Family Vacation- Days One and Two

Earlier this summer Mom declared that it was time for a family vacation. My parents arranged to borrow my dad's boss's RV, picked a week at the end of July, and off we went.

Day One

We didn't really do much this day--we didn't leave until after 5 pm, shortly after I got home from work. We drove for several hours and stopped at the Little America in Wyoming, where I got to see the RV in all of it's fully extended glory. Here are a few comparison shots:

Exterior:

Driving Mode:

Extended Mode:

The RV has a ton of features, including full kitchen, a shower and bathroom, running water, Satelite TV, 2 HD TV's, dvd player, a sleep number bed and more. That first night we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail-Michael, Bill, Dad and I were laughing while Mom came to the conclusion that it was the dumbest movie she'd ever seen.

The next morning as we were getting up and moving about we found that several buses full of pioneers, either heading to or returning from Trek. I went on Trek with my single's ward back in 2006 and we showed up in very similar buses in very similar outfits at that same Little America. They left soon, to be followed immediately by another group of Trekkers.

I wasn't involved in the planning of our vacation aside from working with Mom and Dad to coordinate when we were going. It was on the day we left that I found out we were going to Martin's Cove, one of the final stops of the Martin Handcart Company before they were rescued by men Brigham Young had sent out from Salt Lake. Having been there on trek four years prior I reminisced a bit about the experience as we visited several sites including a park, visitor's center, museum, and replica of the fort that once stood in the vicinity. I don't know why but I didn't even think to take any pictures with my cell phone.

After Martin's Cove we made our way to, past, and back to Independence Rock. Historically pioneers making their way to the west needed to be at the rock by Independence Day to make it to their destination in time to get settled before the weather intervened. Many pioneers carved their names on the rock, and some of these signatures are still visible today.

We stopped at a Walmart in Casper, WY later that day and picked up a few new toys. Mom did some grocery shopping, Dad, Bill and Michael picked out a GPS, and I personally finally purchased a camera, a Nikon Coolpix with which I have now taken over 300 pictures. I won't be uploading all of them here, but I have uploaded them onto facebook for those of my family and friends who are interested.

We forged ahead, with the aid of Jill the GPS (who later became Lee, and Karen, and Daniel pending the whim of the user) to Gillette, WY where we pulled into the Walmart parking lot to spend the night. Walmart encourages this, as travelers will then be more likely to shop at their stores, which of course we did.

We had some delicious sloppy joes that night, thanks Mom! Afterwards Bill burned some cd's for us to listen to (no one had thought to bring any), read books, and Michael and Mom played Zigity. Overall, a very pleasant couple of days full of fun times and family togetherness :)

While strolling through the park one day...

I took a walk today. I took a lot of walks last summer and into the fall a bit. I can't remember now why I stopped. Work has become steadily more time-consuming over the last year, each landmark completed leading into something even more challenging. I had hoped for a respite after Inventory but now find myself with even less time, and even more stress, than ever before. I remembered a conversation I'd had with my dad a while ago when he mentioned how much good taking walks had done for me, got on my shoes, grabbed a Powerade Zero and headed out the door.

The first half of the walk was very relaxing and went very well. I enjoyed the neighborhood, imagining what I would write in this blog about the profound revelations I had uncovered. The second half of the walk (in almost one hundred degree sun) was spent less on fantasizing and more on savoring shade and focusing on making it the last few blocks back home, dreaming about dark apartments, cold Powerade Zero, and a swamp cooler. I made it in the door, spoke very very briefly with my mom, greeted Michael and my dad and then dashed into my apartment, cranked up the swamp cooler, and caught my breath. My heart finally stopped racing and I was able to stretch out a bit and do my neck physical therapy exercises.

Overall I've relished the time not spent thinking about work. I realized, once again having forgot this point over the last six months or so, that I am totally replaceable at work. There is nothing I do that could not be figured out by someone else, or perhaps multiple someone else's, over a relatively short amount of time. While I do not beleive that this renders my contributions and hard work any less valuable, it helped me relax and regain a healthier perspective on what I do.