Heading west

So. Dan and I have been together for almost 44 years. We've been married for almost 42 of those 44 years. And we have never taken a major road trip together... until now. 

It all started when our friend, Sandra, told us about a magical place called Ring Lake Ranch in Wyoming. Sandra is an enneagram teacher, and she is leading a week-long retreat at Ring Lake Ranch later this month. Dan and I have learned a great deal about ourselves through Sandra's facilitation of the enneagram concepts, and we didn't have a major trip planned for this year, and Dan has had so many health issues that we both have been dealing with, so we decided that this would be a great trip for us! I was thinking that we would fly into Jackson, spend some awesome time hiking in the Tetons before going to Ring Lake Ranch, and return to Weaverville a couple of weeks later. 

Silly me. 

One of the activities at the ranch, along with hiking, horseback riding, and kayaking, is fishing. If you know Dan, you know that he likes to fish, so he has fishing paraphernalia, and he wanted to take it. Add hiking boots, hiking poles (which cannot go in carryon or checked luggage - don't ask me why), and the pain of airlines, and we have the recipe for a car trip. Why not, we asked?

I'll tell you why not: Dan is a beast when it comes to planning things to see. He finds shit that no one would really ever thing about finding. And so we have a crazy itinerary going out that I'm not sure I'm ready for. The trip back has similar targets. However, I do have some gummies (thanks, friends!), just in case I just need to stay stoned. :)

We leave tomorrow morning and have an eight-hour trip (excluding stops) ahead of us. It won't be the longest day, but it will be our first. Wish us luck.

- Vicki