Let Go of Expectations and Just Drive!!!

One of the most common questions we've gotten during this trip, aside from my "favorite" - Where are you from? (which can be answered in this old blog post), is "What's your final destination?" Ummmmm..... That's difficult because our final destination is really a return to where we started - Albuquerque. That's where we're "settled" for the moment and where we have to return on August 1st. But that's not where we're going. See the thing is this trip isn't about driving to one hyped up place and experiencing it. This trip isn't about ending up someplace fabulous. This trip is about the journey. It's about all the amazing places "in between". 

For those of you who haven't seen, here is our loose "travel plan" for this summer:

We left Albuquerque on May 28th and we'll return on August 1st, but we're not going any place in particular. We're exploring areas a bit at a time. We have semi-specific time frames set out for each area, but these are mainly to ensure that we make it back to Albuquerque for the beginning of the school year. We have researched enough about each area to know some general things we want to do in each area, but that's really just a jumping off point.

You see often the best experiences are not planned and planned experience often don't live up to the expectations you have for them.

When we were in Southern Utah, one of the big things I wanted to do was visit Zion National Park because I had heard such amazing things about it. I was sure it would be amazing. The expectations in my head were already built up the experience to astounding proportions. Unfortunately due to issues with our RV (just some overheating because of the mountainous area) we were parked almost 2 hours away from the park. We did make the drive down, but we chose the wrong day, as it was 105 degrees out and the park was packed. It was also a Sunday which meant that the ranger programs (which were required for the Jr. Ranger badges) were at really weird times. All in all, we never ended up hiking at Zion, although we did play in the river. It was a bust day and we all ended up feeling a little bit dissapointed. That is until we got back to our dispersed camp site in the middle of Dixie National Forest. We hadn't planned to camp there, but it was convenient when the RV was overheating. However, that was one of the coolest camping experiences of the entire trip. Tucked away in the forest away from civilization, the ability for the kids to practice making a big campfire with their fire starter, tons of stars to look at each night, it was great. So was Bryce Canyon which was much closer to our campsite and much cooler in temperature.

A few days ago, we visited Golden Spike National Monument which was cool, and we learned a lot. It was on the plan. What wasn't on the plan was meeting a lovely mother and daughter who suggested we stop by Spiral Jetty. This huge man made earth sculpture is on the side of Salt Lake and it's amazing. It laid underwater for 30 years and has only been visible since 2002, but it was fantastic and impactful and mesmorizing. We went down and hiked around it, meeting a lovely couple from Belgium a long the way, opening us up to having a great conversation in French.

Then just today I had planned this great history lesson for my kids at the Minidoka National Historical Site. We turned up and realized there really wasn't much to see. However, a little bit later we drove across an amazing bridge over Snake River Canyon while looking for a grocery store. It was beautiful and amazing and completely unplanned, but we got out, hiked, took pictures, visited the visitor's center and enjoyed. 

This trip is teaching me to focus on some universal truths that I kinda knew, but never thought about:

1.) The journey is way more fun than arriving at a destination.

2.) Expectations can turn a good experience into a bad one.

3.) The best things in life are not planned.

Since we aren't quite a third of the way through our trip, I'm sure I will learn more and more as we go and I'll be happy to share those thoughts here. 

Our Night at an Alpaca Ranch

So for those of you who have been following along, you know that we have been “semi-permanently settled” in Albuquerque since January. My oldest is thriving in a public middle school and all three of the boys are loving going to karate at the same gym three times a week. However, our compromise when we decided to settle was that we would travel all summer long. So we hit the road on May 29^th and we will be traveling all summer long, with the goal of returning to Albuquerque on August 1^st.

Our very first stop was Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, NM, which funny enough is a complete misnomer because the Aztec Ruins are really the ancestral grounds of the Pueblo Native Americans. At the ruins, the boys earned their 20th Jr. Ranger Badge and we enjoyed a great history lesson.

After our hike, we went up to Colorado to stay at Pleasant Journey Alpaca Ranch. I had made arrangements a few days ahead of time to stay on this farm through our Harvest Host membership. (For more information on HarvestHosts, check out my previous post on Buying Local While You Travel.) The hosts Susan and Glenn Kacsh were wonderful! They provided us with a flat place to park and a little table outside where we could eat while we watched the alpacas. In fact we could even see the alpacas from our own couch!

We took long walks around, enjoying the amazing views of the San Juan mountains. This gave the boys a chance to really run around and “be boys” for awhile. The hosts had plans to give us a tour that night, but unfortunately one of their newborn calves was having trouble breathing and they had to take him to the vet. However, the next morning Susan gave us wonderful tour of the ranch. On the tour, we got up close and personal with the alpacas, visiting the baby and mother alpacas, the herdsires and all of the other alpacas. Susan told us about the processes for sheering and breeding alpacas. She was very knowledgeable, recognizing each of the over 50 alpcas by name, parentage and attributes. The boys learned so much and were able to ask her questions as we went.

Before we left, we visited her store where she sells alpaca fleece, hand spun alpaca yarn and professionally milled alpaca yarn, as well as rugs, scarfs and other things made from the alpaca yarn. The boys each picked out a little finger puppet and we got some lovely dark brown yarn for my aunt who likes to knit. If you’re looking for alpaca yarn or any products using it, you should consider contacting Pleasant Journey Alpaca Farm!

This was such a great experience! I can’t wait for our next Harvest Host experience. If you’re interested in signing up for a Harvest Host membership, feel free to use my name “Heidi Raki” under the referral code and we’ll both get an extra month added to our membership.