Gramping is a rewarding, fun experience especially with a 26-year old granddaughter as co-driver and a GPS wizard as navigator not needing a road map.

No, not glamping (camping) – gramping with an “r.” It’s when grandparents and grandchildren vacation together without the middle generation (parents). It’s a growing as a way to enhance and strengthen intergenerational bonds, share quality time and create lasting memories.

Apparently, others in the older generation feel the same way. An AARP study found 89% of grandparents derive mental, social and physical well-being from spending time with their grandchildren.

In a 2018 survey, AARP found that 40% of grandparents vacation or travel with their grandkids. Plus, 32% of grandparents have taken a skip-generation trip and 61% think “gramping” is a great idea.

The survey also indicated that while most grandparents want to be near their grandchildren, more than half have a grandchild living over 200 miles away, challenging the opportunity to vacation together.

My recent gramping was a twosome. We went to Colorado with four main goals: Walk a trail(s) in the Rocky Mountain National Park, ride horses in the mountains, see elks (not too closely) and lots of shopping. Sleeping in, relaxing and leaving my work laptop at home were extras.

Sleeping habits presented challenges. At age 78, I’m an early to bed and an early riser; she’s a late-night sleeper and late-morning riser. She’s a little grumpy in the morning; I’m a little grumpy in the afternoon.

Traveling also means eating out. It was fun, sometimes with a lot of Googling, to find a common eatery, but we did. My granddaughter is an avid vegetarian; I’m a diehard meat-and-potatoes guy. She’s a natural equestrian on the mountain trails. Although I was raised near Dodge City, I’m not a cowboy, past or present. Luckily, Elly May, the horse I rode, had plenty of horse sense. Wish my saddle had a pillow.

Our final stop was a night in Dodge City. My granddaughter has always been curious about my childhood-teenhood experiences. It was a bittersweet trip down memory lane. My old small houses are still standing; one is occupied; the other is shuttered. My old grade school is now a facility to focus on social and emotional health of youngsters and teens. My high school was closed long ago, half razed and fenced off to contain families of goats now grazing on the old football field behind the bygone building.

My granddaughter likes hearing my stories about raising chickens and hawking a dozen of freshly laid eggs for four bits, growing corn with Dad and selling freshly picked ears for a nickle each and paying 29 cents for gas. Those were the days!

We had no phone, but a phone booth was two blocks away and required a pocket full of change while dating. It was a time of a 17-inch black-and-white RCA television with a rabbit-ear antenna. My brother and I were the TV remotes. My school homework research was done in libraries; the only web sites in our young lives had spiders. Times have changed.

We ended our time in my hometown with a brief visit to the local casino with a budget of $20 each at a dollar slot machine. She won $319. As the slot machine’s cashout kept going up, her excitement, laughter, happiness were priceless. She quickly asked: “Grandpa, what do I do?” My reply was the timeless adage: “Quit while you’re ahead!” It was a fond moment to add to my memory bank. P.S., I lost $6.

The expression “can visit the past, can’t live in the past” is an axiom about balancing reflection with forward momentum. Sharing memories, nostalgia and past lessons are valuable resources to share as we age, but the trick is not dwelling on them in the present and future.

Vacationing together enhances a sense of knowing we won’t always be able to do this, but hope/want to enjoy as many gramping opportunities while we can.

Aging is constant in life, but times like this, wherever we are, never grow old.