I spent most of my childhood summers with my grandparents in California (very cool for a kid from Nebraska) and we did lots of cool things during my annual vacation from school and parents. I even got to choose where to go for my twelfth birthday (Mexico)!!! I remember my grandma navigating and my grandpa insisting on the 'shortcut' and seeing parts of the country (two countries, really) that I never would've seen otherwise. We did Disneyland and Mt. Baldy and the Ringling Brothers circus along with all sorts of things like the drive through the Wild Animal Park of San Diego...yeah summers were AWESOME!
But every summer started with the me and the 'rents on the annual trek from Lincoln, Nebraska to our church Family Camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We would drive all day from Lincoln to Ogallala. Dad would ALWAYS roll down the windows as we passed cattle farms and say 'smell that money!' We'd stay overnight in Ogallala, take in dinner and the Wild West show complete with a gun fight and a singing and dancing in the saloon. Then the next morning we'd drive into Colorado, eventually finding our cabin in the shadow of Pike's Peak.
It was the only place I ever saw dad smoke (the pipe kept the mosquitos away). There was the impromptu Christmas in July when it actually snowed (enough to have snowball fights at the main lodge). And oh, the fond memories of learning to play guitar and autoharp, and memorizing the silly lyrics to songs that would drive dad crazy all the way home.
Yup, all those experiences - and more - had significant impact on my life. Now the memories even impact my books. Bleak predictions aside, California has NOT fallen into the ocean in my fictional 2096 just because of those great times!
Hope your summer brings you incredible memories!
Regan
author of Justice Incarnate
, the Pixie Chicks and more...available at Quake!
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