Family Vacation...by Jim Terry

Summer is now officially in full swing. The fourth of July is over, heat indices in most areas of the country are easily into the nineties everyday (minus the bay area…this is our wintertime due to the fog), kids are in swim lessons, the local icee stands are packed and of course the best part of summer…FAMILY VACATION.  

I remember so many fun times with family over the years…places like Redfish Lake in Central Idaho was always one of my favorite. As a child, I would always run to the shoreline in my excitement and take out my snorkeling mask and dive in the cool--alright the waters here are just darn right COLD--clear waters of the lake in hopes of seeing the red fish that the lake was named after. Year after year, I was disheartened in the fact that I never did see any red fish.  

As I became older and wiser, it was apparent why I wasn’t seeing the red fish.  The rapid population decline of the sockeye Salmon that initially returned in such massive quantities that made the lake shimmer red during spawning season just wasn’t happening any longer.  Though I was disappointed as a kid, it wasn’t hard to still enjoy our vacation. I simply had to refocus my attention to the brilliantly clear water, the sandy beaches, the majesty of the sawtooth mountains, the warm summer air and of course my amazing family that was there with me.   

Palisades Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Craters of the Moon, Grand Teton National Park, Glacier National Park, Vancouver Island, Mt. Wheeler and the list goes on of such fond memories, fun places and such great times with my family while on our summer family vacations.  


About a month ago, my flight was cancelled to return home so I could spend some time with my family and friends there.  They--the airline--could not get me up there until two days later because all of their flights were full.  I was going up for a total of a five-day trip which kind of defeats the purpose of taking some time off to go home if the airline takes away two of those days doesn’t it?  So I had to reschedule for a month later. 

So as this month long wait to go home comes to an end so I can go on "vacation" and enjoy my family and friends there, I find myself as excited as I was as that young boy. That very same one that would run to the water’s edge at Redfish Lake as quickly as he could just so he could dive in the cold waters to find the secretive and elusive “red” fish. 

I have seen a picture floating around on the internet that made me chuckle and gave me a mischievous idea.  I just wanted to issue a forewarning to my family members that will be putting me up and have become known as the “Terry Hotels"…I “MAY” or “MAY NOT” do exactly what this man is doing in the photo! You may want to put me in the room with the old mattress and the old bed frame just in case the child in me takes over and says…’WHAAAA  HOOOOO!” 

Happy Tuesday and I hope you enjoy or have enjoyed your Summer Vacations!  What have you been up to this summer? 

♦ Hope you'll share YOUR stories and photos with us at: nutshellstories@gmail.com.