Growing up, every spring, my parents would pile us all into "the van" and we would drive from Iowa to Colorado to ski.
The trips were awesome and we still laugh at the stories. Certain songs will remind me of these trips...like when my mom would always make us listen to John Denver as we would drive through the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Tunnel) and we would all roll our eyes...
One year on the way home my dad decides to take a detour and heads north to Minnesota. He called ahead to a dog breeder that he had been talking with and decided to surprise us all with a puppy.(Well, I think it was really for him...he is such a big dog guy) So, my sisters and brother and I have no idea where he is heading because we are not paying attention and late in the aftrenoon we drive up to a farm and there are many Old Engish Sheepdogs running about.
We spent a few hours there getting to know the dogs and picked out a big male who we named Winston.
I will never forget that....my dad was always doing stuff like that!