A Roadtrip for the ADHD

Plan A was to take a couples' vacation, leaving the kids home. Dan scheduled time-off from work and we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately we couldn't find anyone to watch the boys for a four day weekend.

So we moved to Plan B: Take a much needed family vacation.

Problem #1: Because of the nature of Dan's job his schedule can change at any moment. I hesitated to get my hopes up, make reservations, or tell the boys that we were going anywhere. I kept waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. Luckily, Wednesday night rolled around and we were still good to go.

Problem #2: We didn't know where we wanted to go. I wanted to go somewhere quiet and warm. Dan wanted to go somewhere fun.

Should we go camping?

Should we rent a VRBO?

What was the weather supposed to be like?

What would the boys like?

Thursday morning we still didn't know where we were going. We loaded up the car, with phone numbers and a map in hand and we started driving.

This is so unlike me. I am a planner. Some may call me an over-planner. I typically spend a week shopping, packing, and preparing for any trip. Dan likes to fly by the seat of his pants, and go where the wind blows him. I was a little nervous driving away from home without a plan as to where my babies would be sleeping that night. But I put my trust in Dan's hands and off we went.

A couple hours into our drive we had decided to stay at a quaint little B&B in Mt Carmel, UT between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. We rolled in around 8pm, checked in and put the boys to bed.

The next morning we were treated to delicious Banana Nut pancakes, sausage, eggs, and juice. We took a quick tour of the grounds. This B&B is a working farm complete with horses, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, and real cowboys.

The boys were in heaven.

We loaded up the car again and drove into Zion. After waiting out a huge rainstorm we caught a shuttle that took us into the canyon. We spent the remainder of the day hiking. We hiked to the Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock, and the Riverwalk Trail. We all had a great time.

The arrival of another thunderstorm at 7 convinced us to call it quits and head back to Mt. Carmel.

We debated over dinner what to do the next day.

Tyson didn't want to hike anymore. He wanted to swim.

Dan wanted to drive to Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon.

So they compromised.

We drove to Lake Powell and swam all afternoon. We fed the carp and ducks off the marina, and visited Page, AZ.

On the drive back Dan saw a sign for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Although the sun was setting he made a quick decision to turn off the highway (and by quick decision, I mean we almost missed the turn and ended up in the pines.) Dan loved, Tyson enjoyed and Preston tolerated the dunes.

We stayed until it was too dark to see. We carried two very tired boys into the B&B late that night.

Our plan for our last day was to check out of the B&B and take the scenic way home, by way of Bryce Canyon. Our plans unexpectedly changed when I started experiencing the onset of a migraine while sitting down to my Strawberry Cheese Blintzes at breakfast. I took a handful of Tylenol and stumbled blindly back to bed while Dan entertained the boys for the morning. I begged Dan to take me straight home instead of visiting Bryce for the day.

I think he was disappointed but he didn't let it show. He just insisted that we go back another time.

Although it ended on a sour note, we really did have a great time. I am glad that my boys are good travelers. They were happy most of the time, making lots of friends along the way.

(Am I the only one who has Asian tourists ask to take pictures of their babies?)