Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I love to travel.
I don't necessarily love the "traveling" part of travel, but I love visiting new places and experiencing new things.
I had hoped to take the family to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons this year but decided a while back that that goal was feasible but not responsible.
Last year was a bit of a money hemorrhage.
New HVAC system and water heater in May.
New-to-us car in October.
And I realized that we had actually gone on not one, not two, but three trips in 2019:
Atlanta, GA during Spring Break, 2019
Cape San Blas, FL during summer 2019
and
Michigan City, IN during fall break 2019.
To go to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons would involve airfare for 5 people, a rental car, and probably two home rentals since we would want to minimize driving between the national parks.
If you've ever looked into flying to Jackson Hole, it is crazy-expensive.
As much as I hated to let the idea go, I had to let it go.
If I proceeded, I would feel guilty for spending so much money when what we really need to do is save.
So, I had to think about where we could go that might give us a bit of a Yellowstone feel without the airfare and rental car.
My kids will agree to just about anything if it involves the possibility of seeing animals.
When we visited Rocky Mountain National Park, we spent an entire day on a hunt to see a moose, and when we finally did on our way out of the park, even G didn't want to get back in the car to leave.
I realized that we could venture to Land Between the Lakes, which is less than 4 hours away and has a bison & elk prairie.
So we're doing a "state"-cation this year.
There is horseback-riding at LBL, and the place we're staying is right on the water and has kayaks.
If we get bored, we can visit Fort Donelson in Tennessee or Paducah.
We're even taking my niece, which will change things up since she has never traveled with us before.
Also, on my list for a short day-trip in spring is Big Bone Lick State Park which, surprisingly, also has bison on site.
The draw, though, is simply the name.
I don't necessarily love the "traveling" part of travel, but I love visiting new places and experiencing new things.
I had hoped to take the family to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons this year but decided a while back that that goal was feasible but not responsible.
Last year was a bit of a money hemorrhage.
New HVAC system and water heater in May.
New-to-us car in October.
And I realized that we had actually gone on not one, not two, but three trips in 2019:
Atlanta, GA during Spring Break, 2019
Cape San Blas, FL during summer 2019
and
Michigan City, IN during fall break 2019.
To go to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons would involve airfare for 5 people, a rental car, and probably two home rentals since we would want to minimize driving between the national parks.
If you've ever looked into flying to Jackson Hole, it is crazy-expensive.
As much as I hated to let the idea go, I had to let it go.
If I proceeded, I would feel guilty for spending so much money when what we really need to do is save.
So, I had to think about where we could go that might give us a bit of a Yellowstone feel without the airfare and rental car.
My kids will agree to just about anything if it involves the possibility of seeing animals.
When we visited Rocky Mountain National Park, we spent an entire day on a hunt to see a moose, and when we finally did on our way out of the park, even G didn't want to get back in the car to leave.
I realized that we could venture to Land Between the Lakes, which is less than 4 hours away and has a bison & elk prairie.
So we're doing a "state"-cation this year.
There is horseback-riding at LBL, and the place we're staying is right on the water and has kayaks.
If we get bored, we can visit Fort Donelson in Tennessee or Paducah.
We're even taking my niece, which will change things up since she has never traveled with us before.
Also, on my list for a short day-trip in spring is Big Bone Lick State Park which, surprisingly, also has bison on site.
The draw, though, is simply the name.
No comments:
Post a Comment