And We're Off: National Park Odyssey Day 1

Our 6-week, 23-national-park odyssey has officially begun!  Packing certainly didn’t go as we had planned, and so we got a later start than we had intended.  Our original plan was to use those plastic drawer thingys in the back of our Volvo as storage for our clothes.  We wanted to find a way to avoid each of us schlepping 6 weeks’ worth of luggage in and out of a hotel every single night, and we thought that having the drawers filled with our clean clothes and having an overnight bag with our toiletries and one night’s clothing would be a brilliant plan.  And it still seems like it should have worked.  But in reality, it was an epic fail.

There are those of you who would not have waited until 7:00 on the night before you plan to leave to go to Wal-Mart to purchase the plastic drawers that were the linchpin of our plan.  You would have bought them a week or more in advance.  You would have already done a test run where you packed all the clothes you intended to take into the back of your vehicle to make sure it all worked the way you envisioned.

We are not that kind of traveler.

Josh measures the drawers we planned to buy to use for our trip.  And while they fit, they didn't hold nearly all of our stuff.

And, consequently, it wasn’t until after midnight on the night before we were to leave that we came to admit our folly and accept defeat.  We were not going to be able to fit everything we needed for six weeks into drawers.  We had bought enough drawers for each of us to have one large drawer and part of another drawer, but that was nowhere near enough for even our clothes.  And we still had shoes (hiking boots, tennis shoes, the cowboy boots required for our upcoming mule ride into Grand Canyon, water shoes for the hike in Zion, etc.) and other gear to fit in!  We had to come up with another plan.

We decided to try to each pack a large suitcase with our clean clothes but then use overnight bags for toiletries and a change of clothes each night.  This was similar to our original plan but used suitcases rather than the easier-to-access- and-open drawers.  Josh and I would share an overnight bag, and Kinley and Knox would share one.  Before checking in to each hotel, we planned to stand at the tailgate getting clean clothes out of our big suitcases and putting one change of clothes (or two or three if we were staying more than one night) into our overnight bags.  Then we wouldn’t have to lug the big ones into the hotel.

Plan B: four large suitcases and two overnight bags plus a couple of baskets for snacks.

Even now, I’m not 100% sure why the drawer thing wouldn’t hold everything but there’s plenty of room for four huge suitcases in the back of our 2008 Volvo. (And if you’re more visual-spatial than I am and you completely understand it, just do me a favor and keep it to yourself for now.)  And if you’re one of the people who heard me talking about this packing plan weeks ago and thought, “That’s never going to work, but I’m just going to smile and nod and let Gina enjoy her illusions until the harsh lighting of the garage on the night before she leaves illuminates the facts for her,” well, you’d better keep that to yourself, too, or else I’m afraid we can’t be friends anymore.  But, for heaven’s sake, tell me next time.  Just politely pull me aside, gently remind me of my lack of spatial sense, and tell me how to do it the right way.  You might even want to refer to this post as you delicately try to convince me that I’m out of my mind.  I promise I’ll thank you for it eventually.

But packing woes notwithstanding, at 11:12 am on Monday, we pulled out of the driveway headed for Memphis and our first stop.  A family friend was hosting us for the night, and we were looking forward to some Memphis barbecue for dinner.  The 8 ½ hour drive was uneventful, and we arrived in Germantown (a suburb of Memphis that reminds me of Green Hills in Nashville) hungry and happy to be out of the car.

Our friend Alan and his lovely girlfriend Holly were waiting for us, and we all walked together to the nearby Germantown Commissary.  The tiny hole in the wall was located right by the railroad tracks and had a line of 25 people waiting outside at 7:30 on a Monday night.  We put our name in and sat down to chat and wait.  

Alan, Josh, and Knox wait for our name to be called outside the Germantown Commissary.

