Last month, we took an RV trip to Upper Michigan with my cousin and her family. The pressure began when she said, “The last couple years, we’ve taken the kids to Orlando. But instead, this year we told them we are going to Mackinac Island with you guys.” Gulp.
As a writer and copy editor, precision is everything to me. Lack of perfection is not an option. Unfortunately, I tried to apply that same principle to a road trip with four adults and four children.
I was stressed out before we even left. I was nervous about food — when we would eat, how it would be prepared, whether the kids would like it, how much of a mess they would make in the RV. I was stressed about the weather, about our timeline, how much we would see, how much fun the other family would have, whether this would compare to Orlando.
My husband, rightfully so, was on my case from the beginning to just chill out and RELAX. I wish I’d listened to him sooner.
We had a fantastic time on Mackinac Island itself. And the campgrounds were great — a little quirky and outdated, but the kids didn’t mind. They had a blast playing tetherball and tossing around a Nerf football.
Our last full day in Michigan, we toured the city of Marquette. It has lots of great parks and phenomenal beaches — none of which we could enjoy due to a storm rolling in. We couldn’t even sit at the outdoor patio of a notable restaurant in town. Our best-laid plans blew away in the storm.
At that point, I was forced to relax and go with the flow. My cousin graciously volunteered to take all the kids to a movie; the guys decided to hit a brewery, so I tagged along. It wasn’t “perfect” — wasn’t at all what we had planned. But sometimes, that’s OK. Like I said, I wished I’d chilled out sooner.
The best memory of our trip was the last night at the campground. After the storm blew through, we got some firewood, packed up our chairs and crossed the highway to the Lake Superior beach. The guys made a campfire in the sand, and the kids jumped waves and roasted hot dogs. The water was cold, the wind blew smoke and sand around and the hot dogs were gritty. But we all had a great time.
Lesson learned? It doesn’t have to be perfect. Relax and enjoy the sunset. The hot dogs might be gritty, and the kids might not get any vegetables at all. But life — especially summer vacations — is about embracing the memory of all those imperfections and filing them away under family experiences.