Kaitlin Bruderer
Mrs. Burr
English 10/10 8th
Family Vacation Family trips to Sun Valley, Idaho are the highlight of my year. This vacation is not planned by our family; it is actually set up for a medical conference my dad and his boss attend, but honestly that is the small of the trip. We go because Sun Valley has amazing ski resorts and my whole family enjoys snowboarding, even my 7 year old brother. All of us learned from my dad. Since we go during the month of February there is always a Super Bowl party . We stay up late and cheer until all of us kids fall asleep and are drug back to our room. We play in the snow, go to fancy places to eat, and best of all we get a whole week to spend together. All too soon our trip ends. Dreading the long treacherous car ride home we look forward to sleeping in our own room in our own soft beds. Within the first few days of being home all of my friends know what goes on while I am on vacation, and usually it is detailed nicely starting off at the beginning.
For some reason the car ride up is always long, longer than I ever remember. I listen to my iPod because I don’t like what my dad plays. Heaping piles of glistening snow and some cars pass as we drive, this doesn’t interest me so I sleep. When we get to the hotel my dad has to go get the keys. We do not stay in the main hotel, they also own cabins and that is where we stay. By the time we get to our cabin I cannot wait to get out and stretch. We unload the car and decide who is sharing what room. After we are completely done unloading, snowboarding gear and all, we go to the tiny grocery store on the main street. Finally, after one last time unloading the car we get to hit the hay. I do not mind sharing a room with my sister, we used to when we were little so it brings back memories. It is almost comfortable to have her there with me. She can really get under my skin sometimes but she is and always be there for me. She is my best friend especially when we go on vacation.
The next morning is the worst for my dad. He gets to wake up early and go to his meetings. When he gets ready in the morning he is loud. I have to cover my head with the pillow because he wakes me up. Pillows do not help though. As soon as he shuts that door my sister is wide awake and once she is awake she will not go back to sleep. While my dad is gone we have a lazy morning. It usually consists of a big breakfast and watching T.V. His meetings are at random times throughout the day. Some in the morning some in the afternoon and some at night. He does not go to all of them though. He makes sure he only goes to the most important ones so we have time to spend together. The one meeting I remember most was when he asked my mom if she would go with him. It was one at night right after we had gotten done swimming at the pool sized hot tub. She rejected him nicely and said she would just stay with us kids at the cabin while he went with his boss John. My dad was not going to go alone though. He then turned to me and asked, “ Kate do you want to come with me?” I was so excited. My obvious answer was yes. I do not think he realized how much I really enjoyed medical business.
My dad is a Physicians Assistant and an Orthopedic Surgeon. His daily routine ranges from giving an elderly person a steroid shot to replacing a retired athletes hip. Watching him in the office makes me positive I want to be able to do something similar. I start to think about what might be inside as I see the bright lights through frosty windows. As we enter, there is a big room with tons of booths showing every side to the medical field there is imaginable and then there was a separate show room. In here there was a man explaining the latest and greatest ways to perform a knee surgery. We find some seats on the left side of the room, coincidently it is near my dads boss John. I listen to the aged man talk. Once he was about half way done a screen came down and started to project a live surgery, my dad started telling me that this was really happening in another room. I intently listened to the man describing what was going on. I know I shocked my dad when I started to predict what would happen next and where it would happen. Some 14 year old girl should not know that kind of stuff. But I did and I loved telling my dad what I knew about this whole scenario. Leaving the room, because we wanted to go look around at the booths, my dad ran into many people he knew. He would introduce me as his oldest daughter and then start to tell them about what had just happened. I felt like I was a piece of gold to him, the way he talked about me. I mean it was something so simple yet he was so intrigued to tell people about what I had told him. As we walked from booth to booth I started to realize how passionate my dad was about this stuff. Its like that quote, “If you love your job you never have to work a day in your life”. He told me everything he knew about each booth as we approached it. To me this was fun, not just because I got to spend time with my dad but because I knew that I loved this kind of stuff too. I did not want to leave but it was getting late. Our walk back to the car seamed fast, probably because my dad was quizzing me about what I had learned and what I liked the most. We got back to the cabin late but of course everyone was waiting up. I described what it was like and how much fun I had after my dad told his story once more. Gladly, I trudged up the stairs to my room, covered myself in the warm heavy blankets, and started thinking about boarding for the next few days.
Snow capped mountains are within 15 minutes every way. It is blinding but that is alright. Seriously everywhere is bright, white, and warm. Gliding down the mountain with the warm sun shining on your skin is heaven. Falling is no problem because the mountains all have fresh powder. The only problem is when you get stuck in powder that is too deep. It is almost like quicksand, the more you struggle the deeper you become. Being stuck is great though. Either I am stuck, watching my whole family laugh while I struggle or one of my family members is stuck as my abs start to burn and eyes start to tear up because of how hard I laugh. My dad attempts to help us by yelling. He tells us to roll over or un-strap our boots. Sometimes he’ll even hop back up the hill to rescue us. When we get to the long steep paths I love to carve fast. I feel like the best boarder out there when I go fast, those few seconds feel like I am winning some kind of race. It feels even more real when my dad takes pictures of us. I carve to the front, snap, I attempt a small jump, snap, and finally I get as close to him as I can with a big grin, snap. My calves burn and I cannot feel my fingers but I do not care, all I care about is being able to board the runs as many times as possible. All too soon the sun goes down, the nice powder turns to slushy ice, and my soaking body starts to freeze. It is most definitely time to go swimming.
Snow starts to fall lightly, like pure white feathers. Heat from the hotel burns my frost bitten ears as I push the heavy glass door open. My family slowly travels down the long hallway to the dressing rooms. Along the walls are photos of many people. There are pictures of old people, people skiing, the scenery, even famous people, and none of these hundreds of pictures are the same. I hustle outside because I know how cold I will be before I hit the water. Splash! My younger siblings and I all jump in excitedly. The bitter cold wind on my nose and the warm steaming water surrounding my body gives me the chills in a way that is oddly pleasing. As my dad relaxes us kids make up games or swim around the perimeter of the pool with my mom. Childish is how I would describe her as we swim. She joins in on our games but usually ends up dunking and chasing after us. I giggle when my dad describes my sister and mother to everyone, “The apple did not even fall off the tree”. My sister Marlee and her share the same brain, they are twins.
As our trip slowly comes to an end we are invited to a super bowl party. This is not just some rinky dink type of party, these people that hold the conferences go all out for the football game. Servers come rushing through swinging doors, pushing carts piled with clattering plates, filled with mouthwatering food. That’s not all that’s at the party though. Cardboard cut outs of the players in the game, noise makers, toys, and lots and lots of screen projectors to watch the game fill rooms of football fanatics. My dad continues to take pictures of us kids, now posing as the football players. We always get there early so we can have our own table next to a screen and the food. The kids mess around while the dads cheer and moms chat. Every once in a while I ask my dad what is going on and I quickly pick up on the game. Once the night is over dad carries my brothers to the freezing car. That’s the worst part about the trip, the car is always cold. When we get back, I can hear the soft crunch of snow beneath my feet. My thoughts become depressing as I think of packing, the car ride home, and having to wait for a whole year to pass before we get to come back.
There is snow at home but it is not the same, I have my room all to myself but it is not the same. My family will always be the same but our busy days start to stack up. Every once in a while we have a family night but it never seams as fun as the trip. These trips create memories that that could never happen at home, that is what I love most about them. If it wasn’t for these trips I do not think I would for sure know that I want to grow up to be like my dad.

Bruderer