePaw!!
Yes, I hear a big family trip calling my name, one more time, and I’m ready!