When sister and I were in elementary school, We vacationed every year with Dad. Mom would never come. She declined the family road trip. Dad and the two kids would get into his plymouth 2 door and take off for a week, maybe two weeks. We rode to see the countryside. How lucky I am to have seen, "verse by the side of the road"...Burma Shave signs. We would watch for them and read each line as We drove past it. We counted cows, watched for tourist attractions. There was no air conditioning in our car, so We drove with the windows open. Sometimes, Dad would stop for soft custard. If We were driving in the right direction, We would come to Mables Maple Grove just about the time We wanted to stop. Dad would sign us in. The grove consisted of individual cabins, no windows, just screening over a window opening. The communal bathroom was at the end of the row. We stood in line to use the facilities.
Before turning in for the night, Dad sprayed the room with FLIT...a mosquito spray that probably contained DDT...a chemical now banned. As Dad worked the lever in and out, the gun made a sound,"flit, flit, flit". The place stunk of mosquito spray, but if We did not spray, We would get eaten alive by mosquitos. The room contained a double bed and a chair. No phone. No radio. All three of us would share the same bed, Dad in the middle.
If it was early enough, daughters and Dad would go to the recreation area to socialize with the other guests. There were swings and slides. There were games, but pieces were always missing. Croquet without mallets, puzzles with missing pieces. We would mess around until it got dark. Then it was time for bed. I was very careful to stay away from the office, because Mable had a big yellow light on. It drew big monster bugs. I was scared that one would land on me. Dad said they were June bugs. I didn't care what month they claimed as their own. Just stay away from me.
One of our favorite tourist stops was at "Petrified Creatures"...another fossil experience. The man that ran this exhibit was very good, I see in retrospect. He gave an excellent talk on the evolution of creatures from the sea to land, from fish to reptile to mammel. We stopped on several trips. Little girls have to have souviners. My favorite was a box made from cedar. It smelled good. It had a picture on the top. This box was good for holding little treasures.
We also liked amusement parks. We would eat junk food until We got sick riding rides that jiggled us up and down. I liked the "Laugh In The Dark", but got scared when the Ferris Wheel stopped at the top and swung back and forth. I thought I would fall out, hanging on for dear life.
We went to the top of White Face Mountain, swam in State Parks, enjoyed looking at farms, We drove to the Adirondack Mountains and saw the thousand islands and Niagara Falls on different trips. Sometimes Dad visited relatives on his side of the family. Wish I could recall their names. We slept in their house and ate at their table. In the morning, We drove home.
Very pastoral. Very domestic. It hardly mattered where We went or how much money We spent. Very little was spent. What was important was We had our Dad's attention and time.