California: serene, beautiful relaxing. That was not what I was feeling last summer. Usually my family vacations are packed full of events and happiness but the previous summer was different.

In 2009, we went to California for a family trip and I was so excited! I thought there was so much to do and there was never a dull moment. When my dad told me in 2010 that we were going back to California I was ecstatic. I called all my friends right away and told them my exciting news. The day finally came to leave on our trip and I said my final goodbyes to my friends. I didn’t really like texting them from California because of the 3 hour time difference, so we didn’t talk much during my vacation.

When we arrived at the San Jose Airport, I asked my dad all the plans for the trip. Everything sounded fun until he said we were going to camp. I had never been camping and I wasn’t looking forward to trying it. I decided to just forget about it and enjoy my time in San Francisco while I had it. My family and I were supposed to meet up with one of my dad’s friends from elementary school but I had a horrible stomach ache so I didn’t go. At first I thought it was just something I ate and wasn’t to worry. Unfortunately, my time in the city ended and it was time to camp.

I remember just pulling up to the camp site and feeling sick to my stomach. The cabin was horrible and you couldn’t do anything. No cell phone service, TV, not even comfy beds! Since it was horrible inside, I went outside and it wasn’t any better there. As soon as I stepped out of the cabin I saw a snake and I screeched! I hate snakes and everything was going wrong! That night I was in a bad mood and had an extremely painful headache. I couldn’t eat anything because of my awful stomach ache. While all of my family was outside eating smores I stayed inside throwing up! The next day I woke up with a nasty sore throat. It was so bad we had to go to the doctor.
It turns out I had strep throat. The pain was unbearable but as soon as I got the medicine I was as good as new. The beginning of my vacation was wonderful until it took a turn for the worse. But then like always, everything has a way of working its way out.