It's Time!!!!!

 It's time! In less than 48 hours I'll be on a plane and my need for travel will have resumed! Jackson Hole, Tetons and Yellowstone here we come!!!

Post Christmas, 2019 was the last big vacation that we took as a family. Katie had her Hungary adventure with LVHS right as the pandemic started and we have planned and canceled 6 vacations since then.

For the past 18 months I've been suffering from "Notriphobia." :)  

Let's review:

March, 2020 - NYC and tickets to see Plaza Suite on Broadway with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick...CANCELED

April, 2020 - 3 day escape to Shenandoah National Park with Don... postponed to June

June, 2020 - 10 days in Paris, FRANCE for Katie's 18yr birthday and high school graduation...CANCELED

June, 2020 - 3 day escape to Shenandoah National Park with Don...postponed to October

December, 2020 - 5 nights in Disney World (in place of Paris for Katie)…CANCELED

March, 2021 - 4 nights in Fort Lauderdale, just Don and I... CANCELED

March, 2021 - 3 nights in Chincoteague...CANCELED

AND....

June 28 - July 8, 2021  - 10 nights in Wyoming...NOT CANCELED

I was looking for words to explain what I am feeling right now and as we get ready to leave, and I connected with a few.

                                        

Before I get into what lays ahead of us for the next 12 days, let me show you how I have dealt with my FERNWEH. You might have noticed the tickers on the right side of this page...my need to travel is being satisfied by planning about 6 trips within the next year and beginning to look a bit beyond that also.

June, 2021 - 10 days in Wyoming for the 4 Rahns

September, 2021 - 3 nights in Disney World with the 3 West girls - myself, my sister and my mom

December, 2021 - 5 nights in Sedona, Arizona for the 4 Rahns

March, 2022 - 3 nights in Disney World with just Katie and me - a small token of a redo on her high school graduation

July, 2022 - 3 Night Disney Cruise on their brand new ship, the Disney Wish for the 4 Rahns - still tentative as we watch the state of cruising slowly return to normal?

June, 2023 - California National Parks for Carleigh's double graduation - Bachelor's and Master's degrees from UMW

June, 2024 - TBD BIG trip for Katie's college graduation from GMU and a make-up for high school graduation

I've realized that I really do need to travel and it dates back to my childhood as an Air Force brat. Before I graduated from high school, I had lived in 10 different places, including 3 of those years in Italy. I was born in New York, then...Colorado, California, Ohio, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Southern Virginia, Italy, Northern Virginia all before 11th grade and then on to Virginia Tech for college. We were constantly on the go and I LOVED it. I loved the road trips, hotels, new places to see and explore, and mostly I loved creating the memories and then reflecting and reliving them for the rest of my life. 

I am so happy that I married someone that is willing to travel the world with me and might just love it almost as much as I do. I am also grateful that I have been able to put roots down in Purcellville and at the same time give my girls the same adventures and experiences that I had growing up. I have to admit that I continue to be thrilled that they want to continue to travel with us, even though they are 19 and 21. 

I recently read an article about how travel is the secret to happiness. I truly believe that. We've been traveling as a family unit of 4 since we stopped paying for daycare and put that monthly money into an annual vacation fund. Our family vacations over the past 15 years have taken us to Disney World, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, California, Canada, Bahamas, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Barcelona, Montana, Maine, Seattle, Ohio, Arizona, and up and down the east coast numerous times.

Now to focus on the present; we are on our way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming very soon and have 11 days of fun planned. Our first trip to Jackson was for our 10 year wedding anniversary and this will be our 6 trip there since then. We will return to the same lodge and, as is tradition on each of our trips, we will venture out and find new adventures and experiences.

Our previous trips to Jackson Hole have include the Tetons and Yellowstone and an extra few days in another location. Over the 6 trips we have added on Glacier National Park, Banff National Park in Canada, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah, Salt Lake City and Park City in Utah, various spots in Montana and this time will be no different.

For this trip we will start in Jackson and the Tetons, then venture to the top of Yellowstone and spend two nights in Cooke City, Montana and then travel through Idaho (a new state for us) and return to Jackson for the last 5 nights. 

I'll be blogging while on the trip because I've realized that if I don't collect these memories while they are happening, I'll get home and get distracted by life and then not get to it. So, if you're interested in following our journeys as we return to Wyoming and explore Montana and Idaho...stay tuned!

Just a little more planning and packing and we are ready to head to the airport. 

The RESFEBER is real...especially after being out of practice. Do we have everything? Have we confirmed the reservations? Will the rental car be ready? Will our luggage make it? and then there's masks and covid and post-pandemic traveling.. we are all fully vaccinated and ready!

I can't wait to travel again and I can't wait to create new memories with my adult daughters and my incredible husband!!

Stay tuned for Day 1 as we leave our house at 5:00 am and arrive in Jackson at 1:30 pm. 

Will the bison and moose be there to welcome us back?

I can't wait to find out as we are able to FINALLY celebrate Seldom a Dull Moment with the Rahns!!