Road Trip to Wyoming!

When my dad first brought up the idea of a 3-week, boys-only road trip from Austin to Wyoming I was sure he hadn't thought it through enough and would soon realize that this was waaaay too much work.

They're off! 4 days driving just boys. They will meet up with my mom for a few of the days. 

But I would soon learn that he had thought of nearly everything as I brought up point after point of why this would be too much. (Remember, he has to have medicine twice a day, you can't forget!  -  He needs reminders to go potty.  -  He can't eat at every place you can eat. Accidental exposure to peanuts could kill him at worst, hospitalize him at best.  -  He's five! It's hard.) But my dad would confidently offer a counterpoint to every point. And somewhere along the line I became convinced this would really work.

Not everyone was such a believer. My husband thought H would surely get homesick on day 2. My mom thought my dad would be too exhausted to keep up with a five-year-old for that long. Even I was hoping he'd be homesick (though I knew he wouldn't) and bought him a $20 flip-phone from Target at the last minute so he could call us anytime. He didn't use the thing until about day ten.

Lesson learned: know your kid, trust your gut, take advantage of any crazy fool willing to take them on an adventure of a lifetime for three weeks. 

H had a blast. He learned a lot about the National Park System, as he visited four parks and earned Junior Ranger Badges at all of them. He learned how to get along with someone outside his immediate family. He learned about the five different states he went through. He learned about my dad and mom. He learned how it was to live a little differently than we do, a lot of which he liked, some he didn't. He learned about a lot of wildlife he's only seen on tv or books. He learned some personal responsibility. He learned some bear safety.

In short, he learned about life. And that's what I remember most about my childhood road trips to Colorado, Montana and Wyoming every summer of my childhood. There are some things that can't be taught in books. They need to be learned by doing. And that's what a summer road trip is really all about. New people, new place, new experiences. All of which will stay with you for a lifetime. 

Thank you Dad & Mom for the road trips of my youth and still having the energy to do the same for H. 

Giraffes are Amazing

I have giraffes hidden and some, not so hidden, all over my home. I love them. So when my friend invited us to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch which is also a giraffe sanctuary less than an hour from our house I couldn't say yes fast enough.

We got a late start (of course) and didn't arrive until nearly noon so it was a bit warm for some of the animals. But this park is amazing. Amazing!

You arrive at the park and can purchase your map and animal food. There is a visitor center and cafe if you need to stop before heading out on safari. We headed straight for the gates. I let the kids unbuckle and you drive 5 mph through acres and acres of well-groomed, scenic hill country views with the added bonus of dozens of different types of wild animals.

They do such a great job of laying out feed in shady spots near the road you so are guaranteed to get up close to so many animals. Many of them hang out on the road to get a closer look at you.

My boys could have driven it twice, but we were hungry and I was eager to back to Austin before rush hour began. So we stopped in the cafe for a late lunch and explored the lemur exhibits and the great petting barn. So many baby goats. Enough said, right? Both boys would have brushed these baby goats until sunset if I had let them. 

We are already planning our next visit. My only advice would be to go early if it's summer time, because the animals don't care for this heat any more than we do.