Summer Vacations

It is a busy time of the year-kids out of school...some long weekends and of course the summer vacations. Summer vacations are quite new to Nancy and I. While we were in the Army (which already is 14 years ago) we normally did not go on summer vacations. We just took time off from work and did stuff we could get to pretty easily and inexpensive. Many times we were in some pretty nice areas (Europe, Hawaii, the south) so we didn't have to go far to see some unique places. A few of my memories are Volcano National Park( http://www.nps.gov/havo/ ) in Hawaii, the Keck Observatory( https://www.keckobservatory.org/about.php ), the Roman Ruins(Trier http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/trier.htm), Octoberfests-the Olimpic Village in Munich, Japan, Korea-the middle east tour-(Saudi, Kewait and Iraq) wow... were we every lucky! Nancy ever saw the touring King Tut exibition while we were in Washington.
Anyway I was hoping everyone would post some of their "best vacations" from these past few years-and share them with all of us...
This year we were lucky enough to go on a Ebel's houseboat trip in the Voyagers National Park- We had a great time...
Our road trip to Mount Rushmore and stands out very much in my mind ...but I think it was more about the journey (and who you are with) than the actually getting there.
The family reunion in 2001-was a great time as well (maybe we should do that again). I met people who I only had heard their names...
All the little festivals we attended while Nick and Randee were clogging... Branson, The Alamo, Dallas TX...and on and on!

Please let us know some of your best summer vacation memories...