Well, it's back-to-school time. I remember when I was in school (a zillion years ago), almost every year the teachers would ask us to write an essay on what we did over summer vacation.

For the most part, mine looked pretty boring on paper.How do you write an exciting essay about riding a bike, reading comic books up in a tree with a best friend, swimming in the local swimming hole in a creek, going to church picnics or lying in the cool grass looking up at the sky and imagining dragons and puppy dogs out of the clouds?Our family did spend a couple of nights at Wildwood, New Jersey, each year.While maybe not exciting, summer vacations were wonderful. Or maybe just as I got older, I weeded out all the negatives and concentrated only on the good things.Since school days, I have been very blessed to have many memorable vacations and pray there will be many more.Did you ever try to show family and friends your pictures from vacation? Do you notice how their eyes glaze over when you point out that Mount Rushmore is visited by about 3 million people a year and George Washington's nose is 21 feet long? Maybe even Uncle Fred nods off as you describe the 17th sunfish you caught on the fishing trip to Maine.Do you know what make the best vacation stories?The bloopers. I've noticed that it's the telling of vacation bloopers that keep an audience awake.A lot of our vacation bloopers revolve around our choices of places to stay.A Long Beach Island motel room's toilet kept running all night and kept us awake. There was about 6 inches between the bottom of the door and the floor so that every car that went by sounded like it was coming right through our room, not to mention the car lights lit up the room like it was daylight on an airport runway. When you add sound effects and a lot of drama, it becomes a pretty good story.Staying at a place called Camp Geronimo in New York, we thought we were staying in a cute little log cabin, only to find it was a little camper with a fake log cabin façade. It was fall and we needed the heater on. But it was so noisy, we had to turn it off. Eventually falling asleep, we almost succumbed to frostbite.Several years ago, we went to Rockport, Massachusetts. It is a beautiful, picturesque New England seacoast village. I saw an article in a magazine about it and decided that was where we were going to go. I did a lot of research about places to see on the way.Being educated as an English teacher with a passion for literature, when I read about the Ralph Waldo Emerson Inn by the Sea, I knew we had to stay there. When we arrived, it was everything I imagined. Located on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, it was majestic, romantic and lovely."Never lose the opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting." - Emerson.Then we were shown to our room. It was about the size of a jail cell. But a charmingly decorated jail cell. I saw the look of dismay on the faces of my husband and daughter and knew I was in trouble.It had one full-size bed. Becky said, "Where am I supposed to sleep?"I pointed to a folded-up cot at the foot of the bed. Trying to put a positive spin on things, I said brightly, "It'll be like camping! This will be fun! Hey, just look at that view!"Trying to get everyone's attention away from the postage-stamp room, I suggested we explore the gorgeous gardens, play some quoits and visit the pool.That night we found there was only one position where the cot fit, and that was lengthwise at the foot of our bed.To get in it or out, Becky had to climb in from the bottom because there was not room on the side.The bathroom was so small, only one person could be in it at a time."How much are we paying a night for all this 'charm'?" asked Harry once we were all snug as bugs in a rug."Hmm, I think it's somewhere around $100," I said with my fingers crossed."Yeah well, that's about $99 too much," he replied.The next morning was a total disaster as the three of us vied for the shower, toilet and sink, to say nothing of trying to maneuver around bed, cot and suitcases to get dressed."All life is an experiment. The more experiments, the better." - Emerson.Harry, a very easygoing guy and who will do anything for me, uncharacteristically said, "Pack it up. We're out of here. I'm not staying another night." Becky was thrilled at the idea. And as much as I loved the ambience of the whole place, I knew Ralph Waldo Emerson Inn by the Sea was not a successful experiment for two of the three Koehlers.We found a comfortable run-of-the-mill motel for the rest of the week."The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall." - Emerson.Well, Emerson, those are only a few of our vacation "experiments." We may have had some failures along the way, but we keep getting up and trying again. Even with some bloopers, we've had some great glorious summer vacations.How about you? Write or call me about some of yours at

linhar@ptd.net or 610-681-4617.