{"id":23319,"date":"2026-03-11T14:32:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/their-christmas-family-road-trip-was-a-gift-that-kept-on-giving\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:16:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:16:04","slug":"their-christmas-family-road-trip-was-a-gift-that-kept-on-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/their-christmas-family-road-trip-was-a-gift-that-kept-on-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"Their Christmas Family Road Trip Was a Gift That Kept on Giving"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media-youtube-player\"><iframe class=\"media-youtube-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_mL-1rQiZx4?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u201cGod knows we deserve an exciting Christmas this year,\u201d I said to my husband, Marcus, one night shortly after Thanksgiving 2021. \u201cWhat if we surprise our families and just show up in Indiana unannounced? Wouldn\u2019t that be perfect?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d spent the previous Christmas camped out at the hospital, alone, frightened and cut off from family support by pandemic restrictions. Our three-year-old son, Reese, had been <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/living-with-cancer\/a-gift-of-hope-during-leukemia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">diagnosed with leukemia<\/a>. Now, after a year of grueling treatment and nonstop prayers, he was in remission. His doctors had given him the okay to travel. A ton of family was only a day\u2019s drive away. This Christmas called for a real celebration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s rent an RV,\u201d Marcus said, \u201clike in <em>National Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation<\/em>.\u201d Our favorite Christmas movie featured the hapless Griswold family, whose every holiday plan went awry in an entertaining romp. \u201cI\u2019ll even dress up like crazy Cousin Eddie!\u201d It sounded like a real adventure.<\/p>\n<p>I combed RV rental sites and found just the right 33-foot-long motor coach to comfortably sleep Marcus, me, Reese and his big brother. The boys and I would sit around playing games while Marcus drove. I followed a YouTube <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/katie-browns-diy-gift-wrapping-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video on elaborate wrapping for our gifts<\/a>. I loaded up on snacks. I even found that Cousin Eddie outfit: white bathrobe, black socks, goofy hat. We\u2019d make quite an entrance.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_99994\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99994\" style=\"width: 384px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"longdesc-return-99994\" class=\" wp-image-99994\" tabindex=\"-1\" src=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/griswold_family_road_trip_embed-300x342.jpg\" alt=\"Amanda and her family; Photo Courtesy Amanda Hayhurst\" width=\"384\" height=\"437\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles?longdesc=99994&amp;referrer=99217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/griswold_family_road_trip_embed-300x342.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/griswold_family_road_trip_embed-340x387.jpg 340w, https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/griswold_family_road_trip_embed.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-99994\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Amanda and her family; Photo Courtesy Amanda Hayhurst<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Days before departure, the RV rental place called. Our reserved RV had been in an accident and the others were taken. It seemed that every RV within 100 miles was spoken for. Except one, <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/teenagers\/praise-god-no-matter-what\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">praise God<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We went to pick up our\u2014<em>Clunker!<\/em> There was no way anyone except the Griswolds would rent this dented and dinged RV with an interior that had seen better days. But it would be a means to a perfect end. I could live with that.<\/p>\n<p>In the wee hours of December 22, we were on our way! The kids had the games out before we turned off our street. Marcus picked up speed on the highway. The RV shook. Game pieces toppled. Bottles clinked in the refrigerator. An avalanche of chips and granola bars fell from a wonky cabinet. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to go slow,\u201d Marcus said. \u201cReal slow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d let Marcus\u2019s sister in on our secret. She had concocted an excuse to get as many relatives together as possible at their house that evening. I called to warn her that we\u2019d miss the welcome party. \u201cNo one leaves this house till you get here,\u201d she said. \u201cText me when you\u2019re close.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four hours later than planned, I sent our location. Marcus\u2019s brother-in-law, a police officer, waited on the outskirts of town to escort us with flashing lights. We pulled up to the house, and Marcus jumped out in his costume. Everyone rushed outside cracking up. \u201cSo <em>this<\/em> is why we\u2019ve been held hostage!\u201d my father-in-law said.<\/p>\n<p>We slept in the RV that night and the next. Our days were so full, we slept like babies. A bunch of us filed into <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/stories-of-faith-and-hope\/multicultural-christmas-eve-service-in-los-angeles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a beautiful Christmas Eve church service<\/a>, so much different from the year before. On Christmas morning, we awoke eager to hand out the presents I had hidden in the under-storage area. I swung my feet out of bed and found the floor covered with dirty water. Toilet water. <em>Lord, really?<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/the-powerful-gift-of-a-deep-breath\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I took a deep breath.<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019ll deal with this later. Let\u2019s get those presents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We tiptoed out and opened the under-storage. Flooded. I pulled out one of my YouTube masterpieces and hurled it. <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/family\/military-families\/when-the-perfect-moment-doesn-t-matter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cI worked so hard to make this Christmas perfect!\u201d<\/a> I flung another gift. \u201cEverything is ruined!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus smirked. \u201cWell, we <em>did<\/em> say we wanted a National Lampoon Christmas\u2026.\u201d <em>Ugh<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I sulked while the others got breakfast ready. Eventually I realized I didn\u2019t know where Reese was. I wandered through the house and followed the music coming from the guest room. I peeked in. Reese was sitting on the floor, staring up at his grandpa playing guitar. It looked like a pretty perfect moment. Why couldn\u2019t it be that simple for me? I rallied for the family\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the day, we unclogged the toilet in the RV, mopped out the floor and drove two hours\u2014slowly\u2014to spend time near my relatives. Parked at my grandma\u2019s house, we had a joyful, if giftless, reunion with my side of the family.<\/p>\n<p>We packed up the next morning. Not just us. Some of the gang wasn\u2019t ready to say goodbye. We would head to Georgia in a caravan and keep the family fun going. Reese made sure Grandpa brought his guitar. I was glad we\u2019d have reinforcements on the way home. Which turned out to be a blessing when a loose tire barreling down the highway collided with the RV, putting it off the road for good. A van stood in for the final stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Safe and sound back in Georgia, we laughed ourselves silly telling stories from this crazy trip that wouldn\u2019t end until it had delivered all its gifts. It was the family vacation that kept on giving. I wouldn\u2019t have changed a thing. <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/stories-of-faith-and-hope\/a-tornado-taught-her-the-true-meaning-of-a-perfect-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">It definitely was not the Christmas I had envisioned<\/a>, but it would be a hard one to top. Perfect, you might say, for us would-be Griswolds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media-youtube-player\"><iframe class=\"media-youtube-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2tUVVYtaU8M\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cGod knows we deserve an exciting Christmas this year,\u201d I said to my husband, Marcus, one night shortly after Thanksgiving 2021. \u201cWhat if we surprise our families and just show up in Indiana unannounced? Wouldn\u2019t that be perfect?\u201d We\u2019d spent the previous Christmas camped out at the hospital, alone, frightened and cut off from family [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,172,136],"tags":[66,24,25,288],"ppma_author":[706],"class_list":["post-23319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-friends-and-family","category-positive-living","tag-cancer","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-joys-of-christmas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Their Christmas Family Road Trip Was a Gift That Kept on Giving - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Their Christmas Family Road Trip Was a Gift That Kept on Giving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cGod knows we deserve an exciting Christmas this year,\u201d I said to my husband, Marcus, one night shortly after Thanksgiving 2021. \u201cWhat if we surprise our families and just show up in Indiana unannounced? 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