We went to the Grand Canyon last week. But we did oh, so much more than that. I'd GoogleMapped and coordinated the mother of all road trips. My dad would have been so proud. We didn't stay in one place more than one night.
So, it went something like this:
Friday: Drive 13 hours to Sipapu, NM Ski Resort.
Saturday: Ski Sipapu (Pronounced: Sip-uh-pooh) It's a nice quaint hill that I discovered back in my college days. I'm not much of a skiier, so it was perfect for me as well as for the kids to learn to ski. After we ski, drive to Flagstaff, Arizona.
Sunday: Meet my sister and my nieces at the Grand Canyon - South Rim. Drop off furniture to sister and then, after oohing and ahhing at the spectacular canyon, and lunch ofcourse, head to Page, Arizona.
Monday: Page, Arizona, why? River rafting on the Colorado River in the Glen Canyon. View one canyon from the top, then from the bottom. Then drive to Moab, Utah.
Tuesday: Happy Anniversary at the Arches National Park. Drive to Denver, Colorado. Stay with my college coach, Debbie. And pray it's not some kind of NCAA violation for 11 years down the road because Lucy will play for her.
Wednesday - Breakfast with Coach Debbie and then drive home.
It's 2,700 miles.
Aren't you jealous?
All the hotels were booked. I did all the research on the South Rim, booked the River Rafting trip, Googlemapped every destination and we even figured out where we would stop for lunches and dinners.
We tried to prepare the kids that this was a lot of time in the car, and that we'd have fun at the destinations, as well as in the car.
And then we got just shy of "are we there yet?" with the ever better constant question of
"What town are we in now?"
"Lincoln, Max. We're in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's been 30 minutes."
Two hours later, Ricardo asks what that sound is. I look back and report back to him, "Oh look, the kids just made cowbells with their soda cans. See there, music education you wouldn't happen anywhere but in the vortex of desperation for entertainment: on a road trip."
"So, when do you think they'll get sick of those cowbells."
"I don't know honey, looks like they're pretty proud."
"Maybe we can get them to stop their creativity and dumb down with a movie or something?"
One hour later, they are watching some old Disney Wildlife show.
Max: "Oh my gosh, THERE'S AN ALLIGATOR IN THE HIPPO POND!"
Ricado: "There's an alligator ripping a hippo apart!?"
Max: with a hint of confusion and buzzkill in the air, "Uh, no. Hey, what town are we in?"
"Almost to Kearney."
"Is that in Arizona?"
"No, Max, we're still in Nebraska."
This is going to be a great trip!
That's how I roll!
15 minutes into our 2000 mile roadtrip last week 4 yr old says, hey should we take a break and play a little soccer? As Max would say, shit we aren't even to lincoln yet!