The Great Adventure, Part 1

The boys and I took a three week trip this summer.  We drove to Washington to see my Dad, his fiancé, and my brother and his family.  On the way there, we stopped to see my Aunt Cyndie, and on the way back we visited my Aunt Janet and our dear friend Megan.  We saw the Hoover Dam, camped in the Rocky Mountains, and deep in the Redwood National Forest.  The boys played in the Pacific Ocean for the first time.  We camped with a legit black bear, climbed rocks in the Painted Desert, caught frogs at Cyndie's house, kayaked in Puget Sound, ate really good Mexican food about a dozen times.  We knocked every food off of our food bucket list, which included Jack in the Box Tacos, Golden Corral, "real" fish and chips and clam chowder, Sweet Tomatoes, and the afore mentioned Mexican food.  We went to Deseret Books for the first time, and the kids saw several LDS Temples all over the place.  

Now that I sit down to blog about the trip, I sure wished I had blogged while were gone.  I will never "not blog" on a trip like that again.  There is no way I can cram three weeks of adventure into a couple of blog posts.  I will try and split it up the best I can, but lessons learned in hindsight are always the hardest.

We had always planned to take the trip, but didn't work out the details until a few months before the trip.  I didn't really put a whole lot of thought into it, I figured we'd drive all day, find a hotel to crash at, then drive the next day, repeating the routine till we got there.  Then Justice threw a wrench in my easy plans and the trip turned into much  more than just visiting my Dad in Washington.  He had the brainchild idea that he wanted to camp all the way up there and back.  I told him no, that I didn't feel comfortable enough with the trailer to tow it that far.  

Justice:  "No, no, not with the trailer Mom.  Let's TENT CAMP!"

Me:  "Heck no.  Tent camp?  There's just no freaking way."

The sad look on his face wasn't just your basic level of disappointment, it was more like devastated and crestfallen.

Justice:  "Mom, I'll do everything. I'll pack it all, I'll set it up, I'll be responsible for all of the camping part.  PLEASE MOM!"

Jack, confused:  "But where are we gonna stay if we don't camp?"

Because you know, all Jack really knows is camping.  

Me, struggling to win Jack over:  "HOTELS!"  Won't that be so much fun!"

Jack, mortified:  "Hotels?  But MOM, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PLAY!"  There's nothing to do in a hotel but watch TV!"

Joe:  "What in the hell are you guys talking about?"  

Poor Joe.  We had to leave him at home for this trip.  We were gone far longer than he could take time off of work so he couldn't come.  He was so sad until we decided to tent camp, then I'm pretty sure he was ok.  Haha!

I was losing ground fast, so I conceded.  While the thought of tent camping across the country was absolutely not my idea of a fun vacation, all I could really see was the wonderful memories the boys would have and keep forever, and the sense of responsibility Justice would have would be good for him.  I knew this wasn't an opportunity I could pass up, no matter what.  So, I didn't.  We planned in earnest and ended up with a trip that we won't ever be able to recreate.  It was such a wonderful time, every single day brought new places and new things.

And for the record, everyplace we went people were shocked I was camping alone with the boys.  I couldn't figure it out, I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  I said that to Justice and he said "said the Mom who was in the Navy for 20 years…" Yeah, I guess I could see that.  Once you've hovered over a toilet pit in Thailand hanging on by a rope without falling in, you can pretty much do anything unfazed.  Ha.  

Justice indeed kept up with his end of the bargain.  He packed all the camping equipment, he and Jack set up the tent and campsite every day, and broke it down every morning.  It worked out very well.  Jack learned a lot from this trip, and Justice was a very responsible kid.  He pumped my gas every time we stopped, washed the windshield the best he could reach at his height, and he navigated the whole trip with an atlas.

Yep, an atlas.  Funny but not so funny story.  We had just left the great state of Arkansas and were passing through Oklahoma on the way to Texas.  Justice asked me where we were at, and I said Oklahoma.  He had no idea where Oklahoma really was and had no clue what direction we were traveling.  "Good thing we got that GPS to tell us where we are", he said.  We were heading to Arizona, and he didn't know we were going West?  Woah, how in the heck is that possible?  How could he not know?  I was flabbergasted.  SO, I stopped at the very next truck stop, bought a road atlas and unplugged the GPS.  I handed him the atlas and said, "take us to Kingman, Arizona."

Cause you know, go big or go home.  

That would have been a great time to take a picture of his face, but alas I didn't have the camera ready.  He panicked like I've never seen before.  But seriously, what the heck?  How can he not know you need to go west to get to Arizona?  Technology, that's how.  Too much technology has our kids all mushy-brained when it comes to geography.  

I hopped back on I40 (it's not like he had a big route to plan, we were on I40 till Kingman) and left him to scratch his head over the map and figure it out.  It took him the entire trip to really have the maps down pat and to understand how to read everything (and I mean everything, he's a total pro now), but he eventually nailed it and it was worth the initial frustration.  He did a GREAT JOB, and even took us on a detour in Vegas to go around rush hour traffic.  I was really proud of him, and he can really read a map now.  Yay for Justice.  I honestly couldn't have done this trip without him.  I have to give him his props, it was just like Joe was there.  He did all the "man stuff" without skipping a beat.  Such an awesome kid, I'm so blessed.

I am so thankful I had the opportunity to take this trip.  I'm so thankful that my children have a broad view of life in different places in the country.  I am trying to instill a sense of travel and broaden their horizons.  I don't want them to be afraid to do new things, I want them to take on every adventure that comes their way.  I want them to see the way other people in other places of the country live.  I want them to know there is more to life than what they wake up to every day.  I don't want them to be afraid to move if a job is presented elsewhere.  I also want them to meet the family we have scattered about.  And they sure did.  They met every kid in my entire family, both sides, except one. 

The traffic was fine, the weather was unseasonably perfect every where we went.  It was truly a perfect trip, a great adventure.  I don't think I will ever be able to replicate it or top it, no matter how hard I try.  So thankful for life experiences made with my boys.  So thankful for the support of my awesome husband, who supports me and understands me completely.