by Thomas Clayton Ferguson III
As Labor Day Weekend approaches, it makes me think back and remember past Labor Days. In our family, a majority of them were spent at home and having a cook out. The only family vacation I remember that we took for Labor Day Weekend, was back in 1983 when we went to Iowa. There may have been others before that and after, but either I was to young to remember and or I can not remember them because they were not exciting enough trips.
The trip to Iowa trip for some reason has remained ingrained in my memory, despite two and a half decades passing. Maybe it was traveling to a new State that I had not been to before. Maybe it was all the people I met for the first time. Or perhaps it was the fact that for that one year, we were doing something fun and different. Most likely it is a combination of these that have let me remember that vacation today.
Before I get into what I remember about the vacation, I should provide the story on how our family wound up going to Iowa for Labor Day. It started on a trip to Central Wisconsin earlier that summer. Our family went to a family reunion in Pine River. It was there my parents talked and visited with Bob and Barb. Bob is one of my Dad's cousins. Well, that led to our family getting invited to come and spend Labor Day Weekend by them in Iowa.
As time has passed I don't recall the entire trip, but many small things stick out in my memory. One was Bob had a giant Marlin hanging on the wall. I remember one day there was a light drizzle where we drove around and saw things. One place I remember seeing was landing field for remote controlled airplanes. The other place I remember was this old historic village where a bunch of old buildings had been moved to and there was a old rail car or two. Another memory was we went to someone's house and I got to ride in a very old car. It was on this trip where I also got my first introduction to the Mad Board Game. I have been a huge fan of the game ever since.
The memories are pretty much all about how much fun the entire vacation was. However, there is some ancient law in the universe that no vacation can happen without something going wrong. And what happened on this vacation, I can close my eyes and the memory can come back to me as clear as if it just happened yesterday. Our family was camping in Bob and Barb's backyard in their tent camper. That is one of those camp trailers with canvas sides. I had gone to sleep and in the middle of the night I awoke as I hit the ground. There I was, now awake laying outside in my PJ's. It was dark and I could not see a thing and had no idea how I got there. If that was not bad enough. I was laying on wet grass and it was raining out. Make it pouring out, as there was a nice storm happening as I lay there in total shock of what just happened. Well, what had happened was the wind from the storm was playing havoc on the tent side of the camper. I had rolled over and must had been leaning up against the side. A gust of wind most likely caused the canvas to flex and I fell out and onto the ground. I still laugh when I remember what a strange thing that was to happen to me. Not everyone can say they have fallen out of a camper while sleeping.
One thing I remember about it was there were mostly people I had never met before. I had met Bob and Barb before that. I had also met Dave and Ann before, but it was that weekend where I got to know them. I got introduced to a lot of people, but can't recall who. The only person I remember meeting was Bobbi. I remember I was climbing a small tree when she came over and introduced herself. Then we went and found my brother and sister and we played in the yard. I really don't remember anyone else I met that weekend. I know there were people there who I knew eventually got to know, but can not remember the first time I met them.
So all in all it was a great weekend. And now it is one of those nostalgic family vacations thats sticks in your memory as a adult. But unlike a majority of the nostalgic memories of childhood family vacations where you only remember the good things, I will always remember waking up outside on the ground in dark and rain. That makes this nostalgic memory of a childhood family vacation a very unique one indeed.