Wow, I’ve made it 1 year telling our stories. 1 year of trying to document the tiniest glimpse into our lives. We go on many adventures and I’m glad to have an outlet to tell our stories and have them for when Greg and I have lost our minds and need to remember our history (The Notebook style)
In true Smith fashion we celebrated the 4th out camping. We went to the same area-ish as last weekend but stayed in the mountains rather than a campground. Even though we just went last week, we still struggled to get on the road at a decent time. I spent the week getting our trailer cleaned out and making it more “ours”.
Putting in a step stool, broom and holders on the wall was a must. We also switched out the mattress and I wanted to rethink how we stored things. So I grabbed some nice clear bins to hold straps, all the dog stuff ( leashes, bowls and treats) and of course the toys for the kids. There were a few other things as well I worked on before we left that I think will really make traveling better in the future.
The day we were set to leave both children regressed in years and did things I could not believe. I was loading our clothes into the trailer when Greg marched both children out to me so they could explain what was going on. Wes walked in and was covered in what looked like baby powder. (I was right) Illa came in after him not nearly as covered but with some her. Greg had been outside working on the rzr and walked into totally mayhem. I left them alone for 10 minutes. 10!
The kids started talking and telling me that Illa wanted her room to look spooky when she got home so they had covered it in baby powder. I had flash backs to 5 years ago when she did this the first time.
I calmly say, ” was that the best idea?” To which they say, “no, sorry mom.” I told Illa she was in charge of cleaning up. To wipe Wes down and to vacuum her room. I figured it was taken care of and went back to packing.
When I walked in the house it can only be described as pandemonium. Kids were crying, Greg was yelling and I had no idea what I was walking into. Turns out when I told Illa to wipe Wes down and vacuum her room she took that as me saying, flood the bathroom and pour BUCKETS yes plural, of water on your bedroom floor to clean it up. I kept my cool with the bathroom mess but when I got to her room and saw the level of destruction I snapped. I had to walk into my bedroom and take a minute so I didn’t start yelling.
I calmed myself down and walked out and told both kids they were in charge of soaking up the water and cleaning the bathroom. And that I didn’t want to hear a peep unless it was to tell me it was all cleaned up the right way.
Why? Why did they do that?! I asked myself this question over and over. Didn’t they know that as soon as I was done we could load up and leave? Why make a huge mess? The only answer I could come up with is they were wanting attention, but that makes no sense to me. Especially after the last few months. We’ve done nothing but be around each other and do things together. I’m still racking my brains about why that occurred but who knows..
I went back to packing all the food and was finally done with my portion of packing and went to help Greg so we could set off sometime this century. After we got everything loaded and many trips back inside to grab last minute items we were off. This time we drove the backroads down to Bryce Canyon and I have to say it is my absolute favorite.
I love going through all the little towns and seeing things off the beaten path. We ended up being so tired that we pulled over to sleep back at Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home. It made the perfect spot. We pulled the rzr out of the trailer and made dinner and went to bed. I just have to take a moment and say that this is probably my favorite part about traveling with a trailer. I love that at any time we can pull over, make a meal, rest or use the restroom. Without having to go into too many places. It’s convenient and makes traveling fun. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving in a car doing 80-ish to get where we are going in a hurry, but there is something peaceful about taking the slow route.
We finally got to camp, which was by Tropic Reservoir we ran into a herd of cows. A baby cow was down in the cattle guard so naturally Greg and I hopped out of the truck to help it. While we had good intentions the boss cow saw us as a threat. She came just a bitchin’ in our direction. I’ve never had the privilege to watch a cow “have a cow” but it was something else. She made it very clear that we and our help were not welcome. After we got Bessy sorted out we finally got to camp and got set up.
It took us a hot minute to set up camp but it was worth it when we were done. I mean it was like we were camping in a postcard.
We took advantage of the gorgeous views, trails and swimming this trip. The kids had a blast!
We had movie nights with popcorn and s’mores!
We had a little stream that was on the outskirts of camp. The kids played in it and caught fish. Wes actually fell in and got soaked but you know, you gotta experience it full body apparently.
One of my favorite parts was when the kids put on a 4th of July Parade for us at camp. It was cute, thoughtful and I loved it. We even got them to sing the National Anthem!
I love the 4th of July, I love celebrating our country and thinking about our founding fathers. They were so brave to band together and set forth not only the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution but the Bill of Rights as well. What an exciting time to be alive. Almost as exciting as today. Our country is in turmoil again and I believe real change is on the wind. Of course that idea of change looks different for all of us but that’s what makes America so beautiful. We have the opportunity to change things for the better. To BE better but not at the cost of throwing those opportunities into the very faces of those fighting for them. Let us all choose to be better Americans moving forward. Tolerant,listening, compassionate, helpful, strong, brave Americans.
Till next time!
~ Laura
Life, Party of 4 