One trip that I will never forget was the morning my family and I flew out to Phoenix, Arizona. From this experience I have changed my perspective of what vacations really are. Vacation: leisure time away from, devoted to rest or pleasure. Or so that’s what the definition is, but by the end of the vacation it didn’t qualify as that. That isn’t how it is all the time. Although we may wish for a perfect relaxing trip we will sometimes be surprised by the awakening events that may occur. It all began on the spring morning in April 2005.
The sun poked through my window awakening me. I crawled out of bed and my eyes beamed with joy when I realized the exciting day ahead of me. I jumped out of bed, finished packing, and a few hours later I found myself watching through the Delta Airline windows at the fluffy white clouds which we were flying through. We went from the nice warm weather in Utah to the toasty heat of the desert of Arizona. We went from pine trees to palm trees. I was anxious and couldn’t wait to arrive to our destination.
We quickly got off, picked up our luggage and headed to the car where we would drive to our friends house the Paces. Now a quick part that I forgot to mention; as we were loading the car back at home my mom picked up her messages on the phone. She was listening and one of the messages from her friend in Arizona said “Hi Alisha, this is Ellie. I just wanted you to be aware that a couple of my kids have had the flu this week and been throwing up, but no one has thrown up for the last few hours so I think everything should be fine. See you in a few hours!”
What were we to do at this point? We were loaded in the car, we had flight tickets and the kid’s hearts would have literally been shattered if we decided not to go, so we went. When we arrived at the Pace’s, we all piled into their house with all of our luggage. This was the start of our “vacation.” Although the Pace’s kids seemed better the mom started throwing up that night. The next day we left not knowing exactly where we were headed to.
After only being in the car for a short time we heard a quite unpleasant gagging sound coming from my two year old sister. “Great!” We all exclaimed. My brother frustratingly told my mom he was right about us just staying home in Utah. We soon found a hotel and not only was one little girl sick but by this time there were three of my siblings sick. It was dark outside and we were crowded in a hotel room. Not only was the flu part of this trip; but there were so many other things that we were just “so lucky” to have happen to us each day! Yes, this was the “vacation” we had all been waiting for.
Now don’t worry this wasn’t the only catastrophe that had happened. Oh no, not at all. My Dad made a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Once he returned home (back to the Pace’s at this time) he slipped his hand into his pocket expecting to pull out his black leather wallet when he realized that it was gone. He went back to the store searching for it and asking if anyone had turned it in. With our luck we didn’t find it at that time. He had to cancel all his credit cards and have a family member back in Utah find different kinds of ID to send to him since he would need it for his flight home. The day was stressful enough how it was and this seemed to just add perfectly to it.
Saturday arrived which meant we would be departing the next day. Everyone was feeling good and back to their spunky selves. After having an enjoyable evening we went to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up suddenly. I felt nauseous and the aches and pains in my stomach were terrible. Soon I found myself throwing up over the toilet. The sickness felt like it came upon me as fast as a cat sprinting across the street. “Perfect! Oh just perfect,” I exclaimed. How was I supposed to fly home feeling like this? Well yes, we weren’t quite sure how that would happen, but it added to the list of fun things we needed to figure out.
Sunday morning my Dad called the airport trying to reschedule my flight. The rest of the family, meaning the six kids and my Dad headed off to their flight back to Utah. My Mom stayed back in Arizona with me. I was bored as I lay in my friend’s bed wishing I was back home. Wishing I could feel the comfort of my nice warm bed that cuddled me in tight. I couldn’t have that for now. No, I was on my “vacation” throwing up in Arizona.
The rest of my family arrived at the airport. Was their trip home going to be relaxing at all? Oh definitely not. Once they boarded the plane they realized they would not have the comfort of sitting by someone they knew. They fought over sitting by my Dad which was out of the question because my two year old sister would be with him obviously. It was take off time and Cherish the squirmy two year old decided at the start she would not be quite or calm on this flight home what so ever. Each time she would cry my Dad would hand her a Starburst; her attention span was longer as she would unpeel the wrapper and plop the square treat in her drooling little mouth.
Each time she finished with one she would begin to cry again. My Dad would give her another one and she repeated this process until the bag was empty. Soon an odor filled the area. Looking over at Cherish he noticed something different about her dress. It wasn’t pink in the back anymore. No, it was brown. She had pooped all the way up her dress. He was frustrated with the situation and didn’t know what to do because seat belts were to be on at that time. He waited till the seat belt light flicked off then quickly picked her up and raced to the bathroom. He had no extra clothes and only a few wipes. She screamed as he took the cold wipe and slid it across her back.
After cleaning her up he opened the door. There were about fifteen people in line for the bathroom and it smelt terrible. He walked back to his seat with a screaming child naked with only the little baby’s bottom covered in a diaper. In one hand the child and in the other hand a sack of brown smelly clothes. What a trip. Going to Arizona was a tradition for us; but, because of that experience no one has wanted to go back, and we haven’t. People would ask how our trip was. All I would say was “it was definitely an exotic vacation.”