After two years, I am excited to be going on a vacation

I believe in vacations. When I worked at the Comprehensive Care Center our director, Roland Mullins, a very nice person, insisted we take vacations, clear our minds and come back refreshed ready to work harder and better than ever. That was good advice, but because of Covid I haven’t had a vacation in two years.

Growing up, our family didn’t take vacations. We visited relatives out of town and that was about it. But after Judy and I were married we started having summer vacations, and that went on for over 50 years until 2020.

Our first was to St. Petersburg, Fla. Where we stayed in the Princess Martha Hotel, a very old but nice hotel located downtown. I enjoyed our visit there. It was a place where my wife’s father had stayed with other soldiers for a period of time during World War II.

But after that we located to beach front motels for a period of years. Back then the small motels were located right on the beach near the water. Since then they have all been replaced by high rise hotels.

We spent several years there and then later found other locations. In more recent years my boss, Terry Forcht, afforded us and other employees the use of his condo at Hilton Head. We enjoyed that very much.

There is no wonder why the Forcht Group wins the best place to work year after year. Just recently Mr. Forcht took over 70 employees to the Kentucky Derby. I have had that opportunity because of him, plus many other perks that makes you really appreciate working for him.

But after the two-year absence from taking a vacation. I was eager to take one this year. So, back in February things started to look better Covid-wise and we booked our vacation for June. Never did we imagine the problems that are taking place with the airlines.

Now I am apprehensive about taking the trip we scheduled for Alaska. I have heard so many people recommend going there so that is our destination this year. But I am worried about the airline schedule.

If everything doesn’t go according to plan then all our bookings will be lost. I never gave it a second thought that everybody else felt the same as us and wanted to get out and go somewhere after being cooped up for so long.

No wonder gasoline prices are so high. There are several factors involved of course, but the demand is one of them. Highways are bumper to bumper with traffic and airports are jam packed.

It is too late now to turn back. I have my fingers crossed that we will escape the misery that some people are experiencing. I will be giving you a report soon to let you know the difficulty, or hopefully the lack of, by travelling by air. One thing for sure, we will be escaping the heat that is forecast here. So Bon Voyage, here’s to vacations!