Vacation planning

Family gathering, family vacations (not just our family of 4, but all uncles, aunts and cousins) were somethings that I grew up on and always looked forwad to those. Exploring new places was just one part of the fun .... we cousins rocked the bus (pun intended) while travelling to these places. Antakshari was almost mandatory ... which more often than not ended up in some argument about the beginning of the song ! The adults took part in Antakshari as well. How could I forget those yummy snacks we ate almost non stop. It was a unspoken / unwritten rule that every family would get atleast 4 snacks. I can never forget the kodbale, chakkali, benne biscuit, sajappa, Khara puri, Kobbari mittai etc. (all these are famous snacks in Karnataka).
Since the time I moved to the US, family trips are limited to just me, my spouse and my little one. Occasionally, its my sister and her husband. Some of my cousins, who had as much fun as me in the childhood family trips, found the idea of a family union in the US quite exciting. We decided that we should all meet up atleast once a year. This idea June 2005. It has taken almost a year to materialise. This year, we have finally decided to meet up in Florida during the May long weekend.
Narrowing the location to Florida was a herculean task in itself. If one family wanted to meet in Texas, the other families found it not so glamorous. If one suggested Southern California, the other had other social obligations there .... the ideas bouced back and forth for 2 weeks. It almost appeared to me that, we might not make it this long weekend as well. But finally we decided on Florida. Though booking flight in the nth minute was going to be expensive, we decided to go for it anyways.
Once the flights were booked, car rental and accomodation almost seemed effortless. Now we have everything in place. I just cannot wait for the long weekend ... I haven't been to Florida and I am looking forward to those sunny beaches. Most important of it all.... I am looking forward to meeting up my family and making memories.