Family vacation: the Finale

            When I last posted, I left off at just after Golden Spike national memorial.  The next day we finished our journey to the Grand Canyon.  Let me begin this by saying that just the drive to the North Rim is beautiful.  You pass through two national forests that are astounding.  It makes it even better after seeing desert for a hundred or so miles before hand.
           We arrived at the North Rim campround around two in the afternoon.  This gave us enough time to go to the visitors center and get our initial view of the canyon and it was amazing.  I believe on of the most endearing features of the North Rim is that it isn't as populous as the South Rim.  Whether this is due to the fact that the nearest freeway is 200 miles away, a 50+ mile drive on 2 lane roads, or that it is just not as well advertised as the South rim is up in the air.  Any way you look at it it makes it very easy to get around.  That night the rangers informed us that there was a campfire event where a ranger would talk with us.  We went and learned alot.  The ranger talk was on the ancient pueblonians (I hope I got that right).  We learned about their lore on where they came from and where they got their ability to make pottery and baskets.  At the end the kids got to make figures out of clay.  The kids loved it.
           The next day we took a bike ride from the campgrounds to the visitors center.  It was only about 1.5 miles, but it was over some decent sized hills.  The two older boys rode there bikes and I got to pull the two younger kids in the trailer.  We saw some majestic views and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  The ride back was even harder as the campground is higher that the visitors center.  In other words, mainly uphill.  I actually had to make the kids get out of the trailer and walk with me a couple of times.  Once again the kids loved it.  We got back to the camprounds about noon.  As we were eating a park ranger came up to us and informed us about another ranger talk that was going on at one.  The talk was very informative.  It was on the animals that live in and around the Grand Canyon and the relationships between them. 
          That night we relaxed and just enjoyed being a family.  The next day we headed out to take a few hikes along the rim.  Let me tell you that, unless you have some health defect that makes strenuous activity a death defying feat, you really have to do some hikes to fully appreciate the majesty of the Grand Canyon.  They don't have to be long hikes.  The longest we took was about a mile or so.  I would attempt to describe the views here, but I just don't have the vocabulary.  All I have to say is, after the Grand Canyon, everything else is just a hole in the ground.  Yes, I borrowed that from my dad. 
           The next day I learned that, apparantly, Arizona has a pretty loose definition of what a city is.  When we left the Grand Canyon we decided to make the drive to Mesa Verde in one day.  This meant backroads through Arizona and southern Colorado.  The maps showed towns every 9 miles or so.  Apparantly, if it has a gas station (or did at one time) it gets a spot on the map as a town.  Luckily, the route we were taking stuck to one road for quite a ways and thus my wifes confusion as to where we were was not detrimental.  It really wasn't her fault.  It wasn't until we had passed the fourth or fifth gas station that we realized that those were the towns listed on our maps.  Overall, it was some beautiful country to drive through and well worth it.  We arrived at Mesa Verde about 6 pm.  We made camp and had our dinner.  That night they had a talk about the animals in park.  It was quite interesting.  The next day we headed out right after breakfast.  We ended up going all over the park.  We probably hiked around 5 miles.  We were able to go through a few of the cliff dwellings and were amazed at the sheer scope of the work that went into them.  There was an eerie beauty to it all.  The only downside was the heat.  That night we did another load of laundry and played Uno as a family.
            The next day we headed out for home.  As we were driving we dicided that, since it was on the way, to drive through Arches National Park.  It was decidedly worth it.  The boys got to climb up around the double arch and our youngest wouldn't stop talking about it.  Everywhere we went in the park, he wanted to go climbing.  Overall, the boys fell in love with the park. 
             We ended up making it to Salt Lake City that night despite the 2 hours we spent at Arches.  The next day we drove straight through to Boise.  We arrived around 3 pm.  Since we were a little early, we decided to go to Cabela's.  There I found one of the .22 rifles that I had grown up with.  My wife allowed me to buy it.  This meant the boys got to roam Cabela's for about 2 hours while I made the purchase.
            That night, we ate with my wife's brother at Golden Coral.  It was a good meal and we all enjoyed ourselves.  We ended up talking until almost midnight.  It was a good time.  The next day we shared breakfast and had a good timie.  We ended up swimming for most of the afternoon and the adults ended up getting sunburned since we ran out of sunblock on the last of the boys.  It was so worth it though.  Onec again we talked until late at night before saying good bye. 
          The next morning we made the journey home.  In all it was great vacation.  I know it was because I still haven't recovered from it.
          Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Summer Vacation: Part 1, on our way.

