Carrie Bartkowiak v. 5.0

Earlier this year, when I found out how much vacation time hubby had accrued, I wistfully sighed about how nice it would be to take that time and go camping out west, visiting all of the neat sites and learning so much.

Hubby said we wouldn’t have the money to do it. Gas prices and campground fees would just be too much.

Later that week, I mentioned the idea to my Dad; just a “wouldn’t that be cool?” kind of thing. When he left about 20 minutes later, he said “You know, if we go camping, I’ll have to trade in the Avalanche on a Suburban or a Tahoe.” He was hooked.

We’ve traded a few emails back and forth about how we’d go about it. Take our van, rent a van, trade in his Avalanche on something bigger, full-tent camping, tow his 30-foot camper camping, full winnebago-style driving and camping. (Hey, two birds -and 10 oil fields- with one stone!)

I had been talking a bit to the kids about it here and there. Kelsey, being the budding paleontologist, immediately seized upon the idea as a great opportunity for visiting dig sites and looking for fossils all across the western states. He especially wants to go to the spot in South Dakota where they found Sue the T-Rex. He’d also like to see some real mesas and view the caves (I think that’s in New Mexico? Can’t remember).

Talking to Dad tonight, I found out he’s been doing more than just mulling this around in his head… he’s been actively planning the trip. He’s already got steady emails coming to him from the South Dakota tourist bureau, has plans for us to see Mt. Rushmore and Sue the T-Rex, and he wants to go to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon and walk out on their new all-glass skywalk.

The floor is made of glass, the sides are made of glass, and this thing is suspended 4,000 feet in the air. Yeesh. And get this - my father is afraid of heights! Talk about facing your fears head-on!

He even said in an email to me that going during the summer would be way too hot, but since the boys are homeschooled we could just go in the early fall when all the kids are back at school and have the spots more to ourselves. Yay Dad! (Maybe the gas prices will drop a bit after Labor Day, too. Man I hope so.)

Over the next few months we’ll be plotting out our route, finding things along the way we’d like to stop and see, and trying to decide if we’re going to go for two weeks, three weeks, or a full month. I’ll be scarfing up all kinds of car activities, audiobooks, and the like. A fellow Works-For-Me-Wednesday blogger had a great idea of getting a postcard from every stop and putting it in a brag book, rather than buying an expensive, useless, and clutterful souvenir. I’m all for that. Being homeschoolers, we’ll also of course have all kinds of learning things with us about the places we’ll be going. I’ll have to gather that together and print it up, too. I’ve already got a book requested through the library that’s a “dinosaur atlas”; a map book with all the spots of dinosaur finds marked on it. I’ll need to get one on just good general fossil digging spots, too.

So keep your fingers crossed for us. We’d really love to do this. Dad has had all the back surgeries he can have and his crushed discs aren’t getting any better - they’re quickly getting worse. His legs are in two states nowadays - numb or agony. Mom told me he wants to do it this year because he doesn’t think he’ll still be walking next year. He’s only 59. My Dad has always been the gentle giant - he’s six feet, four and a half inches tall, and usually about 240 pounds. Big man. To think that he’s sitting over there making plans with the thought that next year he’ll be in a wheelchair just kills me. Thinking of the weight that must be on his heart and mind kills me. I don’t care what we have to do - if he wants to do this, I’m doing it.

And of course I’ll be taking my camera and moblogging all the way.

What do you think? I wanna know! Please leave a comment :)
All comments get link love here... I got rid of nofollow!