This crazy road trip I fabricated in my head a year ago and have subsequently executed over the past 4 weeks is coming to an end. With the exception of the past few days, the kids and I have traveled through the midwest, the desert, and the mountains alone. We’ve stopped at various places along, collecting rocks and storing good memories in the pockets of our minds; I now have rocks and memories from Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Montana. I used to toss the rocks to the ground minutes after the kids’ tiny fingers placed them in the palm of my hand, thinking they were just unnecessary clutter, but somewhere along the route, I decided those rocks are significant to all of us. They are proof that we’ve accomplished this rather great thing, and we’ve done it with smiles on our faces 75% of the time. So now I keep those rocks in a zipper part of my purse, hoping to fill a small jar that will be placed on a noticeable shelf in our front room.
This trip has been a dream for the kids. They’ve ridden dirt bikes, swam in pools and lakes, fished at Flathead Lake in Montana, hiked in Glacier National Park, visited a couple college campuses (BYU and University of Montana), eaten delicious food in multiple states, played with old friends, made a few new friends, were reunited with family (their grandparents, great-grandparents, a favorite aunt, and a fun cousin), seen tons of wildlife (including bison, deer, moose, cows, longhorns, horses, a variety of birds, etc.), had 2 different water balloon fights, went to a museum, witnessed the grandier of the Grand Canyon, sang to a million songs on the radio, read several books, colored (AKA destroyed) several coloring books, completed school workbooks, napped through the hills of Wyoming, and eaten more than a handful of trashy roadtrip food along the 5000+ miles. They really don’t have much to complain about—unless you ask them about the actual driving portion, which has felt a bit long at times. It is what I hoped for them.
For me, it’s been a bit more difficult. I definitely felt our size (meaning how many of us there really are) as I’ve stayed with friends and family along the way. Every single person who opened their door to us was incredibly kind and generous with us. They gave us free beds to sleep in and food to eat throughout the day, and they helped facilitate fun activities for us to do throughout the day. I am grateful to each friend and wish to repay the favor if anyone ever chooses to vacation at our house. ;) But even though everyone was kind, I had a terrible way of getting in my head and felt like we were too much for everyone. And so I struggled my way through each house, trying to do as much as I could to help out by doing the dishes, folding laundry, and cooking when possible. But it still got the better of me, and I counted the days until I would be reunited with Tim because I knew he would calm my unnecessary anxiety.
But even with the anxiety, I have really enjoyed my time on the road—free from my own chores (but never free from laundry—I think I’ve done 20+ loads along the way) and free from any summer planning at home. There have been dicey moments (you know…the one where Mya exclaimed that she needed a vacation away from her mother or the 2 times Timmy decided to massacre his diapers), but for the most part, there have been so many snuggles, head rubs, hand holding, deep discussions, silly giggling, and story-telling. I’m grateful for the experience, even if I don’t wish to do it again for a while, and I am grateful to have flexible children who have stretched themselves to sleep in random places, skip naps and push themselves on some crazy time deadlines. We really don’t give kids enough credit. They’re pretty amazing at adapting, even if we totally suck at it.
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"Be kind and considerate with your criticism... It's just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book." Malcolm Cowley