“Can a bear's vacation with more rain and sun end up being the one that's most fun?”
—Opening quote
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation is a book in the Berenstain Bears First Time Books series that was first published on March 11, 1989.
This book was later adapted into an episode of the same name for the 2003 TV series The Berenstain Bears.
Summary[]
The Bear family, particularly Papa, look forward to their vacation in the Great Grizzly mountains. However, everything than can go wrong, does, but in the end, it all becomes a funny memory for the Bear Family.
Synopsis[]
The Bear Family is preparing to go on vacation, at a lakeside cabin in the Great Grizzly mountains. Papa has the whole thing planned: Wake at sunrise to catch breakfast, swim in the lake, hike in the mountains and snack on mountain berries, watch the beautiful sunset, enjoy the quiet night, and take pictures of it all. He also plans to make a special "Wilderness Stew" made from nature. On the other hand, Mama opts to bring along some canned goods, just in case things don't go as planned.
They take their first picture on the road, when Papa smells what he thinks is mountain air, but it turns out to be a skunk. The family arrives at the cabin, but find everything far more rustic than had been advertised. And inside the cabin is nothing short of a disaster of leaves, sticks, and cobwebs, and mouse nests. Mama takes another photo of some mice in the cabin. As the family works to clean out the mess, Papa prepares his "Wilderness Stew". When he and the cubs taste it, they are disgusted, and Mama takes a third picture of their reactions
After a supper of beans and honeycomb, Papa turns in for the night, hoping to catch the sunrise. However, the night is actually quite noisy with mountain wildlife, that Papa goes on to sleep right through the sunrise. Afterwards, he attempts to catch breakfast, but his rowboat capsizes, and he catches nothing but a grimy mudsucker, that becomes the next photo. Later on, the family samples some wild berries, which turn out to be quite sour, but their reactions become another photo. That evening, the Bear family is too busy dodging a swarm of mosquitos to enjoy the sunset.
As night falls, a rainstorm hits, and the roof leaks very badly, giving the Bear family a night of misery. The rain continues overnight, and into morning, by which time the cabin starts to flood. Papa's attempt to sweep the water out, results in him getting swept him into the mucky lake. This ends up being the last straw, for Papa, who (while Mama takes a picture of him covered in mud), declares the vacation officially over, to the protest of no one. They quickly load up the car and head for home, by which time, the rain stops and the sun came out.
The next day, Mama has their photos developed, and the family writes captions on them. In spite of how terrible their vacation was, the Bear Family find their photos extremely amusing, and continue to laugh at them for years to come.