In June, we invited you to share your favorite memory of Dad for a chance to win three nights at any ResorTime resort plus a $20 Karl Strauss Brewing Company gift card.

We were so moved by all of your stories, but two stood out from the rest. Congratulations to Felicia D. and Jeffery C., first and second place winners of our Father’s Day story contest!

“It’s not the biggest or most lavish events that make memories.”

It is very hard to pick just one favorite memory with my dad, because I have just had so many. When I think about a lot of memories they involve many other family members, so as a whole it is the entire family that contributed to the memory.

One memory that I have where it was just me and my dad was a trip that we took to Bakersfield, California. The city is not too glamorous, but we were going to visit a family member. While the trip had a motive, it was all the in between times—the drive there, the drive back, the hotel—where my dad and I could just have a heart to heart. I don’t even remember all that we talked about, but just being with my dad was such a blessing. He even took me to see “Big Miracle,” which he thought I would like because it was about a whale and I love animals.

It’s not the biggest or most lavish events that make memories, but the people you spend time with. I love spending time with my dad. He has been with me through thick and thin and he is a great father, role model, friend, and workout buddy. I would be so happy to receive this trip and gift it to my dad. I want to show him my appreciation and treat him to something for once in my life!

—Felicia D.

“Spending time with my dad will remain in my heart.”

My best memory of my father is the summer road trips we took. In the 1970s our family didn’t have much, but we always managed to scrape together enough money to go to Flagstaff, Arizona. We would load up the tired tents, the worn sleeping bags, rusty camp stove, rickety cots, and extra blankets and trek to our favorite spot every year, which was a piece of land my grandfather owned. The land was covered in trees with a small meadow and stream, and we thought it was heaven! It was incredibly exciting to us kids to vacation in our own little neck of the woods.

First, we would set up our campsite. After we set up the tents, my dad would let us go free, and we would spend hours exploring our patch of woods. The stream became a raging river. The pine trees became a dense forest. The birds became hostile attackers. And every year like clockwork, we would attempt a dam across the stream, spending hours gathering twigs, branches, moss, rocks, and more while we planned our strategy. We usually didn’t succeed, but one year we came pretty close! Finally, our dad would call us for burned hot dogs, followed by smoky s’mores and bedtime.

Many years have gone by and my sisters and I have grown up. We have married, raised our own families, worked, and traveled around the United States and beyond. We have seen and experienced many amazing people and places. But spending time with my dad in our little patch of woods will always remain in my heart as the best times ever.

In the 1990s my sisters and I all brought our children to Flagstaff for camping, and Dad met us as long as he could, teaching, playing, and laughing with us and our kids. The years faded as we watched our dad take our kids to explore, play, and have fun. The best memories of my dad are those times.

—Jeffery C.