It's my most favorite time of the year!! SURPRISE VACATION is just 2 months away and it's time to put on your detective hats!
For those of you who are new here – let’s start at the beginning. Surprise vacation has been a longstanding Dalkin family tradition since we were kids. It started when I was 9, my sister was 6, and my parents would throw us birthday parties. Now that I’ve thrown a party or two, I know how much work they can be, PLUS add in some screaming and crying children, ummmmm NO. So my parents decided to do away with the birthday parties and instead they’d plan a surprise vacation for us each year.
So what’s a surprise vacation you ask? IT’S A SURPRISE. And it’s basically the highlight of my life. I even like it more than my birthday/birth month which is really saying a lot. I’m obsessed. They plan a vacation for us and we get somewhere in the realm of 8-10 clues each year and we have to figure out where we are going. Some years we’ve figured it out, others we’re totally surprised. One thing is always certain…. I’m always wrong. My sister sometimes figures it out, my husband has been known to do the same… but I’m always, without fail, 100% wrong. I think it’s because I've always had this burning desire to go on safari in Africa and no matter what clues my parents send over I somehow make them fit into an African safari. BUT... that's no longer the case seeing as how we just got back from an epic adventure through Africa earlier this year. So what I'm saying is that MAYBE THIS YEAR I HAVE A CHANCE!!
ANYWAYS… since we were kids, we’ve been getting everyone involved. My tennis coach, friends of friends, parents, professors, you guys!! I mean, it’s basically a puzzle for anyone I know. So I’ll be sharing the clues here as they roll in (roughly one a week) and I’ll just continue to update this post so you don’t have to search high and low for the latest clues. Ready… Clue’s are officially rolling in:
Clue #1 - It's not a plate, and young Freud has one
Clue #2 - People of median income in Napa can afford Bose headphones, or close to it.
Clue #3 - A water emergency, but not in a glass.
Clue #4 - Like Fonzie in Happy days, hair gel and a comb, rushing to the Diner.
Clue #5 - Check - the neighbor's names, then flip the end. sp.
Clue #6 - Sitting peacefully while wearing the Jane Russell 18 hour bra, doing it's job.
Clue #7 - A bunch of women having funning in France in the 1800's
Clue #8 - Fancy morning song of the sixties, but a bit different.
LET'S SOLVE IT THIS YEAR!! Any guesses... comment below!
A bit of inside scoop:
We're leaving the day after Christmas and we're gone for about 7 days. That includes travel time. And like I said earlier, we just did an epic 2 week adventure through Africa so my instinct is that we're not criss-crossing the globe again this year.
Here are our surprise trips from the past so we can cross those off the list as we think of ways to decipher the clues.
2016 - Arizona (click on over to see clues and my parents clues and commentary on this trip!)
2015 - Costa Rica - (click on over to see clues and my parents clues and commentary on this trip!)
2014 - Orcas Island + Vancouver + Whistler (click on over to see clues and my parents clues and commentary on this trip!)
2013 - Nat Geo Cruise through Alaska (click on over to see clues and my parents clues and commentary on this trip!)
2012 - Road Trip through France (click on over to see clues and my parents clues and commentary on this trip!)
2011 - Bahamas
2010 - Skipped a year and went to Berlin, Prague, Budapest and Vienna but it wasn't a surprise
2009 - Banff, Canada
2008 - none of us can remember where we went this year! whoops 🙂
2007 - Italy
2006 - Turkey
2005 - Greece
2004 - England + Scotland
2003 - Cancun, Mexico
2002 - Hawaii (Big Island)
2001 - Napa / Sonoma
2000 - Los Angeles
1999 - New York
1998 - Washington DC
1997 - Las Vegas
1996 - Texas
1995 - Disney World
2017 here we come!!!
So for the first one I thought Bowl Complex and Las Vegas has a Silver Bowl Sports Complex. Also, there is an FHD, Inc. in Las Vegas (because of the caps in clue 4). I see y'all have already been but it would be the 20 year anniversary of that visit so maybe y'all would go back?
forgot to put my reasons why i think it's Idaho:
Freud...id, ego, super-ego ID: Idaho
Bose headphones or something like it: Boise
water emergency but not in a glass: the state is shaped like a bottle
last clue: it's a reach but i'm thinking the Fonz was played Henry WInkler, and there's a Fort Henry park...???
I'm thinking Boise Idaho!
I think Boulder based on #1! Not a plate = bowl, Young Freud = caul.
Bowl, Caul = Boulder, Colorado??
Switzerland is yelling to me..... 🙂 What a great family tradition!
Do you think the capital F, H, and D in the 4th clue mean something? Days should be capitalized and Diner shouldn't be... makes me think these letters are important. Not sure why though...
I do - he's notorious for dropping clues like that
Ski trip to Sun Valley, ID!
Water emergency = snow storm? And it's been awhile since you've been to the snow.
"Napa can" + Nampa ID and "Bose Headphones" = Boise ... both near Sun Valley!
Clue # 2 median = meridian (city in Idaho) Napa = Nampa (city in Idaho) Bose = Boise (city in idaho)..... you guys are going to idaho or close (Yello Stone) !!
I initially thought Yellowstone, but it would be umder 10 feet of snow at Christmas (Boise, Idaho is quite close). I now think Panama.
Clue 2 mentions "Bose headphones, or close to it". Could that be a reference to Boise, Idaho? I can't imagine your parents are taking you to Boise, but maybe there is a link somehow?
First clue - Slip!!! On boat??
What do your parents do for a living???? The clues are incredible, How do they come up with all those clues?
My dad is surgeon and my mom physical therapist and artist!
Austria
A spoon#1, golden gate bridge #2, bottled water #3, Guy Fieri #4
Oh my gosh. I think this is spot on! Guy Fieri is from Santa Rosa, just an hour from SF - I think this is right! WELL DONE, Kathy! Gabby - your parents are the COOLEST. I sent this to my husband, the quiz master to plan down the road for our fam!
When you Google the fourth clue, one of the results is for a guy named Fonzie Rushing, who is from South Carolina. Surely that can't be a coincidence.
Also, Freud was born with a birth defect called a "caul". Cauldish, coltish, coldish, something like that? There's a county in South Carolina called Colleton, but that doesn't really hit the mark.