Break In

The summer before I started junior high we took a family trip to California. My little sister is enough younger that she was still in a car seat. The van fit our seven person family quite comfortably but with the car seat, it made it awkward at times. Someone was always stuck next to the car seat. My memory has me being the willing sacrifice to sit next to her. (But that could be completely wrong.)

On the ride home we stopped off at Hershey California. We bought some souvenirs, as was necessary when stopping at a chocolate factory. As with all our trips, we brought most our food along though we didn't normally eat in the car. When we had lunch, my little sister had a drink she kept as we continued. The drink ended up all over my lap and on the seat.

That night we camped at Yosemite. All of our food was stored in a bear box. The next morning we learned that our van was visited by a bear. It broke through the large side window, climbed into the back, opened up a plastic box, pried open a soap container, and licked the soap. (It may have also licked the seat where my sister spilled her drink. It was damp.) Luckily none of the seats had been damaged but there were paw prints and broken glass everywhere. We drove the rest of the way home with cardboard duct taped to the window. Very exciting indeed.

My older brother's theory on the broken window was Yogi Bear used the door to the van and the paparazzi broke the window trying to get a good picture.