Summer Vacation Paradise

Submitted into Contest #262 in response to: Write about a summer vacation gone wrong.... view prompt

57 comments

American Contemporary Historical Fiction

Summer Vacation Paradise


“Have you heard from the kids yet? Are they packed and ready to go? Mapped out their plan of action to get there about the same time as we will?” Jed fussed as he double and triple checked his list.

“You're the planner and coordinator of this whole trip. Haven't you been exchanging e-mails with them to know those answers?” His harried wife, Trudy, retorted. “Look. We saved for it. We meticulously planned for it. We've anticipated it. We've waited for this moment. We are on our way right on schedule. So relax. The kids are adults. You helped them along the way so they know what to do. Soon we will all be together for this lovely vacation in paradise. Here's the cooler to pack. The suitcases are by the door.”

“It's just that now they live so far away from us we don't get to see them very often and I want us to enjoy every moment we can with them. It was a genius idea you had for all of us to meet at a midpoint, almost equal distance for all of us. Daniel from the north, Rebecca from the south and us from the east. A cool idyllic oasis in the mountains of Colorado. I can hardly wait to get out of this humidity and heat.

“The fifth-wheel is packed, hitched and road worthy. Let's get started. Figure it will be nearly a two day drive with this rig. Too bad we couldn't all fit into this home on wheels. The kids' families will share a guest ranch bungalow at the campground we reserved. They'll start their drives tomorrow and arrive the same day we will.” Jed enumerated.

“Wouldn't be great if little Tommy and Myranda wanted to bunk in with us one or two nights. You think Stella may be too young? We could accommodate them, right?” Trudy mused.

“Sure, the dinette makes into a bed and the couch jack-knifes into one. Great idea. Never get enough of the grands. We'll let them stay up late watching a movie with popcorn.”

“Oh, sure, so they'll be grumpy and tired every hike we take.”

“It's what grandparents do. Spoil the kids.”

After two days driving, one overnight stay at a nondescript RV park on the plains, and a long slow pull up winding mountain roads with awe inspiring views Jed maneuvered his 250-Ford hauling the trailer through the picturesque touristy town of Estes Park. At a stop light they had to wait extra-long as a group of roaming elk meandered their way across the avenue to their favorite tourist viewing park.

“You don't see that everyday in Iowa, now do ya.” Jed elbowed his drowsy wife.

“They act like they own the place!” Trudy marveled. “Are we there yet?”

“We are in the area of the start of Rocky Mountain National Park. The village is known for it's resident elk. Look at all the monuments to them. Bet there is a ton of wildlife in this region. Did you see the pristine lake we just passed reflecting the mountain range around it? Simply gorgeous. That's the kind of views we'll be enjoying all week.”

“They are majestic animals. That's for sure. I'll snap a photo. But I don't know if I want to share the sidewalk with them as I'm shopping about town. We will get to do some shopping, I hope.”

“Ja-a-as, I'm sure you gals will get a chance to browse. Here's an arrow pointing toward the campground right along the river. The kids should already be here.”

Their RV site was fortunately within a stone's throw from the guest house the other family members had been assigned so they found each other immediately. Following hugs and reunion excitement, son, Daniel, and son-in-law, Martin, helped Jed set up the fifth-wheel trailer detaching the truck so it could be driven when needed.

Dabbing sweat from his brow Jed remarked, “Boy, it's hot. Thought we were going to be enjoying cool mountain air up at this elevation.”

“Locals say this is the hottest they ever remember it being this late in the summer season. Luckily, there is supposed to be a little rain in the forecast in a couple of days so that will bring some relief. I'll get us some beers so we can plan what to do first.” Martin offered.

“Found some brochures when we checked in.” Daniel added. “Better include the women in this conversation.”

The three couples, Jed and Trudy, Daniel and Kaitlyn, and Rebecca and Martin, settled around the campground pool with beers and iced tea while the three children, Tommy, Myranda and Stella splashed in the water.

Choices ranged from shopping and spa treatments, pontoon boating on the lake to canoeing or whitewater rafting on the Big Thompson River, llama or horseback riding, rock climbing lessons or mountain biking, four-wheeling or nature walk tours, zip-lining or adventure parks and on and on. For what's it worth, looked like no one would be bored.

The first day they played it safe with canoeing down a calm area of the river. It felt refreshing on another hot day. In the evening they followed the water theme with a relaxing pontoon trip around Estes Lake. The following day the children won out with the adventure park and riding llamas.

