Ain't it funny

When we were kids we DROVE to Atlantic City, NJ every single summer. That's where all 3 of us kids were born, for those who don't know. We would all pack up in the station wagon, and then minivan for 3 days of joyous togetherness. Let me describe. Imagine...3 girls, 2 dogs, and 2 adults packed for 3 days in a car driving across the country. Ohhh...the stories. The dog pooping all over Andi..the wonderful odor that lingered in the car from 3 days of 5 people and 2 dogs breathing thes same stale air. We didn't stay in hotels. We drove day and night. When the parents needed to sleep, we stopped at a rest stop to sleep. I don't recall sleeping much at all at those rest stops. Scared the crap out of me. All our luggage piled on top of the car covered in the same tarps that we used every year bungied to the roof. You get the mental picture. I loved the CB radio though. "Breaker 1-9 for a radio check". "Watch for the smoky hangin' at mile marker 498"...etc. I was always the kid that sat up in the middle of the backseat asking a million questions in the middle of the night. Watching my Dad drive..seeing where we're heading, and how it's all done. I hated those road trips. I hated going to Atlantic City every summer away from my friends for 3 weeks. I hated when our parents would leave us at Mom-Mom's while they went out doing God knows what with their friends. I hated that Mom Mom's house didn't have Air Conditioning. She had window units in the dining area and in the master bedroom. There was one bathroom at Mom-Mom's, and you had to go through the Master to get to it. We had go through there in the middle of the night to pee and see my dad sprawled out in the bed with tons of covers on in his Air conditioned room. While me and my sister had to share a bed in a god awful hot room., with the window open listening to the crazy Atlantic city nuts yelling, and the fire trucks blaring their sirens. (she lived across the street from a fire station). She finally moved to a nicer place with AC. Us girls still had to share a room though. ha

But now that I'm older, and have to pay my own way on vacations, don't have Grandma's house to go to anymore....as much as I hated it...God I wish I could still go every summer. I really do love Atlantic City. The boardwalk, the beach, the casinos, the FOOD, Ocean City where all the rides are, and just the smell of the sea air. I wish we could just afford to go on a whim and stay as long as I wished during the summer. It was so great this past summer to take Peyton there for the first time. Last time I went before that was when I was 4 months pregnant. I got to see her ride on the same rides that we rode, that RC's kids rode, that Ashleigh rode and got to ride again with Peyton. To see her at the beach that I always went to, to let her experience the ocean as I did as a kid. To see her get excited when the ice cream man came by on the beach. Loved it! Wish we could go this year. It is soooo expensive to go. The flight, the hotels are ridiculous, the rental car, the spending money, etc. A couple of grand is dropped in a weeks time. Uncle Richard and Aunt Sharon are going in Aug. We haven't gotten to see them in probably 4 years. Since I was there when I was pregnant. They used to live in Margate, which is just outside of AC. They moved away to N. Carolina. We miss seeing them. They are a hoot.

But, unfortunately, doesn't look good for a summer vacation to Atlantic City this year and probably next year. We want to go to Hawaii with the Harris' next June. So we are trying to start saving for that. And I have a Century 21 convention in San Antonio this winter that we all at our offices are going to go to since it's so close this year. But heck, they want 500 bucks just to attend. So gotta save for that. So the funds are just not there. Plus, just the every day headaches. I need to win the lotto! Guess you have to play first, huh.

Hopefully we'll get to go back soon! Damn..I think a order of subs from Atlantic City is going to be in order VERY soon!