For my Mom's birthday I wrote her a children's story about our road trip to New York to see my brother Benji before he deployed to Afghanistan. You see road trips with my mom are always an adventure and almost never planned. It usually consists of loading us in the car and just driving, exploring whatever may come and this started way before a thing called GPS. Sometimes we get lost but we always find our way home and it is always an irreplaceable memory, whether it be rafting down a not so calm river, exploring a cave or setting out to see Mount Rushmore and ending up in a completely different state.These road trips have brought us to some interesting places in the United States, brought us to many places we may never have seen otherwise and has resulted in many an entertaining story. This is just one of the many... and without further ado and in honor of her I give to you a story about a very special mom, my mom. Happy birthday Mom! Love you lots and I can't wait for many more road trips seeing where the road leads us.
The Amazing Mom and the Tale of the Great Road Trip of New York
Once upon a time lived a Mom with the spirit
of adventure and a heart full of love for her children...
This
is the story of the Great Road Trip of New York and the borders of Canada. A story of four people and the courageous Mom
who braved both the elements and her children and grandson, who loathed mornings
and whom she fearlessly woke each morning in a pursuit of adventure, knowledge
and a whole lot of fun. After 24 hours of airports and flying, missed connections and delayed flights, the always Amazing Mom and her daughter, Shannon, finally arrived in Syracuse, New York, ready for the vacation to begin and to see her son, Benji, her grandson, Landon, and her future daughter-in-law, Julie. Not even the severe lack of sleep was going to ruin her bliss and excitement in being with her family for the next 4 days. Her children and grandson did not know it yet but they were about to begin a grand fabulous voyage that they would never forget.
On the first day of the Great Road Trip of New York, the Amazing Mom had her family up early and in the car armed only with an idea, a GPS and snacks. The goal was Cooperstown and The Baseball Hall of Fame. It was an experience that everyone in the car was excited about especially the Amazing Mom at seeing how excited her family was about this trip.
The GPS proved trusty and they arrived safely to Cooperstown. The excitement levels in the car could be felt by all and everyone had an idea in their head of what they wanted to see. You see there were 5 people in the car but there were 4 very different teams that they were fans of. With the parking of the car the family, with Amazing Mom in the lead, walked and half ran to the stairs of The Baseball Hall of Fame and as they all reached the stairs there was a moment of awe as they stopped and prepared themselves for what awaited inside.
On second day of the Great Road Trip of New York the Amazing Mom and her family piled into the car once again with a mission and destination in mind. With laughter, family stories of road trips past and country music filling the car and the occasional enthusiastic announcement of “Combo Pack” from Landon as he played video games as they made their way to Buffalo, New York.
By the time the Amazing Mom and her crazy bunch arrived at the hotel in Buffalo they were starving and in need of adult beverages for everyone except Landon, who had Coke with extra cherries. As stomachs started growling and the evening turned night the happy family set off walking in search of real food, Buffalo Wings (because Buffalo is the home of Buffalo Wings) and for her son the UFC fights even though the Amazing Mom had no idea what this last thing was.
Day three of the Great Road Trip of New York started with a filling breakfast and with tummies full and bags packed they left the hotel in search of Niagara Falls.
As
the Amazing Mom and her family made their way to Niagara Falls it became
evident as rain came pouring down that the flip flops and short sleeved shirts
they were wearing were no longer appropriate for the weather. You see, the
weather was in the 80’s when they had all met in New York but now the
thermometer had dropped to the 40’s with gray skies and rainfall. Not rain, nor
sleet or snow was going to stop this determined and courageous family so they
rummaged the trunk for warmer clothes and set off in search for the wondrous
falls.
As
they neared Niagara Falls, from the side of the United States, confused looks
crossed their faces. For this was not the Niagara Falls they envisioned. The
grandeur was missing. The Amazing Mom fast on her feet decided that they were
going to try the boat ride in search of the Niagara Falls that they had
traveled so far for. Armed with hot chocolate and blue ankle length ponchos
they boarded the boat set for the Falls. It was on this boat ride that the
glorious nature of Niagara Falls was revealed to the eager family.
After
the breathtaking, and very cold, boat ride came to an end and the Amazing Mom
and her smiling brood departed the boat. They fast realized as they looked at
the other passengers that they were somehow the only ones drenched, especially
Benji who’s jeans legs were soaked all the way up his legs. Had everyone else
not experienced the torrential downpour and hurricane like winds? Soaking wet,
but extremely grateful at the experience they just had, they made their way
back to the car and set the heater on high and the destination towards home.
As
the sun came up on the last day of the Great Road Trip of New York the Amazing
Mom woke up her daughter barely able to hide the excitement that was exuding
from her as she told her to look out the window. And there, covering the ground
and cars in all its white, freezing glory was SNOW! Real snow! So without a
moment wasted Shannon and Landon ran outside to play in the snow, throwing
snowballs and playing. It was the perfect end to already perfect vacation.
Hugs
and kisses were exchanged as “I love you” and “I miss you already” were heard
as the Amazing mom and her family said their goodbyes and parted ways, but not
to worry the Amazing Mom would soon take her family on another adventure and
another road trip whether it be planned out or a spontaneous journey through an
unknown land. And with this the Great Road Trip of New York came to an end...
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