Friday, March 17, 2006

Remember When???

Before I start just wanted to post the quote for today :)

Life is an adventure.
Hang on to your hat and scream for all you're worth.

Well it's another friday and time for another "Remember When???".
I love sharing family stories, and we've had pretty funny things happen to us. So here we go:


It's a bright early morning, my dad and stepmom, my youngest brother and me and my boyfriend, pack up the car and get in. We're excited, we're going to Durban for the week.


Durban is on the east coast of South Africa and we LOVED going there for vacations.
So we get in the car and start driving and everything is fine.

A couple of hours into the drive we are just past Harrismith  when we decide to stop for breakfast. We get out and enjoy a great breakfast, then get back in the car. UH OH!!! Something is not right. The car is not working, something is definitely broken. Now I don't recall exactly what the problem was, I want to say it was the transmission but I may be wrong and I'm sure my dad will correct me LOL

So now we are in one of those travel places where they have the gas station, restaurant etc. They did have an auto shop but it was closed so we had to wait for it to open. They have these picnic tables around the gas station so we go and sit there and wait. We talk and just watch all the other cars go by, headed to Durban, headed to the beach and here we are sitting on a picnic bench wondering what the heck we're going to do.
Lunch time comes around and we go back into the restaurant and eat, and then dinner time rolls around and we do the same. We kept getting these weird looks from the staff there because usually people will stop by and eat and continue on their journey. But not us LOL they must have thought we loved the food so much that we just stayed there. If only they knew!!!

The auto shop finally opens and they figure out what's wrong with the car. It was an old Peugeot Station Wagon which my dad absolutely loved. LOL
Anyway, the guy says that it will take the rest of the day to fix it and we need to stay overnight, so he offers us his house, he invites us to stay with him and his family, which we thought was really nice. Before we leave to go to his house my dad remembers that he left his wine, yes you heard right, his WINE, in the car. So he goes back in and tells the guy he needs to get something out of the car, by this time the car is up on jacks and now they have to lower it so he can retrieve his box of wine LOL

We go to the guy's house and before retiring to our bedroom, his wife asks if we need anything, to which my dad replies "yes please, a glass so that I can drink some water" LOL we all knew what the glass was for and unless water is made from grapes, you catch my drift LOL
We all pile into one bedroom with two beds. My dad pulls out the wine and has a glass or two. We are just laughing at this time. Finally the next morning comes around and we leave to go see if the car is ready. Dad stays at the auto shop and the rest of us come back to the house to get the luggage. Did I remember to tell you that we THEN had to drag the luggage back to the auto shop, while walking alongside the highway? HAHAHAHAH

We finally pile back in the car and now we've lost 2 days so we decide to just head on back home and not risk going further. What a disappointment, we were so looking forward to the beach. But our bad luck wasn't over. LOL On the way back home, we drive for a couple hours and then stop for gas and decide to run into the fast food place and grab some burgers. The place was SOOOOOO packed with people it took a while. We get back to the car and now we realize they messed up the order and we're missing some burgers LOL......by this time dad is just so annoyed so he says "forget it, let's just go".


Oh man what a trip that was. We got back home that night and felt like we had when we left. IN DESPERATE NEED OF A VACATION!!! What funny memories, thanks for letting me share it with you :) Hope I brought a smile to my family's face :)

Will be back next friday with yet another "Remember When???"

3 comments:

Courtney said...

Sounded fun! I remember our old family vacations where nothing ever went as planned but it was still a blast!

Anonymous said...

I was chatting my aunt this morning who lives in Durban. She says the crime is so bad there now that it is not even safe to walk along the beach on your own. I remember spending June school hols with her and whilst my cousins were at school, I would wander along the beach front or go to the pool to hang out - all on my own. Sadly those days are now gone. From all that I hear from friends, Durban is now the last place I would visit. Hang onto those memories because they are truly special and precious.

Sandra said...

Michelle that is so sad. I LOVED going to Durban. We spent many family vacations there, Margate, Uvongo etc. I remember walking around the city with my brothers while my parents were at the hotel. Can't believe it's not possible to do so anymore, that's really sad :(