          I am back from my vacation.  It was a good vacation.  Ok, my wife says it was great, but she wasn't driving.  The little timer in the truck says we spent nearly 60 hours in it.  That means I spent nearly 60 hours driving through the western US towing a camper with 4 boys.  All that after sleeping on a bed that was less than comfortable and it makes for a very tiring vacation.
          To be honest, if that were the entirety of the vacation, then the vacation would have been the worst ever.  What elevates it to good is the fact that the parts where I wasn't driving (and even a few that I was) were absolutely amazing.  I got 2 weeks with my family and we stuffed a lot into that.
          First we went to Idaho and visited my brother in law, and it was a great visit even if it was only for about half a day.  Then we left for the Grand Canyon.  Due to a slight miscalculation on my part, we had an extra day to get to the Grand Canyon.  We decided to spend it looking at various sights.  We decided on the Hagerman Fossil beds.  Turns out, they weren't that great.  It was interesting and all, but it wasn't worth a day of travel .  I think the family would have preferred Craters of the Moon National Park instead.  The problems with Hagerman are that, in hte first place, it is 30 miles off the main road.  This normally wouldn't be a problem, but the second issue is that the park entrance is a small town and the visitors center is small, very small.  There are a few activities, but they are rather mundane and, for a fossil bed, there were suprisingly few fossils.  Top that off with the fact that the fossil beds themselves are inactive, hidden, and can't be reached without a few mile hike (not recommended with a 4 year old) and the whole thing was disappointing.  We ended up going a few miles down the road before camping for the night.
                 The next day is when the vacation really took off and became what really made it all worthwhile.  We now had 2 days to go about 600 miles.  No problem.  It started off with us looking for a Walmart or something like it because we were low on a few necessities.  The GPS told us there was one not to far off the road so we headed that way.  At the exit, I noticed a sign for Golden Spike National Memorial.  For those of you who are currently having brain farts, Golden Spike National memorial coomemorates the driving of the last spike on the transcontinental railroad in Promontory, Utah.  As we approached this Walmart, we discovered that what the GPS had meant to say was Walmart Distribution Center.  Yup, It was a huge warehouse surrounded by Walmart trucks.  In other words, shoppers not welcome.  We decided that, since we were on the road anyway, why not visit Golden Spike.  it was so worth it.  Sure it was another 30 miles off the main road, but it was informative and the kids loved it.  It helped that it had 2 working steam locomotives and was pretty quiet.
               As we left the Memorial, we noticed a rocket display at a place called ATK.  At first, I was convinced that I had heard of this place before.  Turns out, I had.  ATK is where they built, fueled, and tested the booster rockets for the space shuttle among other applications.  The display actually included a full size decomissioned booster rocket that you could go up to and be awed by.  My wife went nuts and wouldn't stop talking about it the rest of the day.  We did eventually find an actual Walmart and got our groceries before we stopped for the night.
             This is a good place to stop for now, I will continue with part 2 on Monday.  Hopefully, I will be able to complete it, but I wouldn't count on it.
             Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Defining success in a round about way.

                  I know I eluded to a well written article that would incorporate facts and figures and be neat and concise.  I know that is what I promised.  This obviously isn't it.  I am still gathering data and looking into the post I eluded to, but it may take longer than expected.  It isn't that there isn't a wealth of data, in fact, quite the opposite, there is almost to much.  But that is not the point of this post.
                  As I sat here doing research and surfing the internet (more of the latter than the former I am embarrassed to admit), my mind started wandering as it tends to do and I got to thinking about human successes and how they are achieved.  I realized that worthwhile successes either come about through sheer luck (miracles if you lean that way) or hard work and perseverance.  We have no control over the sheer luck aspect and, let's face it, if you are waiting for sheer luck to bring you success, then you will be waiting a while.  In fact, I would wager that, usually, when sheer luck strikes, the success has been worked toward and was accomplished through the sheer luck.  What do I mean?  Simply put, while experimenting (the hard work) an inventor discovers something unrelated to what he was working on (the success).
                   So what am I getting at, you ask.  Simply this, in order to succeed, you have to go against your human nature.  Human nature is to find the easy way out.  Human nature says, I want the reward, but don't make me ask for it.  You have to go outside of what it is you want to do and go further.  Think on it.  Was there anything that you wanted, worked for and got?  Wasn't that thing more cherished and celebrated than the thing you were given for free? 
                  I admit, I am lazy and really don't want to go outside of myself.  I don't like doing extra work and tend to wait until the last minute to do many things.  The fact is, that my biggest achievements and the things I remember the most, are those things that I went after and clung to tenaciously to achieve.  Those things that I was able to concentrate on and do to the best of my ability and hold up as what I could do.  It was those successes that I like to look on.  The stuff I got lucky with, I really don't remember (that may also be because I don't get lucky to often).
                 Ask yourself this, am I waiting on luck, or chasing success?  The first does nothing, the second gets you there.  The funny thing is, when you chase success, you may not end up where you thought you were headed.  The great thing about that is that the new place may be better than where you thought you wanted to go. 
                    I am not talking about monetary success alone.  Whatever it is you want success at requires effort.  If you want a long and successful marriage, you have to work at it.  You can't just sit back and let it happen, you'll end up with a roommate instead of a spouse.  If you want your kids to grow up right and happy, you have to work at it.  You have to discipline them, teach them, and spend time with them.  If you sit on the couch and ignore them, they become the kids you complain about at the store.  You get the picture.  If you are living life under the assumption that you deserve something because of who you are for no effort, then you need to reevaluate your life.  People who believe that have a name, spoiled brats.  If you define yourself by the success of others (Do you know who my daddy is?;  I work for ___), then you are a nobody.
                    I may have ranted and gone off the dep end a bit here, but there is a worthwhile point.  Your successes define you.  I hope that people can recognize me as a good husband and father and that that is how they define me.  I don't want who I am to be defined as a good sailor or a good inspector and nothing else.  Don't get me wrong, I would appreciate those definitions, but the definition I strive for is great husband and father.  How are you defined?  How do you want to be defined?  Do they match?  If not, why not?  What can you do to make it happen?
                   That's all for today.  Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.