My Disneyland

Before there was me, there was a family of five.  My 3 brothers and my parents.  This family took family vacations, had a family camper, and also owned a family cabin.  By the time I came into the world, we no longer had that camper, the cabin, and for some reason, we stopped doing things as a family unit.  Perhaps a fourth child added one too many children; perhaps our age differences were so vast that it made vacations too difficult; or perhaps by the time I joined the family, my parents were just too worn out.  Whatever the case, I don't remember one time when the entire family loaded into the car and enjoyed a family outing of any kind.

My mom never drove and my dad worked odd hours (and drank whenever he wasn't working).  My Auntie Dorie kind of became my second parent, and if we ever went on a mini vacation, it always included my mom, my aunt, my best friend and me.  We spent many a weekend at local beaches, local fairs, and slightly out of town road trips.

Once I got a little older (around 10 or so), my brothers were  in their mid to late teens.  Like most teenagers, they didn't want to hang out with the family anyway.  In fact they reveled in the thought of staying by themselves, having parties, blaring their music, drinking, and smoking pot all without the parents, and especially without their tattletale younger sister (it was often said that I was actually babysitting my brothers when all the siblings were left alone together).

But I digress, back to family vacations.  Or lack there of.  Like I said, family vacations did not exist in my household.  Then the family vacation of all family vacations presented itself.  It became a "family tradition" for about 5 years or so.  Once a year before school started, my mom, dad, aunt, her boyfriend, my best friend, and me would load into the car for a weekend getaway.  To Da Range.  Most families take off and go to Disney World, Hollywood, or the Grand Canyon.  Not my family.  We went less than 2 hours north to the grand area known as The Range. 

We stayed in a Holiday Inn in Virginia, MN.  This wasn't any old Holiday Inn.  This hotel had a mini golf course, ping pong table, arcade, and not to mention the pool and hot tub.  My parents allowed me to bring my best friend so that I stayed out of their hair and had someone to interact with since all my brothers were at home getting high.

It may not have been Disneyland, but it was Disneyland in my eyes.  And one of my few memories of my mom, my dad, and me having so much fun together.