I remember one trip in particular. I was around 12 or 13. I had the luxury of the ENTIRE back seat to myself. If you have siblings, you know what a luxury that is! I took every Barbie and book I owned, plus a pillow and blanket for when all that hard work of playing wore me out.
We were headed to the Texas Panhandle. Mom had collected all the brochures in anticipation of the trip. She had all the details planned out almost to the minute. We were going to camp in Palo Duro Canyon. We are from East Texas, and surrounded by tall pine trees all year round. Palo Duro wasn't the Grand Canyon, but it sure sounded exciting!
I guess now is as good a time as any to mention that Dad was a smoker. A heavy smoker. A two packs a day kind of smoker. That means he rode with the window down the whole trip. I didn't care if my stuff was blowing all over the back seat. I lived for vacation. I rolled my window down too and let my unruly hair create a tornado around my head.
And then...the unexpected happened. I'm not sure why it wasn't expected. Common sense should have made it at least a reasonable possibility. But hey, we didn't wear seatbelts back then, either. Dan took a long draw of his cigarette and flicked the ashes out his window. The tiny ball of burning ash took the worst possible path, right into my window. When it hit my eye, I yowled in pain.
We cleaned the eye out, of course. It continued to hurt, of course. We got to the canyon and set up camp. As the coyotes howled that night, I began to vomit. I can just imagine the thoughts in my mother's head. We're miles from nowhere, in a tent, and her husband has blinded their child. I remember her being calm, which just goes to prove my mother is some sort of saint.
The next day, we trekked into town to see the local doctor. He fixed me up with a giant patch over my eye and some ointment. My vision is fine. We had a great trip, in the end. And after all, what good are vacation pictures if someone isn't wearing a giant bandage? I have three kids of my own, and every one of them has taken pictures in a waterproof cast, in the middle of summer, on a trip far from home. Long live the fraycation!