That night a light rain started to fall. Praise to Saint Marie! What a relief because everything had been so dry and hot!

The third day rain came down in earnest. Fun to go round splashing in it. The kids got to camp out in Grandma and Grandpa's trailer.

The fourth day the rain came down in buckets. Boredom set in. At least there was story time.

The fifth day the rain came down in waterfalls. The river swelled. The guys thought fly fishing off their deck would be a grand idea.

Having to cope with facts, Jed and Trudy moved into the small house with the rest of the family. They watched as their home away from home became loose and floated away like a house boat down the now raging river.

Grandpa Jed announced, "It is time to go home."

"We'll roger that!" The rest chimed in.

Campground staff informed them all roads had been washed out due to this 1000-year flood. Estes Park and all the inhabitants were stranded as if on a deserted island. Even Jed's big truck would not make it through.

More bad news hit as the foundation of the cabin started to erode under the rush of water. The whole campground was in danger of being wiped out. It had become a life or death situation. It became necessary to shoot the rapids getting out of danger. The family had to find new shelter. They took refuge in an overcrowded hotel.

Jed and Trudy's family's dream late-summer vacation in the Colorado mountain paradise turned into a nightmare. It was weeks before they could be airlifted out of the devastated town. All their belongings were ross, er, loss.

At least everyone survived. This historic Rocky Mountain flood took several lives and caused billions of dollars in damage in early September, 2013.






August 09, 2024 05:59

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57 comments

Mary Bendickson
06:08 Aug 09, 2024

Yes, yes, I said I wasn't going to do this for a while but when you are addicted... Besides with some tweaking this one will work for another project, too. Thanks to some friends mentioned for use of their names. I have a hard time choosing character names so I hope you don't mind if I pay homage to you. This story is based on an actual event. It is fictional otherwise. My husband and I were in Colorado for a job contract a year later in 2014 and visited this area. We drove on some roads that were newly repaired and some of the devastation ...

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00:05 Aug 21, 2024

Absolutely loved this nightmare vacation. Great work!

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Mary Bendickson
00:07 Aug 21, 2024

Thank you so much.

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Jack Kimball
17:09 Aug 14, 2024

Yup. Vacation gone wrong all right! Unfortunately the world may see a lot more global warming disasters as the years unfold. '1,000 year flood'. Thank you for sharing and I could tell you enjoyed writing this! In spite of your 'retirement', your addition continues. I, for one, am happy for your HYPERGRAPHIA!

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Mary Bendickson
17:33 Aug 14, 2024

That addiction is hard to break. Didn’t know it had a name.

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Malcolm Twigg
08:41 Aug 14, 2024

The vastness of one country never fails to astound a Brit where everything is literally about 12 hours away. Great description of the scenery, I felt I was there.

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Mary Bendickson
17:30 Aug 14, 2024

I live in the corn fields and rolling hills of northern Illinois. Very pretty wide open spaces. The Rockies are majestic and awe inspiring. Yet somehow I prefer a long view of the Smokie Mountains of eastern Tennessee.

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Marty B
04:39 Aug 14, 2024

Thrilling story, horrible vacation :(

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Mary Bendickson
17:22 Aug 14, 2024

Glad you liked this thrilling, horrible vaction😂

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Pei Pei Lin
02:20 Aug 14, 2024

I love this! I was instantly engaged with the characters.

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Mary Bendickson
17:21 Aug 14, 2024

Ooo. So glad you liked it and that was a wonderful cast of characters. Most of them I found right here on Reedsy☺️

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Pei Pei Lin
18:12 Aug 14, 2024

I love that! :)

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Eliza Levin
18:42 Aug 13, 2024

Great story, and the ending definitely took me by surprise! I loved the realistic dialogue--Trudy and Jed definitely felt like a real couple.

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Mary Bendickson
21:23 Aug 13, 2024

Glad you liked it.

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Susan O'REILLY
12:10 Aug 13, 2024

great read sláinte xx

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Mary Bendickson
17:45 Aug 13, 2024

Thanks.

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Yuliya Borodina
08:23 Aug 13, 2024

I liked the part, where despite it getting worse every day, the family still remained optimistic and tried to find another fun activity. It spoke of a determination to have a great vacation with their loved ones no matter what, and made it even more heartbreaking when no amount of optimism could help when the disaster struck. Good job!

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Mary Bendickson
10:53 Aug 13, 2024

Thank you 😊.

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Philip Ebuluofor
11:04 Aug 12, 2024

After reading others works like yours, I feel as if I am fooling around. How do you people do it. Writing as if you are talking.

