I have always had an adventurous spirit when it comes to travel. From the time I was very young, our family would hook up the travel trailer and take off on the road. I remember pulling the ice chest in between the seats of our van and talking with my daddy as he drove. I never could sleep on a road trip because I was too excited to get to our destinations.
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As I got older, I started to realize that having an adventurous spirit was a necessity being a part of our family. You see, my dad was a lot like Clark Griswold. You guys know him right? The guy from “National Lampoon’s Vacation”. I am pretty sure he was modeled after my dad.
Whenever we took trips, it didn’t matter where we were headed, we would always find ourselves with something going wrong. On the particular trip I am thinking of, we were in New Braunfels, Texas for family vacation.
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New Braunfels was not that far from home, but we loved visiting there because of the water access. I mean lets face it, when you reside in Texas in the summer, you want to live in water! The rivers in New Braunfels were perfect for tubing and for exciting rafting trips. They were especially exciting if your dad decided that you didn’t need a guide.
- Slight Exaggeration on the falls size. http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Yep, you guys guessed it! My dad, mom, sisters and I headed down the rushing Guadalupe River without a guide because my dad “had it all under control”. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly true. Within 20 minutes of the start of the rafting trip, we got stuck underneath a small fall and our raft filled with water. We watched as all our snacks and drinks raced ahead of us down the river. All we could do was watch and wave goodbye:(
If you thought the story ended there, it didn’t. We managed to somehow free ourselves and continue floating down the river. The rest of the trip went fairly good. Well, except for the fact that we were pretty hungry and thirsty. I’m fairly sure my dad thought he was in hell since he was trapped inside a raft with 4 complaining, hungry women for hours. However, he was probably pretty used to being tortured since he was always outnumbered 5 to 1. Did I mention that my grandma lived in our home with us as well?
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Anyways, on to the end of the story and almost the end of my life. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not.
As we got to the end of the rafting trip, the water was moving very rapidly. We were watching the rafters ahead of us as their guides managed to safely steer them to the side of the water to exit the rafts. My dad, Clark Jr. was still feeling very sure of his guiding skills, however the rest of us in the raft had tunnel vision of an upcoming bridge that had no space between the bottom of the bridge and the rushing water.
Panic began to set in as we realized that we weren’t getting any closer to the edge of the river, but daringly close to the bridge. Try as we may, the water was too strong for us to fight and we began to cry feeling sure that this was the end for all of us. After all, if we got to the bridge, we would be sucked underneath. Thank goodness that several of the guides finally noticed our impending doom and rushed in to help my dad get us to safety.
Needless to say, after that rafting trip, we have NEVER taken an unguided trip since. Hey, even Clark W. Griswold knows his limits!
Do you have a Clark Griswold “Vacation” story to share with us? We would love to hear it!
Camping provides families a great way to be together and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Whether you choose to tent camp, RV or rent a cabin at your local KOA, you are sure to share your own exciting fun and adventures together.
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I wrote this post as part of the KOA Community.
What a great story! We loooove camping and are so lucky in Colorado. Just a few years ago we went camping with some friends up to Kenosha. They had a truck, and I had my car. We followed them. And they took us on a 4-wheel excursion. HELLLLOOOOO! I’m not exaggerating. My car still has the scars to prove it. Also, they left their truck radio on for a long time and the battery died. We were in the middle of nowhere. And I couldn’t get my car out to go find help. It was an experience we won’t forget!
The road trip is a lost art! Or maybe it is just because I can’t imagine more than 2 hours in the car with a 3 and 6 year old. My dad took us on epic road trips: California, Florida, one time Arkansas! We had 6 kids plus Grandma in the van. My little sister had to ride on the cooler. Yep, those were the days.
Ok…just saying, kids are missing out if they are not getting the experience of road trips and camping!! Those are where the memories are made. Think of it, if everything is smooth, no problems…you remember a nice trip. But if you have the Clark Griswold trips, you NEVER forget them. Kids fighting all the way in the car, never finding a restaurant when you really NEED it, playing car games!! Just saying I would not trade a plane ride ever for a good road trip vacation!!
WHAT A GREAT STORY!!! No, I don’t have anything like that to share — I come from a very cautious line of people. I have to embellish my stories greatly to get anywhere close to your family’s adventures! (smile)
BTW, I know your folks and now I’m NEVER going on an adventure with them! LOL
I would have been scared out of my mind! Nothing crazy here besides a trip where we got on an accident on I4 in Orlando, my husband broke his toe, and another car hit us when we arrived in NY. We have never done a guided tour, except once in Niagara Falls.
With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation?
My blog has a lot of unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any methods to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d really appreciate it.