When I was young, the family traveled to Minnesota in old vans that had transmissions that were about to fall out, that stuttered and stalled and jolted up every Allegheny Mountain and that had dysfunctional gas gauges that left us stranded on the side of the highway. Jacob, Rebecca and Caleb went to Minnesota in a rented 2008 Chevy Trailblazer (with leather seats and power windows) that conquered every hill with cruise control like it was flat land.
When I was young, we drove to Minnesota straight-through (a twenty-four hour trip) and slept in the car. My younger siblings stayed two nights at a hotel.
When I was young, we packed our food and made sandwiches in the van. Jacob, Rebecca and Caleb ate food cooked hot at establishments off the highway.
When I was young, Isaac and I played the alphabet game and looked desperately out the window at license plates trying to find the letter "Z". Jacob, Rebecca and Caleb watched about twelve DVDs on a laptop computer.
Ah, well, such is the luxurious life of my younger siblings!
Anyhow, in all seriousness, the trip was reported to be very restorative. Mom and Grandma were so especially grateful for the tremendous amount of love and support shared throughout the days of remembering and celebrating Grandpa's life.