After an hour or so, we were taken to our table inside the cramped but charming dining area, walking on appropriately-greasy brick floors and past glass cases displaying coconut cream pies, caramel cakes, and homemade banana pudding.  Tammy, our server, served up delicious pulled pork sandwiches, deviled eggs, and the best house-made chips I’ve ever had.  I cannot say enough about these chips.  They were EXACTLY the right texture – not tough, not soggy with just the right crunch – and they were well-seasoned.  And best of all, they were $2.75.  Kinley had an appetizer portion of the barbecue nachos that was larger than she could finish and still only $4.75.  In fact, the bill for all 6 of us was less than $55.  I haven’t eaten at a barbecue joint that was that reasonably priced in a long time.  If you find yourself in Germantown, check it out.

After dinner, we walked back to Alan’s by iPhone-light because of a bizarre power outage, and then the kids went for a swim in his salt-water pool.  The power came back on before bedtime, but we still turned in relatively early to get ready for another day of travel.  The next morning, Alan made us breakfast, and then gave us a precious gift of an old samovar that his late wife Debbie had once smuggled out of Ukraine.  Josh once smuggled an Imperial samovar out of Ukraine to give to one of his favorite college professors (I’ll ask him to guest blog about that story sometime), so we certainly appreciated Alan’s gift.

Josh shows off our new samovar, a gift from Alan.

Knox poses for a picture with his rich uncle Alan (Alan's preferred title for himself in spite of the fact that we're not related at all).

Grateful for dear friendships, we set out for our first national park, Hot Springs.

Day 1

(I totally stole this idea of doing a rating system from Mike and Angela at We MarriedAdventure.)

-2 for packing drama

+1 for barbecue at Germantown Commissary

+1 for awesome accommodations with Alan

+1 for unexpected gifts

Pack It All In

I don't travel light. Some of my friends have been surprised to find out that after years of travel I don't have packing down to an art.  Sure, I am able to pack six weeks' worth of mission materials into our family's allotment of four 50 lb bags, but I also take all sorts of unnecessary stuff.

Examples from this trip include:  4 bangles, 8 pairs of shoes (not counting the ones Kinley brought to share with me since we wear the same size), and a bottle of the hair straightening balm I use at home (who am I kidding to think that this mop of hair is going to straighten in a tropical climate with no A/C?).

Additionally, I bring lots of clothes for myself and for the kids.  There are, of course, reasons (rationalizations?) for this.  1)  Knox and Kinley will grow out of their summer clothes, so I want them to wear all of them while we're gone.  I must confess that I like to buy my kids cute clothes, and there's no way I'm leaving them at home in the closet when I know they won't fit next summer.  2)  Kids' clothes don't actually take up that much space if you roll them before packing.  Plus, the weight they add is minimal compared to books, toiletries, and shoes.  3)  On long trips or projects, we never know what our laundry situation is going to be.  Will we have to send out clothes out to be washed?  How long is the turn-around time?  Will we have a dryer?  Will we be dependent upon good weather to line dry our clothes?  I'd rather just take enough clothes to last more than a week just in case.

But we Boyds try to pack it all in in more ways than one. When we take a trip, there is no time for rest.  In fact, in our family, we have three different ways to distinguish travels: trip, vacation, and project.  A trip is a journey that includes many specific sites to see and things to do.  Whether it's checking new National Park Service sites off our list, doing a few whirlwind days at Disney, or visiting five European countries on a twelve-day cruise, a trip means go, go, go.  There is very little time to rest, and I don't get much reading done on trips.  We see and do a lot, but I'm exhausted by the end.  Sometimes, one of us is working during the trip.  For example, in 2011 Josh taught in London for Purdue's study abroad program.  He taught classes during the week, and we went on side trips on his off-days and on weekends.  Pretty much every single day of that summer had an agenda.  (BTW, Josh is more of a trip kind of guy.)

