Enlightening Vacation

Last weekend, we went to Jackson Hole for Ryan's annual ITE Conference (for transportation engineers). This is the third year we've tagged along. The first year, we came home right after. The second year, we camped in Yellowstone afterward. And this year, we went to came at Craters of the Moon on the way home.

The problem is that there was a giant cold front covering the entire western United States! And Jackson, WY and Craters of the Moon aren't known for their mild weather to begin with.

Things started out well, but after a lame, sugar-laden Super 8 breakfast, the boys and I headed out to the van to find a fun park to play in. I unlocked the doors, then stuck my keys in the ignition, like I always do. Then I reached over to open the door to put the boys in, and it was...locked? Oh dear, I'd just shut the last door, and it was...LOCKED!

I didn't understand how it was all locked, but it's no use standing there in the cold wind and complaining. After the panic of being stuck in a hotel room passed, I remembered that the bus in Jackson is free, and there's a stop near the hotel. Ryan had caught it that morning, and it dropped him off right in front of the Snow King, where his conference is. Knowing the boys would LOVE a bus ride, I knew exactly what to do.

We got to the Snow King and found Ryan and he gave me his keys. We all took the bus to lunch, then the boys and I rode back to our hotel. We unlocked the van to discover that its battery was dead! So after all that, we ended up stuck in the hotel room until Ryan was done for the day.

I decided we're really not missing anything by not paying for cable. The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon now consist of stupid pre-teen dramas about rich kids who act way too old. Not even remotely interesting to 6- and 4-year old boys. Or their mom.

So we broke out the camera.



When Ryan got back, we rode the bus to a restaurant for dinner. By now, we had the route and the schedule down pat. Or so we thought. We had missed the last bus of the night! So we walked back to the hotel, about a mile and a half. Thankfully, we'd taken the stroller! Oh, and it started to rain.
I tried not to think about what bad luck we'd been having. I mean, come on! But you know, that walk was really nice, despite the sprinkles. It was a great family moment. And when we got back to the hotel, hot chocolate and popcorn were waiting for us in the lobby.

The next morning, we had another lame breakfast and set out to fix our car situation. Ryan was at his conference again, so I put Luke in the stroller and we headed out into the snow---yes, SNOW in MAY---to the auto parts store. Half-way there, Zach, who had refused to wear socks and shoes, started complaining that his Crocs were hurting his feet, and that he couldn't walk anymore. Not too far into his piggy-back ride, however, he slid off and landed on his bum in a puddle.

Those thoughts about bad luck crept back.

I hoped for a silver lining as we walked into Napa Auto Parts. Bedraggled and bundled up in multiple layers of mismatched clothing (because we hadn't expected to need winter coats at the end of May--remember, I packed shorts!), and one kid riding on my back, wet and muddy from falling into a puddle, I think we looked pathetic enough to elicit empathy.

It must have worked, because 10 minutes later, the Napa lady had the van jump-started and was testing the battery. We think the tailgate didn't latch, probably because of all our junk in the back. That left the light on, which drained the battery, and explains why the doors didn't unlock when I thought they had, which is why my keys got locked inside.

We got the van working again just in time to check out of the hotel and pick up Ryan from his conference. I literally spent the entire vacation getting the van running.

And I finally learned why people say, "well, it could be worse." I didn't understand that before. Knowing that other people were suffering didn't make me feel better at all! In fact, it made me feel worse. Call it overactive empathy, but I just felt so sorry for anyone who felt worse than I did!

However, as I was hefting the half-full roof bag on top of the van by myself (you're supposed to put it on, then fill it up), a flat-bed tow truck pulled up to the hotel. I watched as three young adults climbed out and retrieved suitcases from their mangled SUV on the back of the truck. They looked exhausted, although it was only noon. Suddenly, my bad luck didn't seem so bad. I said that it looked like they were having a bad day, and offered to help any way I could. They said they were finally okay. I'm guessing they checked into the hotel and slept the rest of the day.

Sure, the trip wasn't a ton of fun, and it was full of inconveniences, but we're all safe. We didn't even incur any extra expense because of our trouble.

Now that we're home, we asked the boys about their favorite parts of the trip. You know what they were so excited about? Riding the bus and going on that long walk.

So I learned a lot on this trip. Having bad luck doesn't mean you can't make great memories. And no matter how bad you think things are, there's still a lot to be thankful for.