New Year, Fresh Park?

My husband’s job has a use it or lose it policy and this year he had a record 4 days left of leave which left him in the predicament of 11 days off in a row.  Rough life, right? It was our initial plan to send the kids to winter camp at our local community center and completely monopolize the Nintendo while they were gone.  But after the Chanukah entertaining, the Christmas deluge, the annual family pilgrimages, and more cookies and latkes then I care to think about, I feel in a funk.  11 glorious days of leave, and WHAT DO WE HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT??

So I opened my handy National Park Map and just thought…maybe we still have time to get away.  It is currently various forms of frigid where we are and I figure we don’t have enough time to get clear of that, but at least we can get a fresh outlook in different surroundings. Escape the drudgery that comes with all those glorious presents, shelving and housing them in an already full house. I realized that Harpers Ferry is probably our most likely go.  Flight 93 is half way there, and we could hit that and then spend a full day at Harpers Ferry.  I called up our favorite family friendly hotel chain account and I have some points saved.  EXCELLENT, now a FREE trip.  We still have family in town and no set plans to see them or not to, so we are still teetering on the edge of deciding to go. It’s so hard to make the choice, especially after weeks of plans.  Will this be the event that breaks everyone OR will it be a refreshing time to refocus on our family, and learning, after a chaotic season?

I preemptively packed the kids last night and did laundry.  This morning I dropped the kids off at their winter camp and went to the grocery to buy food that we need and would also be easy for traveling.  Now I am sitting with a cup of coffee trying to decide if the groceries go in the cooler or in the fridge.  But as I sit in my new national park themed t-shirt with my eyes resting on the stack of new books all National Park related I am starting to get inspired to finish the packing and load the car.  The weather is clear and cold and I can’t think of a better way to close out the year than snuggled in a hotel with new books after swimming, and looking forward to waking up to explore a new Park!

Happy New Year!  Here’s to lots of Parks in 2018 and a renewal of all the things that are still good in our world, CHEERS!