On to Walley World (the amusement park in National Lampoon’s Vacation not the discount chain store)
Posted by Nancie on July 25, 2008
The Vann’s Ocoee Adventure: Part 1 -On to Walley World
My family set out to enjoy an adventurous day whitewater rafting in Tennessee at the Ocoee River about 2 hours north of our home in suburbia. It is my husband’s 51st birthday and he insisted that no one bring their cell phones because he is so sick of seeing the kids texting constantly. We needed some real, good, old-fashioned family time. Go Dad! My daughter and I are a little scared. All the boys are not, of course.
Main Characters
Dad - my Husband Wesley
Max – my 20 year old son just home from a year in Costa Rica
Brice – my 20 year old son who is always gone somewhere else
Charlotte – my 15 year old daughter who only usually laughs with her friends
Mom – Me
Drew - the 16 year old cousin
Act I
Max: “Hey Dad, is that smoke coming out of the back of the van?”
Dad: “Aw man, we just blew a hose.”
Charlotte: “It’s not gonna blow up is it?”
Me: “Pull over up there in that driveway so we are out of the traffic.”
We pull over and Wesley gets out to see what the problem is. He thinks he can fix it. He knows this because this vehicle has broken down on numerous occasions before.
Dad: “Is that a house or what up there? Brice, go see if they have a pair of pliers.”
Brice: “Me? Why me?”
Wesley takes off up the hill alone. At this point, our rafting expedition is set to leave in just over an hour and we are about 30 minutes away still. I start laughing because it’s just too funny. Wesley returns and says the man who owns the house, Randall, said to pull up there.
Me: “I knew this was gonna happen. Seriously I knew something like this was gonna happen.”
It is my husband’s birthday today, so he gets to do basically everything the way he wants. He loves this old Volkswagen Van and that’s what he wanted to drive today. Everyone is actually smiling because this is so typical of our family. We are strikingly similar to Chevy Chase’s family in Vacation. Walley world here we come!
Randall: “Yall’s got lucky today, I’m usually gone by now, but I gotta ulcer or somethin’, kep me up all night.”
Dad: “So what do you do with all this equipment?”
Randall: “I kindly farm. Chickens and cattle. I was raised within a mile a where we are right now. Hey, you need a wranch?”
Dad: “No thanks I think I’ve just about got it.”
Back in the van the rest of us wait.
Max: ‘Do you think they have Wi-Fi here? Here Mom, plug in my computer and let me try.”
Drew who has been watching a movie on his Touch iPod says “Naw I already tried…nothing here.”
As Wesley and Randall finish up the repair, I decide that I will not give in to fear, but I will absolutely go down this river. Yeah, I can do it and if its my time to go, well that’s just that. Randall goes to turn on the water hose to fill up something in our van. I notice his crisp blue Liberty overalls and his camouflage hat. There is also a new Ford Explorer and a Toyota Camry in the garage, along with some heavy equipment in the yard. Chickens and cows must be doing pretty good these days. We thank him and pull down the driveway with 45 minutes to get there.
Wesley looks over at me and grins, I shake my head and laugh.
Dad: “What?”
Me: “Nothing”
We all knew ‘what.’
“On to Walley World”
joanharvest said
Hi, I thought I would come over and visit you. My son is planning a trip to Costa Rica. He is 27 years old in 4 days. He wants to live there for a while. I would be really interested in how your son fared in Costa Rica. My son just arrived in Alaska and is backpacking around there with his girlfriend for a few weeks. They just arrived at Denali National Park–6 million acres of wildland. So now I’m worried that they are going to run into grizzly bears. I guess Moms never stop worrying.
I can’t wait to hear about your rafting experience. My son’s done that too. He’s a wanderer. As the T-Shirt I am wearing says ” Not all who wander are lost”.