A vacation, however, is far more relaxing.  It means one hotel for several days in a row and no real agenda.  We sleep late, read a lot, eat a ton, and usually gain weight.  We may pull ourselves together enough for an excursion or two, but the lack of a schedule is the real treat we crave.  On our 2010 vacation to The Reefs in Bermuda (the same place where we had spent our honeymoon 15 years before), Josh and I never even left the hotel property.  It was glorious.  (BTW, I am more of a vacation kind of girl.)

Finally, a project is a period of time that we leave the country to do mission work.  It is most certainly not a vacation since we work five days a week for nine hours a day teaching English using the Gospel of Luke.  And by our definition it's not a trip either, since we don't have enough time off each week to do a lot of side travel.  The thing that trips and projects have in common, however, is that they are both exciting and exhausting.  We love the work we do with Let's Start Talking, and each project lasts four to six weeks of our summer.  (BTW, at the end of a project, we usually squeeze in a trip before we return to the US.)

So, you see, we pack it all in, whether it's in a suitcase or an itinerary.  That's just what we Boyds do.

I Like Your Parenting (Or Life in a Fishbowl)

As I squatted on the floor by a Verizon charging station (praise God for airport charging stations!) rifling through Knox's carry-on for his DVD player's power cord, I was vaguely aware of the Asian guy seated nearby.  He must have been listening to the entire exchange I had with my seven year old, but I was far too focused on the task at hand to notice.

Knox is what we call in our family a Bad Looker.  He can't find anything.  Ever.  The day before we left to come on this trip, he had "lost" the case for his Nook Simple Touch ereader.  He spent 30 minutes looking for it, going from room to room, checking both cars, and finally ending up in his room morosely sitting on the floor by his bed.  When I came in to ask how his search was going, he said, "I've looked everywhere.  It's just gone forever, I guess."  The cover was 6 inches from his head.  On his bed.  In plain sight from the doorway where I stood.  Bless his heart.

Thus I decided to make use of our airport time and seize a teachable moment.  "Knox," I said authoritatively, "when you want to find something in your carry-on, you have to take out other things first."  I started by removing the gallon Ziploc of Star Wars action figures and placing it on the floor beside us.  "Then it's easier to see what's left ....  like your sticker books here."  I looked up at him, expecting him to be nodding intently at my sage advice.  Instead he was digging through the bag of action figures, ignoring me.

"Mom, look!  This guy is fighting this guy!  Who do you think will win?"

"I don't know, Knox," I replied in exasperation.  (I've learned from experience that I am incapable of predicting the winner of the Knox Boyd Action Figure Showdown.). I returned to exploring his bag while he prattled on about the advanced weaponry of action figure A versus the superior strategy of action figure B.  Occasionally I muttered something in response to give him the appearance that I was listening.

When I finally found his cord, I said, "Okay, why don't you choose a sticker book to do - Iron Man or Spider-Man?"  What followed was an exegesis on the pros and cons of each hero and his respective book.  His reasoning, I'm sure, made a lot of sense to him.  

I finally said, "That's all rockin' awesome, but could you just pick a book?"  Once he settled on Spider-Man, I turned to plug the DVD cord into the charging station, assuming that he would put the rest of his sprawled belongings back into his bag.

Silly me.  He instead grabbed his sticker book and headed straight for the nearest seat to get started, leaving a pile of action figures, books, and stuffed animals on the airport floor in his wake.

"Dude!  Seriously?  You're just going to leave your stuff here for me to deal with? No way.  Get back over here!" I said in exasperation.

"Oh!  I didn't notice," he replied, genuinely clueless about his mess.

As Knox cleaned up, the Asian guy smiled at me and said, "I like your parenting style!"  I laughed and thanked him as he got up, grabbed his shopping bags from designer shops, and walked away.

It was a great reminder of one of the things we learn in our Let's Start Talking mission project training - while you are on a project, you are living in a fishbowl.  People are watching you when you least realize it.  And they make judgments about all Americans (and all Christians, for that matter) based on what they see in us.

I hope that, at least this one time, the judgment made by a foreigner as a result of my behavior was a positive one!