Fast forward to 2022. The boys are all older (10, 8, 4, 3), I'm in my second trimester for Boy #5, and I started tentatively making plans again to make this road trip happen. There were many obstacles, and part of me didn't want to plan because I was afraid to get my hopes up, in case something happened to cancel the trip again. As we got closer to June, we realized that my dad's health had declined to the point that he wouldn't be able to stay home alone safely for two weeks. We arranged to have him stay at a senior apartment facility while we were gone. But then his health grew worse, and he had to have a toe amputated because of an ongoing infection that wouldn't heal. By the time we were scheduled to leave, he would have been fresh out of a rehab facility and not able to even move around much.
I briefly considered attempting the trip solo but knew that I couldn't handle that extensive of a trip on my own. I also considered waiting for a more favorable time, but the end of the summer would be too close to my due date, and next year would mean the further complication of having a baby along for the ride. I couldn't wait around for everything to line up perfectly -- it was time to step into this dream of mine, even if not everything lined up perfectly.
My friend Amy came to mind. We had attended the same college and became close friends when we attended the same church in our 20s. We ended up becoming roommates, and she was one of my bridesmaids. She has since moved from town, and I haven't stayed super connected with her. Since she doesn't have kids (but loves them!), is freed up in the summer as a teacher, and is always up for an adventure, I asked her three weeks before we were supposed to leave. After checking a few things, she said yes!
Our trip consisted of 8 travel days of 6-8 hours of driving and then 4 nights in Denver and 3 nights in southwest Colorado.
- Because of Covid concerns, we didn't do any of the children's museums or indoor gatherings that I had originally considered back when I was planning in 2020.
- I researched the best playgrounds along our route and found some unique geocaches (like the oldest active geocache in the world).
- We saved money by staying with friends and family when possible (4 nights in Boulder, 1 night in Mancos, 1 night in Piedmont) and didn't do any expensive attractions (playgrounds, geocaches, hikes, and the St. Louis Zoo are all free) with the exception of Four Corners, which was something Carter was most looking forward to.
- We only had fast food once the entire trip and brought all our food.
- Gas prices hit an all-time high of averaging $4.50 right when we were set to leave, but we used an app to search for the cheapest prices on our route.
- We stayed in all kinds of places -- in an empty (no furniture!) house, in AirBnBs, in hotels, in a tent (and switching to the van in the middle of the night!), and with a family of 5 people.
- We managed it all with no tech for the kids in the van. I had made road trip binders for them all and had lots of activities to pass to them (which kind of lost their luster after a couple days on the road). My big plan was to listen to all 7 books of the Chronicles of Narnia over the course of the trip, but four-year-old Cooper would complain anytime I tried to turn them on, so we only got through 1 1/2 of the books. Alas... I did make a CD of songs that I purchased on iTunes. We listened to that a bunch, especially whenever we would enter a new state.
