This is the time of year when families begin making plans for summer travel. I come from a tradition of horrendous family vacations. There was the trip where my brother got his head stuck between the railings at a hotel and we had to call the fire department to free him. Another time, my sister and I became violently ill after playing in a bidet while on a trip to the Poconos. The worst trip, however, was when my parents decided it would be fun to take a train to visit my uncle in Texas. My parents made reservations to leave Erie, PA on Christmas morning, which was also the during the worst snowstorm of the year. The entire city was buried under snow, and our train was leaving at 4:30AM. My parents woke us up at 2AM. We quickly opened our Christmas presents and then piled into the family station wagon. My siblings and I began arguing in the backseat. My mother started fussing at us, and my father started yelling that he couldn't see anything in the blinding snow. Before we knew it, we had skidded off the road and landed in our neighbor's ditch. We didn't even make it off our street! 
We began the hike back home. At some point, my father had to carry me. He tripped and we both landed in the snow! I began crying as tears froze to my face. My parents had to buy new tickets but could not change the return date. The trip ended up costing my parents over $2,000. We spent 36 hours on the train ride to get there, 1 day in Texas, and another 36 hours back. To this day, they don't regret it because looking back, the trip was a laugh a minute and created memories that we will never forget.