So... we leave soon for our annual camping trip. We will be doing a hike this year that is about 13 miles round trip. It's a 2 day event. I day up, we stay at a lodge at the top and then hike down on another trail the next morning. The remainder of the week we camp by the river, ride the rapids on inner tubes, fish, jump off cliffs (into the water, of course... lol), more hiking, bike rides, play games (board & the likes of wiffle ball), cook by the campfires and now that we're all getting older TALK a LOT and watch the nieces/nephews & cousins have fun growing up in nature. My hubs family has been doing this 60 years in a row in The Smoky Mountains. So this is a big anniversary trip this year for us and hence the BIG hiking adventure. There will be 13 of us on that hike and 33 of us total the rest of the week with all the family.
All that sharing of our trip, to ask...
Do any of you have big summertime plans coming up? ...or things you do each year while all the kids are out of school?
Have things changed as your children have aged and moved off to college?
Are you an empty nester or retired and travel all the time?
What are your bucket lists for the summer if NOT traveling?
For those of you in countries it's not summertime, what do you have going on now?
My summer plans: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Oh I wish I had something more interesting to write. I am an empty nester but I will spend most of my summer working.
One of my daughters lives in Tampa (Florida), which would be an amazing vacation spot and one is moving to El Paso (Texas) on the Mexican border this month. I had originally planned a summer of travel but life happens and things change.
My ideal vacation would be spent in the mountains, watching wildlife from a balcony and floating down a creek or a historic spot, rich in history. My bucket list vacation is to visit Alaska and France. My grandmother was French and I have always dreamed of visiting there. And Alaska just fascinates me! I think I could move there (to a well populated city) and never look back. (My husband does not feel the same way about Alaska - so it's just a dream).
Empty nester, but a few years retirement--full time jobs. After a VERY snowy winter and cold wet spring (until about 2 weeks ago!) spending as much time outside by the lake as possible when the weather is nice!!
I've never traveled much, and hope to get to the East Coast (Maine) and to Yellowstone.
We are moving in a week (!) back to Oregon. So our summer plans are to settle in. All the families are coming to visit, so we'll have a fun time.
I've been to Alaska for 3 weeks in the middle of their summer (warmer and 23 hours of daylight). It was fun to visit but I would say I'm probably like your husband. There is NO WAY in the world for a million dollars even I would live in Alaska during their winter & dark season. LoL I can do 100 degrees but not much below 25 for very short periods of time with a LOT of layers!!!!.
I grew up in a family of 7 children, 11 when my mom remarried and we NEVER traveled. It just wasn't feasible while she was a single parent and then as we were older too much stuff (extracurricular) with so many kids from kindergarten to senior high. We did very mini trips outdoors stuff.
I'd love to go places like France, Scotland/Ireland, Australia, I could go on and on... but that's my lottery win bucket list (and I never buy tickets)
@Marisa: That's like us several years ago. It's actually nice when you're younger to get to move and learn about new places. But at almost 50 for me now. I'm glad we've for the most part stopped somewhere permanent. Of course, that can always change in an instant with jobs.
I hope everything goes smooth and you are very blessed with a wonderful extended family... so, I know that will be a blast for y'all. Stay safe and remember the patience you needed before the baby... and give yourself a break when you feel overwhelmed.
@Marisa, we have friends in Portland. I heard it is hot there right now! We visited them a couple summers ago. Interesting city.
One reason I love the Oregon coast is that it's never hot out here. Once you head inland it can get pretty warm in the summer, but out here it's always fresh.
We're planning to go see the wild flowers up north of us for me to take photographs, if the weather per,its we might be gone for a month
@Amanda Did y'all get to take your long trip and enjoy the flowers and sites?
My summer plans included selling almost everything we own because we moved into our camper (from a 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 garage home) in preparation to travel the US in our camper, one travel-nurse assignment at a time. It's just my husband and I but we had a bunch of junk! lol. We spend 2 weeks a month at the local campgrounds on Carlyle Lake and the rest of the month at home, camping in our driveway.
shawna.. never did, not yet anyway...our daughter Kiran wanted to buy a block so we went guarantor for her so had to come back to sign things, then she sold her house... we helped he pack and move... she has gone to the in-laws to live while their new house gets built, trouble is.... they don't really get on... so now we;re re-tiling the main bathroom, organizing the rooms in case she flees back here... or she might need a few weeks break..... both myself and hubby have mobility troubles which makes things go very slow and we are finding it a little painful.. things are getting done tho
hopefully we'll get a break in a month or two......
@Amanda I hope that things are coming along for your daughter. ANd for you and your husband doing the fixes. We are going through that for almost two years now. Having to repair things in an older home we purchased. One project at a time. Seems never ending. I have fibro and we are doing about 90% of the work ourselves. So between my pains and hubs work, we are slow going, too. Wonder if we will ever complete at all LoL
We hope to do some special travels next year since it will be our 20 years anniversary. 