Awesome Summer Blog Swap!

Greetings, Tidbits readers!

As y'all might notice on the right sidebar, I am a member of 20 Something Bloggers, an (you guessed it) online community for bloggers who are in their twenties. Anyway, through this awesome community, I had the pleasure of swapping blogs with this pretty cool girl, Domino J, who has her own blog at I AM ME, with this summer's theme being our most memorable childhood vacation. Enjoy her amazing post below, (and if y'all wanna read mine, y'all can visit her blog over here!)

As a child my summers were spent on the road. My mom was never one to take a plane, so wherever we went, she drove. We have been to New York, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and DC, all by car. We were always going somewhere for a family reunion but most of the time it was to visit my sisters. One of them was in the military and the other was married to a man in the Navy. So they both were stationed in different states. I can remember when my middle sister’s husband graduated from Navy basic training. His graduation was in a place not far from Chicago, Illinois. I was about ten years old and I can remember I was so excited because it was my first trip there. We stayed in this nice hotel by the water. I also had my first summer love and kiss there. It was my first look at boys (without the cooties).Ha!



After he graduated, they moved to various parts of VA. I actually stayed for the two months of summer vacation and it was the first time I had spent a full summer away from my mother. My mom raised me as a single parent so I was used to spending one month in GA with my dad. But I was a mommy’s girl and loved to be around my mother so it was very hard for me. After VA, they moved to Key West, FL. By this time I was fifteen, had already gotten my permit, and was ready for the road. This was my first long distance trip, where I actually got to drive. I was so excited; I ended up driving 11 hours of the 13-hour drive. It was beautiful. If you’re not familiar with the Florida Keys, they are a series of 5 islands, and Key West is at the southernmost tip of FL. Only 150 miles (a mere two hours) away from Cuba, it’s the last stop.


My most memorable trip was to San Antonio, Texas. I was about 7 or 8 years old and my oldest sister was graduating from the Air Force. She left after finishing high school. She had been gone for about 7 months (the longest she was away from home) and we missed her so much. We made that 2 ½ day ride through 5 different states and 2 time zones to get my sister. When we first arrived on base, we weren’t allowed to see her. So we just took our seats, a little disappointed, and waited for the ceremony to begin. I can remember it being a long drawn out presentation and I can’t remember what I did to occupy my time (I probably fell asleep). I just remember when they were about to start calling names and they asked the troops to stand up. I was the first one to spot my sister as she waited to be called. I told my mom and all we could do was yell her name, we were so excited to see her. She looked up and smiled at us with tears running down her face. It was a very emotional moment. The ceremony began, with my sister being in the beginning with her last name being Archie. She cried the whole time. After the event, we went to the famous Boardwalk of San Antoine, where we rode on the boat. Here we are all in this picture. (Front to back, left to right) My niece, me, my mom, my oldest sister’s bf at the time, my oldest sister, my middle sister’s bf at the time, my middle sister and her daughter.


 

 
Still to this day, I have a love for the road like no other. I guess this is how it all started.


A special thanks goes out to Domino J for this awesome post and for being an awesome blogger to meet and work with!!! :D