When I think of “family traditions,” I usually think about the holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, I’ve recently realized that we have traditions in so many areas of our lives. And a lot of them revolve around our summer trips. I’ll call them our “Summer Trip Traditions.” We don’t travel a lot, and when we do, we are usually on the way to see family. Even in the little things, we’ve managed to create some of our own important traditions.
Trips to San Antonio:
- Always have coffee from Moonbeans before the trip
- We drive north and always make a pit stop at the rest stop after the checkpoint. My husband wrote a play about the Chisholm Trail, so we like to walk around the area, empty our bladder, and wonder what it would be like to round up cattle and take this route (yes, there is a land marker for the Chisholm Trail).
- After that, we usually go non-stop to San Antonio.
- On the way down from San Antonio, we usually stop at the Texas Best store in George West, or as my son calls it, “the Jalapeño Store.” This is my favorite tradition we have: we buy ice cream or paletas, sit on the car hood or trunk and eat the ice cream while watching the cars pass by.
Trips to Austin:
- Ditto to everything we did for San Antonio
- Once we pass San Antonio, we always make a pit stop at BUC-EES in New Braunfels. My husband and son share a bag of Funyons, they each have their own Gatorades, and I usually get some candied pecans. We also pull a “George West” and stop to watch the cars pass by while eating our snacks. Oh, and Azariah has to give BUC-EES a hug and get a picture every time!
Trips past Austin:
- See above, except there are more BUC-EES stops.
- The BUC-EES tradition in Austin is the same. However, the BUC-EES in Temple is a little different. We stop to empty bladders, get snacks (again), and we also play around. My husband and son will play catch or football. Of course, if BUC-EES is busy, we do not run around like crazy people.
- On the way back from our trips past Austin, we try to meet with my sister for lunch or just a fun game at her place.
I hope this post inspires you to look at the small traditions you are starting with your family. I sure do hope Azariah will remember these little traditions and pass them on.
