Presidents’ Day weekend. During Christmas break we looked at our calendar and eyed an isolated long weekend and claimed it as FAMILY TIME. We would go together somewhere, hopefully sunny.

The weeks and days leading up bulged with responsibilities and tasks that required each days full time and energy and then some. Empty-handed with plans, wondering what we could pull off, feeling pressure to stay because of organizations untimely plans and Jack’s broken nose, a happy, true thought came to my mind. It was about our full-time RV life and how we made plans for the next destination on our way.

I like to have plans. I like to look forward to them and I like being organized. However, if we wait for perfect plans, there is a lot we will never do. So, encouraged by this liberating thought we kept looking forward to our upcoming getaway realizing we would be making it up as we went along.

And we did.

This was one of our first adventures since selling our mighty white bison, aka Toyota Sequoia. Most the time, we have moved on and are comfy in our new minivan. Our Sienna was a rockstar during this trip, but let’s just say our front-wheel drive, mini engine, slipped, slid, drifted and put it all out there to get us up those muddy, dirt mountain roads, and to reverse us to get us off of them. Truth be told, old mini couldn’t have done it on her own. There were some mad van handling skills by Dave.

The hikes were phenomenal, full of discovery and magnitude. We raced all over the elephant skin – actually the kids raced and we thought they looked so cute and we were soaking in the moments until we realized where they had been so quickly and nimbly moving around. Cliffs. Cliffs.

Yant Flats and The Vortex

Camouflaged in red rock mud splat we drove through town, stopping by a park to play basketball in the freezing rain, hitting an escape room appointment, eating at Golden Corral to make everyones dreams come true, and settling in for the night at an overpriced hotel with a steaming, outdoor swimming pool and a free breakfast, always a must.

We continued to experience life together, less independently as it’s shifting. Visitors at church once again (Choosing Church while Traveling), we admired the old building with mysterious basement stairs leading to a dark, low ceilinged, musty hallway and an equally dark and musty Santa suit. We ate ice cream and corn dogs, played Uno, lifted weights and laughed.

Ready or not, this was our time. And we held on tight.

“It is important to remember that all larger units of society depend on the smallest and most fundamental unit, the family. No matter who or what we are, we help ourselves when we help families.” –Elder M. Russell Ballard