Surviving Summer Vacation Read Online Free Page A

I had one, and so did Alison.
    â€œI want some too,” Ariadne said, and Billy piped up, “So do I.”
    â€œNot too much for Ariadne this time of day,” Mrs. Rupe said, “or she’ll wet the bed. Why don’t you get some paper cups down, Alison dear, and divide a can between them?”
    Just as she got up to do that, we swerved around a truck, and it nearly threw Alison off her feet. She grabbed for the back of a chair and clipped her hip on the corner of the table. She showed me the bruise it left later, a dark purple spot.
    She didn’t say anything, though, just got the cups and divided a can of pop between the kids. Ariadne looked into hers. “Ice,” she said.
    â€œIce,” Billy echoed, holding up his cup.
    Alison added ice to both cups. She had no more than sat down when Billy placed his cup on the floor. A moment later, he forgot it was there and knocked it over with his knee, where it poured ice and pop all over my feet.
    â€œOh, it spilled,” Billy said.
    Mrs. Rupe looked around. “Alison, dear, there are plenty of paper towels. Clean it up, will you?”
    I bent over and began to pick up pieces of ice,putting them back into the empty cup, while my sister got the towels to sop up the mess. It left a dark, wet spot on the blue carpet.
    â€œMan, this is the way to travel,” Harry said. “While you’re up, Alison, why don’t you get us out a package of those barbecue-flavor potato chips?”
    Alison hesitated for a moment, expecting Harry’s mother to object, but she didn’t, so ­Alison handed over one of the bags of chips. Harry popped it open and passed them around.
    So we roared down the freeway, off on our adventure with all the luxuries anyone could ask for. If my feet hadn’t felt so soggy and sticky, and Mr. Rupe’s driving hadn’t made me kind of nervous—though he did better on the straightaway, where all he had to do was steer forward—I would have figured this was going to be one of the all-time great vacations.

Chapter 3
    It was a really great campground where we stayed the first night.
    There was a heated swimming pool, and a wading pool for the little kids. Alison could even watch them from the bigger pool, so she could swim too. “Help me, though, Lewis,” she said. “I don’t think I can trust either one of them. I remember how Mom used to put life jackets on us. I wish Billy and Ariadne had some.”
    They loved the water, though neither of them could swim. After Billy came racing toward the bigger pool and jumped in and we had to fish him out, I thought it might be a good idea to teach him some of the basics. I had an uneasy feeling Alison was going to need more help than I’d figured. We showed them how tohold their breaths and put their faces under the water, so they wouldn’t be afraid if they fell in accidentally and we weren’t there to rescue them, and how to dog-paddle.
    It was nearly dark when we came out of the pool, and there were lights on throughout the park. Mr. and Mrs. Rupe had set up lawn chairs beside the motor home. She was smoking, and he was barbecuing hamburgers on a grill. She had put out a bunch of chips and dip and an ice chest of pop, and there was a carton of deli potato salad.
    â€œWhat’s for dessert?” Harry asked as we were finishing off our third burgers. “Ice cream? With chocolate syrup?”
    â€œGet it yourself,” Mrs. Rupe said.
    I wondered if Mom would relax her nutritional standards on a trip like this. She likes lots of salads and vegetables, and we don’t usually get ice cream more than once a week or so. Her idea of dessert is more likely to be a dish of applesauce or fresh berries.
    â€œPretty good, huh?” Alison asked, grinning over the enormous bowl of rocky road ice cream she had balanced on her knees.
    â€œNot bad,” I admitted, grinning back. “It’s going to be a great