You're Burning Daylight!

Once upon a time there was a man. He was a crazy man who thought it might be a great idea to take his family of 6 plus a mother-in-law and sister-in-law on a trip across the country for a month in a Ford Econoline van with a truck bed pulled behind to carry our luggage!

This is NOT our van. Ours had a topper in grey and snot looking insulation sprayed all over the interior. Awesome!

He took his family from Florida to Canada, back to the states, west to the Redwood Forest, south to I-10 and east back to Florida. Along the way this wonderful man did this to his family....

1. Camping in Canada with the biggest mosquitoes this gal has ever seen.

2. Niagara Falls Gullett style.

3. Drove really Really REALLY fast over a railroad track in the midwest with his wife sleeping on the bed in the back of the van to which she went airborne as soon as he hit the railroad tracks. I'm not sure what made her more angry, waking to find herself hovering over the bed or the hit her body took when she crashed back onto the very thin cushion so really hitting the frame.

4. Blackberry picking in Ohio.

5. Sleeping in the van in Yellowstone National Park because he didn't want to get wet in the rain that night, to wake up to a moose trying to get into the ladies tent. Rather than put himself in harms way to save the ladies he just laughed. We laughed with him! Infectious laugh, that one!

6. Riding a Gondola along a waterfall held on by a very small wire with him rocking it and singing "Rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby. Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over."

7. Driving down Lombard Street in San Francisco in the van with the trailer. There was much reversing and driving, reversing and driving. The poor residents of Lombard Street could only sit helplessly by, watching their beautifully manicured street getting run all over by the hillbillies. I'm not sure his banishment has been lifted.

8. Getting stuck just as our rollercoaster was going upside down at Six Flags over Texas.

9. Breakfast at Circus Circus. One of those typical Vegas buffets where you can feed your whole family for $10 bucks. "Fill up the plate, kids. We won't be eating again until dinner."

10. Spent an entire month with his family, only being distracted occasionally by work.

He made sure we never "burned daylight" by getting us up and moving early and made sure we were always "making memories". And boy oh boy do we have some memories!

When I graduated high school this same man decided the best graduation gift he could give me was a trip to Hawaii. Me and my friend, just the two of us, running the streets of Oahu. I thought that was the best trip ever. I have now come to realize our trip across the country was the trip of a lifetime.

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy a girl could ever ask for. If you google "awesome dad" you will find this picture....

Daddy with his oldest and youngest (for another month) granddaughters.

I love you, Daddy!!