Hard to “like” that story…
Last month I managed to fall three times in one day while my husband, Alaska daughter and her husband and I were at our other daughter’s lake house for a week.
First time I was grumbling cause no one else had taken out the trash. Spent too much time grousing and forgot her long garage goes down a step halfway to the trash cans. Big bruise on left hip.
Then we all went kayaking on a faster and deeper than normal river. I caught my oar I n an eddy going around a sharp bend and fell out. My daughter had to tow me a long way until we could find a safe spot to haul my butt out of the freezing water and back into the kayak
A while later we had to portage the kayaks around some Rapids. The trail was muddier than usual. We set up a cargo line with me in front, everybody but me holding front of one kayak and back of another. My ankle went out and we all went down. Now in PT for ankle.
One bright spot. When we banked at the portage site we discovered a huge toad had hopped into H’s canoe while he was helping me after my swim. Toad found a new home a mile from where he started.
“Toad found a new home a mile from where he started”
Lol!!!
Some could call our first Kauai vacation a vacation from hell, but we loved it despite a few glitches. I got stung by a manowar during my very first swim off the beach by the hotel. Not a very pleasant feeling! Luckily, the life guard in the nearby park had some vinegar, and it neutralized the poison. Then, a couple days later, baby kiddo, 10 at the time, developed a case of swimmer’s ear, and I had to call our insurance to figure out where to go to see a doc. The lady on the other end of the line started laughing hysterically while reading the names of Hawaiian towns - she found them very amusing. Took care of the ear… Next evening, while we were driving across a narrow bridge, a giant roach appeared out of the vent on the dashboard! Same kiddo was not amused! She refused to go into the car in the dark. We had to tell her that roaches only came out when it was light 
- not really true, but it solved the issue.
And we still had such a great vacation that since that time we have been to Kauai 4 times. And I really lost count how many times we have been to the islands total! 
We had a vacation that could have been from hell, but we decided not to let it get us down. We went to Turks and Caicos when the kids were 9 and 11-- and our luggage didn’t make it. Never made it. We didn’t want to buy all new stuff because the airport and hotel kept telling us it was coming the next day. We did have to end up buying a few things-- a few things from the spendy boutique, and then we got a driver to take us to a hilariously sketchy local ‘department store’ where we bought undies and some other things. All photos from that trip have us wearing one of two outfits. My two outfits made me look like a streetwalker. Four weeks after our return, right before Christmas, guess what-- our luggage came to our house.
My son would say he had a vacation from hell because his parents MADE him stay in an amazing 11th c former castle in Italy and there was a centipede in the kitchen that freaked him out for years. Years. He still talks about it.
Ex and I decided to get divorced in a midst of a family European vacation. We had to stay until the end because we couldn’t get a flight back right away. My kids said they would never go back to that country EVER again.
@jaylynn … you had me until the centipede :))
@oldfort, yours gets my vote for the vacation from hell. That would suck.
Thread closed. Oldfort “wins.”
I agree, nrdsb4
Oldfort, that is terrible.
I forgot, I got stunk by sea urchins because I slipped and had to use my hand. People recommended to put vinegar on. It stunk for a while. But it was still a nice vacation but next time I will be wearing gloves to go snorkeling.
I tried to like snorkeling. I really tried. But I decided, I’m just not THAT into wildlife. Being kissing distance from a fish, for me, was very alarming. Then I saw an eel, and something with wings hovering above the ocean floor, and I screamed through my snorkel so loud people on shore heard me. So, no more snorkeling, ever. Does that make me a bad person?
PS. OMG, DrGoogle – urchins sting???
If you touch them, yes. You can’t pull out the spikes. They are breakable easily.
So many scary things under water…
Yes, I worry about sharks next. When I was in Maui, I didn’t dare go snorkeling because a 55 years old’s leg got bitten by a shark. He was near the place that I would normally go out on a boat to snorkel.
We went on a cruise to St Johns awhile ago. I am a very poor swimmer, and they parked our snorkeling boat far from shore. It was that time of the month for me, and I asked a female guide if I was okay to snorkel. She laughed and said, “Sure, we call it shark week.” So I went out,decided to come back on my own because I was nervous, and a shark swam right underneath me! Of course, I started flailing and splashing, like injured prey. Ah!! Can’t believe I made it back alive! Menopause could be a good thing.
Trip to visit family when oldest kid was about 15 months old. Flight was delayed leaving here. Got to connecting city…no plane in sight at the gate. Plane was delayed ten minutes at a time…so we couldn’t exactly leave the gate area. We had checked our stroller…and the kid was in a backpack (he was small). We ran out of food after about an hour and a half of additional waiting.
Eventually the plane came, and off we went. When we got to the destination, I went to get the rental car, and car seat…and DH went to get the suitcases.
Well…the rental,car company did not have any car seats…despite my confirmed reservation of one. And it was against the law to transport the 15 month old in a car without a car seat. So…I needed to figure out what to do.
I met DH who was walking toward me…sans luggage…which apparently got lost somewhere along the way.
We called my sister who came to get us at the airport…we were supposed to be there in time for lunch…but didn’t get there until well after dinner time.
Luckily the rest of,the week was fine!
" there was a centipede in the kitchen that freaked him out for years. Years. He still talks about it. "
Two room cabin at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Happydad & self settling in for the night in one room. Happykid & cousin in the other. Loud screaming from kids’ room. Not a centipede but rather some other large harmless-to-human-beings bug. Yup. They still talk about it.
lol!
Yes, this was not that big, certainly harmless, no worse than the bugs I grew up with living in a wooded area in Iowa. This kid, though, came downstairs just the other night to sleep on the couch because there was a spider in his room at 2:30. He’s a hulking 19 year-old now, but apparently still wussy as hell wrt tiny creatures.
I thought my kids are the worst. They scream at harmless daddies long legs. Forget about brown recluse, they even scream louder.
I haven’t really had a bad vacation , but I don’t like visiting my husband’s family. We will probably go there in September to visit and I will reluctantly go because it is my husband and FIL shared birthday. I think I might be able to handle staying with his dad , but staying at his mom’s house is just plain gross. Thel art time I as there was about 3 years ago and we didn’t have a real bed to sleep in , let alone clean linens and pillows. I had to clean the bathroom without rubber gloves and the tub hadn’t been cleaned since our daughter was 3 ( there was still the baby wash I left there in 2000 ) I don’t consider myself high maintenance , but my husband made a stop to a department store when he picked me up at the Copenhagen airport to pick up a duvet since he knew I would be disposed with the dingy, drool stained bedding that was awaiting. If I can pack a pillow and clean pillow cases, I might be able to suck it up