Our family loves to travel and we took our first cross-country trip in 2004. Here we are at our first stop Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and we have more memories than we can count of that 5000 mile journey to California and back.
As an adult, Dan said to me:
"We didn't take vacations, we took trips!"
What he meant was that we traveled far and wide and experienced many exciting things and places but he didn't find it relaxing the way other families might "vacation".
I do have a memory of an early trip that we took to Disneyworld and a few days in Glenn Jr. started complaining of a sore throat.
A visit to urgent care gave us the diagnosis of strep throat and antibiotics and we decided to take a down day at the hotel. We had a wonderful day just enjoying the pool and hotel without the urgent stress of having to get to a park. It was so relaxing and really made me stop and think why I didn't plan more down days into our schedules.
That did not always come easy. I remember this specific day and the beautiful memory that it was watching Glenn Sr. and Glenn Jr. playing checkers in Frontier Land, but I have to admit that in the back of my mind I was saying:
"We can play checkers at home!! We have some much to accomplish in the park!"
I think one of my struggles was what it took to keep Ben safe. Others could safely go to the beach, pop open their umbrella's, cold drink and spend hours enjoying a good book. I had to keep Ben entertained (and alive).
This really impacted our planning on vacation and I ended up structuring most of our days with activity and fun (to a fault according to Dan).
I remember Ben asking during our car rides
"What kind of park is it?"
As he was starting to understand the difference between a national park and an amusement park. If the car ride started to feel to long to him he would start to point our all of the hotels that he would see on the side of the highway and say:
"There's a hotel!"
Hoping to shorten our drive.
I recently heard someone describe the travel stages of life as:
Go-go
Slow-go and
No-go
As Glenn and I enter the Slow-go stages of travel, often without any of our children, I have to be deliberate about slowing down and enjoying the journey. For as Ralph Waldo Emerson said in one of my favorite quotes
"Life is a journey, not a destination!"
Love you more...
Mom
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