Days until Arches

Remember when I used to blog? Oh yeah. I stopped for a few reasons, but we have a trip coming up that I definitely want to remember.

Blogging began to feel repetitive between posting for family on Facebook and Instagram. I don't post on Instagram anymore, really. I also felt that I wanted to protect my kids' privacy and not share their struggles or experiences.

If anyone is out there still reading and wondering, a lot has changed since I last wrote five years ago. Eliot is now 12 years old and in middle school. He still loves dinosaurs, but decided that being a paleontologist might be an unrealistic dream. Now he hopes to attend the Coast Guard Academy after high school or become a Nuclear Sub Officer in the Navy. I am encouraging him to keep an open mind about the future, of course. ;) He is a Boy Scout and the bugler for his troop (but he plays the trombone). He has an interest in environmental studies and conservation as well as animals--he somehow convinced us to buy chickens and is advocating for us to move to a farm so he can raise goats. Eliot isn't playing soccer these days, but runs four times a week to hopefully join the track team at school.

Jack is nine years old and in fourth grade. He and Eliot are best friends, but have such opposite personalities. We struggled for two years with migraines and nausea, but he conditions are mostly under control! Because of this, he stopped playing soccer (sunlight and exertion were triggers). He is part of a wrestling club and hopes to wrestle in middle school. We take it one day at a time with his migraines. He is a Cub Scout and can join Eliot's troop next spring. He is very excited! Jack has interests in dinosaurs, geology, animals, and all things nature.

And about this trip...

I know I won't be able to track all of the details with simple Facebook posts, and I hope we can remember our trip and all the details. As a kid, I camped with my family most weekends, and I always wanted to make a cross-country trip to the Grand Canyon. It remained on our to-do list, but we never made it there. This spring break, we are going on our big "The Robinsons Go West" adventure. We're flying to Utah to visit Canyonlands National Park and then Arches National Park.

Chris and I are so bad at forcing ourselves to travel because the money could always be used to elsewhere (so many medical bills!); however, we are making it a point to travel with our boys and have some great experiences. We enjoyed a couple of trips to Venice, Florida to hunt for shark teeth and last summer, we went on a waterfall trip to the mountains of Georgia. We talk about those trips and memories all the time. This year, we figured the boys are big enough to tackle some of the trails out west (hopefully I am too) and make more memories.

I am very nervous, though, about all of the logistics of the trip. That anxiety has certainly been overshadowing my excitement about this big adventure I dreamed of for, I don't know, 30 years? When Jack got off the bus the other day, I asked how he was feeling as I track his migraines and nausea daily. He said, "I'm feeling... excited about Utah!!!!" And I knew that I really needed to put my worrying behind me and engage in the fun with the boys as we get closer to leaving. I mean, I have taken care of most everything that I can. We're quite prepared. I have our park entrances booked, got our parks passes, booked the Air BnBs, booked the rental car, booked the flights (obviously), have our clothes mostly planned, have our BAGS mostly planned, will get our fiery furnace permits in two days when they become available... I even plan to take a carry-on with extra clothes and essentials in case the airlines lose our luggage. I guess my biggest worry is the travel in general. It will be nine hours of travel by air followed by five hours of travel by car. And our flight is at 5:15 AM. What a grueling day ahead of us. I'm certain it will be worth it in the end, though.