If you recall, we had a whirlwind of a summer last year, including several trips to Des Moines, a trip through Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park, then on to Boise, and back, we had a roommate for a couple of months that summer then drove her out to western Iowa to see her off back to Colorado.
This summer is shaping up to be just as crazy.
It’s already started with five trips to Des Moines within two weeks (once to pick my parents and Jarrod up from the airport, once to return my parents to the airport, once to return Jarrod to the airport, and two separate trips to replace my work laptop.
In between the pick up and return trips to the airport, there was the trip to Chicago with dad and Jarrod to see the Dodgers and Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The week after they left, Christy and Skye showed up for a week-long visit. After they leave Friday, we’re having a huge garage sale that Sue and Hilary will also be selling at.
Then, coming up in the following weeks, I will be heading to Wisconsin to gain a new certification for work. Shortly after that, Brandy and I will be off to Minnesota for a week-long site visit for Brandy similar to the Arizona trip we took in March. We will then be headed to Crested Butte, CO for our first visit since January of 2022. I will then likely be headed out to Nebraska to see Alan as he coaches his 4-H kids at a national pistol competition.
After the recent near-constant driving, the car is already in severe need of an oil change. After all the upcoming driving, I’m sure it’ll need another before long.
While I am excited to travel, the long drives that used to not bother me don’t sound fun anymore. Ever since the trip to Arizona, long drives have absolutely KILLED my sciatic nerve. Even the “short” 5-hour drive to Chicago seemed to inflame it. I suppose I should preemptively take ibuprofen before those long drives to head it off, and I did buy a couple of memory foam car seat cushions to aid, but they wound up being much thinner than I’d hoped. We’ll see if they actually do any good.
Adventuring
I have done some preliminary searches on AllTrails for hikes near our upcoming destinations and have found some great options. I’m looking forward to strapping my boots on once more and hitting the trails again.
I will have some equipment maintenance that will need to be done but otherwise, I’ll be ready to go.
One of the destinations we are looking forward to is the Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park. There are plenty of hiking options at Black Canyon, most of which originate from the south rim, which is also where the visitor’s center is. That will be the sixth National Park for me, and third this year (or fourth in a calendar year.) Our America the Beautiful pass has already paid for itself; I’m looking forward to getting some more mileage out of it before I have to renew it in September.
Conclusion
I’m hoping to get posts made as these adventures happen instead of waiting for one massive post at the end of this upcoming period of travel. We will see how well I do at that though.
As I mentioned, I am excited to get out and travel, and hope you’re excited to read all about it.
Stay tuned for my first post-trip post after my trip to Madison, Wisconsin.
-Phil