It may not seem like much to go on vacation, I mean, everybody takes them, right? Well, not exactly. For 22 years of marriage, Tim and I have been a (mostly) single-income household so I could be there to raise our kids. I believe it's the most needed, worthwhile, and rewarding job I could have possibly chosen. Because of this, our vacations have not been like those others talk about. We've had to settle for more "day trips" to a beach, or lake, or maybe a 48 hour stay at a relative's house out of town. We've had maybe half a dozen times that we've packed up the kids to go to a hotel, but it's always been because there was a business convention at that hotel and we were going anyway. Even then, we brought our own food, no room service, just the basics. There was one time Tim and I got to take a mini vacation back in 1996. Tim's parents agreed to watch the boys (newborn and 2 yrs. old back then) so we could get away for a weekend. By the time we drove there, took the ferry from the Maine coast to Mongehan Island, it was late afternoon Friday. We spent Saturday and a few hours Sunday to be alone before boarding the ferry back to Maine and driving back to southern NH. Our 48 hours together were great - the island had no phones in the inn (this was before cell phones), no TV's that we saw anywhere, nothing commercial. Just homes with a few hand-made art/craft items for sale hanging by the front door, 2 or 3 restaurants (a dining room at our inn and 2 homes with the living room converted to seat half a dozen tables only), and nothing more. Our time was spent walking the island, down by the shore (way too cold to actually get in the ocean), or sitting on the screened porch playing board/card games together. It was quiet, it was just the two of us, and we were and still are very thankful for it - but it was still just 2 days.
This time our vacation will be done right. Just the two of us. For 10 days. We'll spend the first few days near and at the beach. I've never seen the CA coast, the Pacific Ocean, or a sunset on the ocean. I'm looking forward to sitting on the beach alone with Tim watching it, full of thankfulness and contentment.
Next we get on a ship and set sail for a 4 day cruise. We'll see Catalina Island, Ensenada, Mexico, then get to spend an entire day at sea enjoying the boat. On board, we hope to rest, experience better dining than what we usually do, maybe play mini golf, enjoy the pool, get a tan, take in a few shows, go sightseeing at our ports of call, and spend time just dancing together. I've only been on one cruise, for about 48 hours, and it was fun but it didn't involve Tim. I'm sooooooo looking forward to this.
After the cruise, we're staying at a Bed & Breakfast. We stayed just overnight in one close to home back in NH. Again, not a vacation, just an overnight thing. This place is close to the beach, but just a few minutes from some sightseeing areas too. Not sure which direction we'll head, but that's okay. We don't want a schedule to follow on this trip. We want to experience what it's like to choose each day as we go.
We'll have a business event to attend while we're in CA. This is actually the reason we chose to do all this in that area. We didn't want to miss the upcoming event. I'm hoping that we've seen the last of the injuries and illnesses in our home for a while, and now we'll be able to refocus our business building events to make 2014 our best year yet.
After the event, we'll spend our last vacation day, Mother's Day, visiting the San Diego Zoo. It's something I've wanted to see for a long time now. I've never seen a live polar bear, gorilla, or koala. I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures there. After the zoo, we'll drive home so we can spend a few days with the kids, and getting Tim ready to head back out for another 2 1/2 weeks. The next time he'll be home after that should be around our actual anniversary.
I can't wait!!! This is going to be the vacation of a lifetime!
