Epic Vacation

Originally Published Oct 6, 2015

This season always brings a sense of reminiscence to me. Part of that involves vacations long gone.

My favorite vacation destination is Walt Disney World. I've been there dozens of times, and have watched it evolve over the years from a place where spontaniety rules to a place where each and every move is pre-planned. This brings back memories of one particular vacation where nothing was pre-planned.

It was Christmastime and I was to make deliveries throughout South Florida. What a great chance to combine business and pleasure! I excused my 8 year-old son from school, loaded all my camping gear into the van, and we embarked on an adventure.

We loaded that venerable old van  with far more weight than it was ever intended to carry. An additional 3 tons of product was attached in the guise of a cargo trailer. First off, the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia took nearly 12 hours to traverse. Eventually the terrain flattened out and we chugged and puffed our way to places in Florida, winding up in Miami a day later than planned.

This meant canceling our reservation at a campground near Orlando. But, a stroke of luck got us into Walt Disney World's very own campground. I disconnected the battery from the behemoth that was an early cell phone, pitched the tent and promptly lost every key I owned. Didn't need them and figured I'd look for them later.

The week at Disney was great. I put my son in charge of everything and he had a blast that was only exceeded by the pleasure I took in his happiness. When the week ended and it was time to leave we struck the tent. I found my keys on the ground under it. The two of us then headed home in our ramshackle van and trailer combo.

First night we stayed in a motel in Georgia. By then the van had developed a thirst for motor oil. In Summerville, South Carolina the van went on a vacation of its own. We had to be towed to a repair shop where the distributor was rebuilt. Late, really late that day we headed north again, now getting about 100 miles to a quart of oil. Somewhere in North Carolina, around midnight, the hitch ball unscrewed from the hitch bar and the trailer parted ways with us. I found an all-night Super-Duper Mart at the next exit, bought a new hitch ball and a case of the cheapest oil, and got back on the road with a measly five hour delay.

Nearing home, the van was only able to do about 20 miles per hour getting over the hills, the temp gauge was living in the red zone, and oil consumption was less than 50 miles to the quart. The final 50 miles took forever with oil coming out of the engine as fast as I could put it in.

Arriving home, just as I reached for the key to shut down the van, the engine gave a wheeze and expired, bleeding all its internal fluids on the ground in front of my house.

What an epic adventure! Instead of a mere vacation, it became a legendary quest where we enjoyed the shared experience of conquering insurmountable obstacles.

Getting home in one piece was just one of the things about that trip that allow us to say, "Life is Good."