Vacation and the Griswolds

On By Teri PolenIn Miscellaneous

I’m back from vacation!  Polen family vacations have a semi-disastrous history.  Trust me – you don’t want to travel with us.  The first cruise we took resulted in a hurricane.  Then there was the time we were stuck in an airport for hours because as near as the airline could tell, someone from California cancelled our flight reservations – we didn’t even know anyone from CA.  But what about that memorable week we spent in Hawaii for our honeymoon with temps in the low 50s and nearly constant rain which, of course, led to the roads flooding on the day we were headed to the airport to leave.  Those are just the highlights that come to mind right now.  We’ve concluded we must be related to the Griswold family.  After years of just talking about it, we’d finally made a decision to go to Italy in the fall and had just received a tentative itinerary from our travel agent in early March, so we’re halfway convinced we might have had something to do with the coronavirus.

So why should last week be any different?  While it was wonderful to spend time with our family and have both sons with us, the beach was cold and rainy every day except one – the last one.  We were able to get on the beach for a couple hours one day, but the last day was mostly sunny at least.  It was also the only day I even put on a swimsuit.  Other days, we played board games, went to an escape room, and I read two books.  We’ve also had our share of vacations with glorious weather, along with wearing heavy coats and gloves in Florida, but the important thing is that we spent time together, and that’s always a plus.  Here’s a pic of a gorgeous sunrise – the morning we were leaving.

As far as restaurants, with the exception of one, all staff wore masks and gloves and tables were spaced far apart.  Folks on the beach also kept their distance for the most part, but the majority of people we encountered at grocery stores and tourist attractions didn’t wear masks.  Here in KY, our numbers are going down, so I’m hoping people don’t get too comfortable and let guidelines fall to the wayside.

Update time – several weeks back, I mentioned my oldest son had been interviewing for new jobs after losing his due to COVID.  I’m thrilled to say he accepted one last week which doesn’t require him to move and is completely remote.  Thanks so much for all your positive thoughts, vibes, and encouragement sent his way!

Have a great week and stay healthy!

 

41 thoughts on “Vacation and the Griswolds”

  1. I’m so pleased your son got a perfect job! My two grandsons are also working. Thank heaven. Not all vacations are perfect but at least you got away with both of your sons. And you read some books!! xo

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  3. I’m sorry to hear the weather didn’t cooperate Teri. I had a friend who went to Myrtle Beach last week and they experienced the same weather. But I’m glad you had some good quality family time together and squeezed in some reading. Congratulations to your son! That’s great news. How fortunate that he’ll be able to work remotely. I’ve been doing that for several months now and the thought of going back to commuting is not appealing at all. I’m curious what type of work your son does as i’m investigating companies who offer remote positions. Gorgeous photo!

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    1. We were close to your friend, Jill – Pawleys Island – so yep, we had the same weather. I’ve worked remotely for years, and I’d never go back if I had the choice. Hubby wasn’t crazy about it at first during the pandemic, but he got used to it. He’s back at the office now, but still has the option to work at home.

      My son is a geologist. Pre-pandemic, the company that hired him had all employees in-house, but discovered they did fine working remotely. That’s a big advantage for both!

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      1. Oh, I love Pawley’s Island, Teri. That’s the thing about going to the beach, you never know what the weather will be like. At least you weren’t dealing with the hurricane. The last time we went to Myrtle Beach a tropical storm hit. Yes working from home has been very nice. Not having to deal with the commute into the city is huge. That’s great for your son. I don’t think there’s much chance of me becoming a geologist anytime in the near future! LOL! 😉

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  4. That’s wonderful news about your son and the job, Teri!

    And I’m glad, that even though the weather was uncooperative, you still had a wonderful family vacation by getting to spend time together. You just have to get past that Griswold thing for the future, LOL!

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    1. We were so excited for him, Mae. He’s one that likes routine and to have plans in place so, like many people, the past few months have been a struggle for him.

      I guess we were due for another Griswold vacation. The past couple had gone too smoothly, lol.

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  5. Your vacation history made me laugh. We’ve got a few of those stories, too, like the time we checked into a hotel that was empty, and we didn’t know why. (And why was it so inexpensive?) It had just reopened, but people were scared to book a room. Probably had something to do with the giant BLOOD STAIN on the lobby floor from a murder two weeks earlier.

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  9. I’m sorry to hear about bad weather and some obstacles. Mostly my travel history is good but few are so very like yours. Waiting for hours at airport or train stops in middle of nowhere for more than 6 hrs, or have go by bus because whole train was cancelled… But it’s fun when we think about it later. Time we spend together as family is most important.

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  10. Sometimes it’s just about being together. The attractions being lost is a bummer, but I’ll bet there was some fun involved. We’re going camping this weekend. That should allow some social distancing. Idaho is stepping back into Phase 3 after experimenting with Phase 4.

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    1. We haven’t had to backtrack yet, but so far, our cases are declining.

      We’ve never been campers (hubby can’t get ESPN and I can’t live without A/C), but hope you have a great time! And yes – being together is what counts.

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        1. I think I could get by with that. We had friends that did tents instead of campers – that’s something I couldn’t do. I’d never get to sleep. I’d be thinking all night about snakes slithering into the tent.

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  11. Ah you had me laughing about your disastrous family holidays! Sounds like mine when I was growing up. Luckily, hubby and I have escaped the bad luck and we generally only have good hols now.

    Considering Covid, I think you were lucky just to get away at all. Here in Australia, the state I live in has had a spike in cases (after very nearly coming out of lockdown), so we’re back in again. All our neighbouring states don’t want anything to do with us! They’ve closed their borders. Which sucks as Victoria (my state) is FREEZING in Winter and we all want to get away and run to Queensland (think Florida). Ugh.

    Congrats to your son – sounds like a step up 🙂

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    1. Hate you can’t get out, Jessica – I forgot about it being winter in Australia. At least here during lockdown we could get outside. Several states here have had spikes, but so far I haven’t heard about any returning to lockdown. Sure would help if folks would follow guidelines.

      Happy to hear you and hubby have good holidays, lol. We were on a streak there for a while with good weather and no travel snafus, but I knew it would come to an end sometime.

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    1. Thanks, Tori! You’re right – if the weather was the worst thing, I can handle that. We had friends who went to the beach one year and two of them wound up in the emergency room (nothing serious) for unrelated incidents during vacation. Hasn’t happened to us so far!

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  13. I’m glad you had a good holiday despite the weather. I’m exactly the same with holidays. Whenever I take one or plan to something goes wrong! I’ve had fires, airport delays, security alerts at airports. Basically anything that can go wrong does! Doesn’t put me off tho!

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  15. I’m glad you had a good time with your family, Teri, in spite of uncooperative weather, and very good news for your son, too! Super!! Here’s hoping your next vacation will be filled with nothing but perfect weather and great times! 🙂

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  16. You remind me of a friend who was in the military and living in the Phillippine’s when the volcano erupted and wiped out the base. He was then assign to Homestead Florida and 6 months later a category 5 hurricane leveled that base. He decided to get out of the military after that.

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