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Mary Bendickson
11:16 Aug 12, 2024

Don't know about others but I try to imagine what things may be said. Try to reveal what I can by the words chosen. This is a high compliment. Thank you. I am not a long time writer. You do well with a language not of your first.

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Daniel Rogers
02:50 Aug 12, 2024

That vacation took such a dramatic turn in the final paragraphs, but it must have felt like that for the campers during the real event. Good job. Also, I'm glad the habit is proving hard to break. 🤣 Good to see another story from you, and I'm honored to be in it (if the Daniel is referring to me, lol).

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Mary Bendickson
03:20 Aug 12, 2024

Catch the 'roger'.

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Daniel Rogers
12:57 Aug 12, 2024

😀👍

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Carol Stewart
22:49 Aug 11, 2024

Would not have got the ross/loss thing if I hadn't spotted the nods to various authors here, all good fun. The truth of the event which inspired this must have been awful, but found this a heartwarming story with regards to the obvious closeness of the family in spite of the great distances between them all and the adverse conditions they came up against during the holiday. I particularly liked the day by day descriptions of the rain.

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Mary Bendickson
00:16 Aug 12, 2024

Glad you liked it and caught my cameos.

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Trudy Jas
15:45 Aug 11, 2024

It was as if I was there. Oh, yeah, I was. LOL Great story, horrible time for the park and the town. Welcome back?

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Mary Bendickson
17:12 Aug 11, 2024

Not totally back. Just focused more elsewhere. Were you actually in Colorado when that flood happened in 2013? Smashed cabin, broken bridges etc. still showed a year later.

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Trudy Jas
18:27 Aug 11, 2024

Ah, no. I wasn't. Can imagine that it'll take years to come back to its old glory. But nature is resilient, as long as man doesn't interfere. I just meant that you used my name, which made me feel as if I was there.

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Mary Bendickson
20:06 Aug 11, 2024

Oh,of course. How silly of me to forget! Trying to honor you and the others that have been so helpful.

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Trudy Jas
20:42 Aug 11, 2024

I felt honored. 🥰👸

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Darvico Ulmeli
15:14 Aug 11, 2024

Enjoyed even more knowing that the story actually is based on true event. Well done.

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Mary Bendickson
15:28 Aug 11, 2024

Thanks☺️

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BRUCE MARTIN
07:13 Aug 11, 2024

Very exciting story with a gripping end.

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Mary Bendickson
12:21 Aug 11, 2024

Thank you 😊.

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22:03 Aug 10, 2024

Loved this. You had the same idea as me, but your disaster is on a whole other level. I'm glad to notice you got some of your other writing done, too.

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Mary Bendickson
22:14 Aug 10, 2024

Think yours was true story. Mine was real event fictional story.

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22:28 Aug 10, 2024

LOL. That's funny. The story is tongue-in-cheek but a way happier version of what happened. Aspects are true (the weather, for example, and the location). Our secret; we had some bitter arguments and bickering about stupid things, which I left out. (And I'm not talking about sibling stuff—my brother loved to torment.) This is how I wanted it to be: family togetherness despite the weather changes. Dreams are free. I wanted to inspire.

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Rebecca Lewis
21:49 Aug 10, 2024

You've got a great story here with "Summer Vacation Paradise." It does a good job of mixing the excitement of a family trip with the sudden terror of a natural disaster, which makes for an engaging contrast. The story has a strong foundation with a great mix of lighthearted family moments and intense drama.

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Mary Bendickson
22:12 Aug 10, 2024

Thanks for the comments ☺️.

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McKade Kerr
13:52 Aug 10, 2024

This was a fun story to read! The excitement of getting the family all together was very relatable, which made the rest of the story that much more intense. I’m also glad to see that you haven’t broken your “addiction” to Reedsy yet 😂 I hope you still took some time this week to work on the book you’re wanting to publish 😁

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Mary Bendickson
14:22 Aug 10, 2024

I am. Can never get caught up on the reading now.

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Jim LaFleur
09:59 Aug 10, 2024

A vacation to remember. Well done!

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Mary Bendickson
13:45 Aug 10, 2024

Thank you😁

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Irene Duchess
20:14 Aug 09, 2024

Yikes! Definitely a vacation gone wrong! I'm glad they all got out safely, though.

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Mary Bendickson
20:20 Aug 09, 2024

Glad you liked it. These people were fictional but the flood event was real and some probably went through something similar.

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