Road Trip!

My family was the king of road trips -- having five kids, flying was too expensive, so we hit the open road almost every summer. We've been coast to coast and north to south. At the time, getting there was sooo not half the fun; five kids in a hot, no a/c van (not a mini van - a van. No it wasn't even a conversion van!) for what seemed like weeks on end, with a father who thought stopping on the roadside to view some American oddity was fun and siblings who were bored 50 miles out of Denver. How my mother didn't leap from the moving car, I have no idea. However, as adults, reliving the "getting there" part can have us laughing so hard at the shared memories it can bring us to tears. The "getting there" stories rival our destination memories. Like tormenting a younger sister by freezing her Raggedy Ann doll and then telling her we threw it out the window. Or "surfing" in the back of the van - hanging off the seat belts which were flung over the back of the seats --- clearly this was before seat belt laws. Taking a head count to be sure everyone was in, only to pull out of the driveway and see a sister standing in the window. Ah, yes, those were the good old days. This was before we had scrapbooks, pictures yes, but there were no words to go with them, just our memories. So, this month's Little Yellow Bicycle line, Fresh Print Traveler, is just the ticket to document your vacation stories -- pictures and words. Regardless of whether you drive, fly, hike, bike or boat to your destination, these double-sided papers are going to make a perfect backdrop for your stories. The colors are crisp and the patterns are easy to work with. The map paper is really cool because it's heat embossed and sort of glossy.

Fun vacation photos need equally fun embellishments to help you tell your story. We've got just the ticket: a large clear film strip (these were bigger than I expected - 12" long), a fabric tag, a wild card, metal dog tag, rhinestone circles, summer title, length satin ribbon and some mini brads. Everything you need to map, mark and make your layouts complete.

Now, just because there is a map and some travel related items, don't think this kit can only document a vacation trip. Let it help you tell about your cross-country move, or moves if you do so on a regular basis, taking a child off to college, even heritage photos of how your family came to be where they are. There's enough paper in here to do non-travel layouts that just show off your simple summer themes.

Enjoy the ride with this kit and make sure you include those roadside stops.