The Grand Adventures of Bubblegum and Firefly - Post #1 Pre-Trip Planning

Post #1 - Pre-Trip Planning

Not quite into the wild...  (if you aren't familiar with the true story...check it out...very scary...well, for me).

And, it's not quite like standing on the abyss looking over the edge (well...maybe a little),

(I like slugs..they are, for the most part with the native variety...little earth engineers)

but it's an adventure borne in my head that really isn't so different than any other person's quest for something to do with their grandchildren. But, in this case, it is grandchild, Elizabeth age 13.

Lizzy, Christmas Eve December 24, 2014 in her Morph suit with a Heart sweatshirt and a beanie that says Meow...yup...my girl!

Most of my inspiration (?) comes when I am alone in my head. That implies that I can be sitting right next to someone and still be alone in my thoughts.  It's the quiet times I have come to appreciate when my husband and I are alone together.  Maybe we are driving somewhere and the silence between us is not uncomfortable, but a spot in time where we are two separate people not necessarily living parallel lives in our heads.  OK...

My granddaughter, Elizabeth Suzanne is precious to me. She is not me.  Not in the sense that she even looks like me, for she does not. But, there are glimpses of me around the edges. She loves adventure, is daring, artful, musical, is learning to appreciate the art of junquing, beating on furniture to distress it, and more importantly she is not a people-pleaser.  Oh, she is not rude, but she is not co-dependent in her living.  YAY!!!

She has a good circle of friends, but does not bend to the collective thought and has a pronounced sense of self in a teen aged world of group "likeness."  I applaud that quality and reinforce it every chance I get. She turned 13 in December 2014. It's a milestone year, indeed. And, to commemorate becoming a Teen, we are venturing forth on our steel horse (Can-AmSpyder), in June, 2015 to the Grand Canyon.

Late last year...somewhere around her birthday, I asked her if she would like to go on an adventure with me. The 1,000 yard Teenaged stare was imployed as she looked at me and asked me for an explanation of ... adventure. I laid out my ideas:  Texas beach-Corpus Christi, Texas Hill Country, or the Grand Canyon.  She chose the Grand Canyon. Note:  I would have been happy with either of her choices, but was secretly pulling for the Grand Canyon.

Ambitious undertaking and the first thing I had to do was convince my sons, including her father and my husband.  Not to worry...for I am skilled in the fine art of persuasion.

My older son, Jeff, thinks I'm nuts.  Lizzy's dad, my son Tyler, says...GoForIt...and my husband, John says OK.  NOTE:  I didn't need his permission and he does not require me asking, but having his buy-in for this trip is essential. The trip is a go and I pick the date of June 19 for departure with a return date of June 27 or 28.  Let the trip planning begin....we are giddy with eager excitement!