I’d compare my family to the Griswolds, but at least Chevy Chase and company in the Vacation movie series got on the road before most of their misadventures began. We Lees have stared down three consecutive COVID-19-postponed travel weekends through July 4th.
If the 2022 travel season could talk, it’d say to 2020: “Hold my beer.” Add to our recent bleak streak a May mountain weekend cancellation (due to electrical issues) and a March guys trip that included my father’s hospitalization. Oh, and Yellowstone National Park got hit with historic flooding the month before we’re booked to visit.
My wife and I joked during a recent restaurant meal that the outing was a combo makeup effort covering both Father’s Day and our anniversary…
There’s nothing like working from home (as a pre-2020 career choice), then being stuck at home through a pandemic to intensify one’s wanderlust. We signed up for an airline credit card in early 2020, but so far have only been able to enjoy the annual fees. Remember that time in 2021 when we thought COVID-19 was over and it was time to shake off the rust and smell the roses again? That was a fun couple of weeks.
Back to the frustrating future: You can argue that all other travel motivations take a back (child’s?) seat to meeting a new family member. We are absolutely champing at the bit to be introduced to our sweet niece! Charlotte, who was born in Raleigh just after Father’s Day, is a super-cute, long-awaited blessing and my girls’ first girl cousin on that side of the family.
In the mind of my loving wife, a professional doting aunt, she’s gone to Carolina, but instead, to quote Casablanca, one of my favorite movies, we “wait and wait and wait and wait.”
Wherever you were, hope the Fourth of July fireworks were enjoyable. Ours were rained out.
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