Cruising Down Life's Highway

A few years ago we all knew that Dad would be home-bound between Christmas and Spring and there would be long stretches between visits with him.  So some of us sibs talked to each other and decided we could send him on a stay-cation   A cruise would be the easiest theme for everyone to contribute to from a distance.  We have sibs in California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Virginia.  So we sent word out by phone, Facebook and email.  Send Dad whatever you think will make him feel like he's on a tropical cruise.  We had taken Mom and Dad on a cruise for their 50th anniversary, so we had something to go by as we had all gone with them!  We did brainstorming in groups.

The cover of an album
from Dad's Air Force stint

I first sent a letter to Dad rolled up inside of an empty, label-free pop bottle.  It's nice that they're all plastic now.  (Yes, I am that old.)  It reminded me of the old TV show, Gilligan's Island which was Mom's favorite show at that time.   I'll attach our version, personalized with inside family jokes, soon.  Buddy is Dad's dog, and yes Buddy is a she.  Pretty Boy is his cockatiel, who complains loudly is you keep him up past his bedtime.  (We don't really know if Pretty Boy is a boy or a girl!)  The special appearance is someone that I knew would be stopping by.  A lot of the rest refers to family trips over the years.  If you don't know the person you're sending this to well enough for inside jokes, you can leave them out or use generic jokes.  Dad has not been to all of these places, but I'm sure he has dreamed about them!

Travelin' Bob getting us in the mood!

As soon as the bottle message was in the mail (I think it cost about $3 to mail) everyone kicked in with their contributions.  Our sister in L. A. filled an "if it fits it ships" postal box with beach sand.  Thank goodness she bagged it first.  The box was so heavy it got a little battered.  The mailman brought it to the door.  I happened to be there when it came and I'm not sure he believed it was beach sand.

Another of our sisters ordered a package of honey from Hawaii and a t-shirt.  He loved the honey and he has worn the t-shirt!  One of our brothers sent a package of coconuts and limes.  He was going to put in a CD of Harry Nilsson's "Coconut" (you know, "put the lime in the coconut") but Dad's more country.  He did love the idea!

I was able to take my two youngest Grands on a weekend trip to see "Great Papa", the six year old twins.  We stopped and picked out a helium balloon, a pirate of course cause Great Papa is a boy.  We went to Party City and got some cheap leis, straw hats, crazy sunglasses, sand pails with shovels and other tropical toys.  Even tattoos, not what you expect the princess to pick out!  It was a surprise visit because I knew he wasn't going anywhere!

Another brother and his wife brought an fiber optic color changing fish lamp and went on the cruise with us (they came to visit).  They helped the Grands put a bar-b-q grill together so we could have a luau and it was a real hoot.  One of the brothers sent some sea shells.  If I missed something I'm sure I'll be reminded.  ;-)

This trip can be as fancy or simple as you want.  Some of the ideas we discussed were stickers, mail a helium balloon in a box, rubber ducky, hula dancer for the car dash, coconut bra and grass skirt, tropical  sachet (you can't send aerosols in the mail), flip flop key chain, anything with monkeys or a beach towel.

Right after we told them about the 50th Anniversary Cruise!

How to send Spring in a Bottle.

Here are pictures of the spring flowers I sent in the mail.  I found some tea bottles that just begged for something beautiful to be put inside and mailed!  After taking the labels off and washing out then drying the bottles I tried to think of what to send.  Flowers!  Maybe tulips.  When I went to the grocery store floral department I saw some lily buds.  Good.  Then I saw little bundles of daffodils that had not yet bloomed!  Cheap and perfect for the season!  I asked for some florist paper and hurried home.  I put some scrunched paper, about a quarter of the sheet, into the bottom of the bottle and made it as flat as I could.  Then I cut the daffodils until they were short enough to fit in the bottle with 1-1/2 to 2" left to the shoulder of the bottle.  I put 3 in each bottle.  I put a few drops of water in the bottle, just enough so it won't splash around.  I then plugged the top of the bottle with another 1/4 of the florist paper.  I made sure there was just enough of the paper to catch in the lid when I screwed it on - I didn't want it to get knocked too far down into the bottle as below.

Now you can put a label on one side of the bottle, and a return address.  I took it to the Post Office to mail it, even though I knew it was less than 13 oz.  I couldn't fit enough stamps on the bottle to mail it (5 first class stamps) so I needed the little print out they use instead of stamps.  The clerk was the same one who had accepted the last bottle I mailed to may Dad, a green plastic bottle with a rubber duck and a note inside.  She wanted to know how that bottle had approved and I told her how much my Dad had enjoyed it!  She put the postage on and assured me it would stay on with no problem.

It arrived at Dad's in bloom and perfect shape.  I don't know what his mailman thought, he'd been able to just leave it in the mailbox.  The one I sent to my Aunt Katherine arrived at the same time her meals on wheels arrived and everyone oohed and aah-ed over it!  She had fresh flowers with her lunch!  I got a wonderful call from her the next day!  I also sent a daffodil bottle to my sister Suzanne in Denver.  It had stayed out on the porch overnight and froze - but thawed out and bloomed beautifully for her!

So all my flower bouquets all arrived in good shape and full of yellow cheer.  I'm glad I sent daffodils this early in the spring.  I'm sure they handled the freezing weather much better than the lilies would have.  I'll have to make sure to send weather appropriate blooms when I send the next ones.

Use this as a start and use your own creativity to personalize it for whoever you're sending it to.  I think a little glitter would be wonderful.  I hope you have as much fun with this as I and my family did!  

What's going on back there?! Don't make me pull over!!

Hi!  My name is Sandy and I'm from a family of 12.  We traveled a lot, believe it or not!  We had station wagons, vans (Dad called one of them the Paddy Wagon) and even buses.  We camped at State and National Parks because they were only $5 a night back then.  We stayed with relatives, they must have really loved us!  Just think about it, a carload of kids moving in for a few days!  Do we all have stories to tell!

We looked back at all the pictures as we got older and dubbed our Dad "Travelin' Bob".  He was tickled, if a big bear of a guy in overalls and chewing tobacco could be considered tickled.  He liked the name and it stuck.

Well, Travelin' Bob has gotten older.  He hates to admit it, but his traveling days are just about over.  Our family is spread out all over, literally from coast to coast.  We get together twice a year for the family reunion in the summer and then near New Year's for the winter.  But it's still hard to spend time with our Dad often enough.  A few years ago, when he could still travel a little, we sent him on a Staycation during the the winter months.  Our family sent him things that would make him feel like he was on a tropical cruise.  He loved it.

Then we sent him on a trip to a dude ranch last fall.  Again, it was a hit.  He can't travel at all now so I've been trying to figure out a way to entertain him from a distance.  I've looked all over the internet for ideas and found a few.  But I wanted MORE!  So I'm adding to what I found.

I hope to be able to help people keep in touch through the mail.  I love getting mail and sending mail.  It's a wonderful way to stay in touch, along with phone calls and texting and skyping!  Next I'll put up some pictures for the first trip.