Our family took a vacation to Ojai, CA, for several days. There was swimming, tennis for my siblings, and fun walks discovering the little town. I was pretty young, maybe 5 or 6, so there was not much for me to do. But still, this is my most memorable vacation as a child.
Our folks really talked up this little, out-of-the-way fried chicken and biscuit cafe. My memory tells me the drive was long and boring, but it was worth it! The food was delicious, and we had lots of great leftovers to have the next day, on our way home.
When we got back to the motel for the night, we all got our PJ's and jumped into our beds.
The next morning I woke up from a very sound sleep to discover I was covered in black ants! They were all over my bed, and crawling all over me! I yelled for Mom! She came running in from the other room to find her youngest covered by a very busy blanket of ants.
She jumped into action to help me get cleaned up and ant-free. She told me she set the leftover food on my bed, then forgot to put it in the cooler.
I did not have a single ant bite — the chicken, biscuits, and honey butter were the main attraction. Mom and Dad took care of our ant problem. Then it was time to head back home, but without our chicken picnic lunch.
This childhood memory did not dampen my love for Ojai. I loved going back to that beautiful place as a teen, with my mom and sister, the weekend before Paula's wedding to Jim Pease. Later, John and I went to the Ojai Resort. It is a wonderful place to stay or visit.
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Mom, Dad, Paula, John