Trying to find time when our family – including three young adult children – can all get away for a summer vacation is becoming increasingly difficult. Too many conflicting schedules, especially with two kids soon to be in college and one a newbie in the work world.
So finding a time when two families can get away together for a summer vacation is even harder.
The net result is that this summer, it doesn’t look like my Iowa family will be able to continue a cherished tradition of sharing a vacation and cottage on Cayuga Lake north of Ithaca, N.Y. with our dear friends, a Connecticut family whose parents are old friends of mine from college (Cornell U. in Ithaca.)
We’ve managed to do this every other year – seven times I think – since our kids (three of theirs, two of ours) were really young. And try as we did last weekend – talking over the phone between Iowa and Connecticut, with our respective calendars in front of us, comparing our kids’ college schedules and possible summer jobs, plus other family obligations from parent’s birthday celebrations to family reunions – we just can’t find a week that works for us all to get away together.
Actually, the biggest problem is the kids’ unpredictable schedules. So we parents are now considering a new option – the four of us sharing a summer vacation, sans kids. It’s better than nothing – we figure. And maybe in a few years, some of the kids will be able to join us again. Here’s hoping. But it still feels like the end of the era – and that’s sad.
I used to love to camp – but my bad back makes sleeping in a tent on the ground, even with a pad, out of the question. So glamping – which presumably mixes glamour and camping but most importantly, offers the promise of a firm bed inside a tent – seems like the way to go. Our friends Denise and David went glamping in Moab and report that: “It was just great! Love sleeping in a tent, AND in a bed ;)” Denise’s photo (above) of the tent at sunrise has me in heavy daydream mode…
TakeBetsywithyou 