Woodford Planning

Woodford Planning (n) The act or process of talking about future occurrences in general terms without taking the necessary steps to make specific plans until it is absolutely unavoidable.

Last Sunday evening we found ourselves in Philadelphia without our girls. They had arrived safely in Utah with Grandma Shelly and Grandpa Larry. Josh had finished school. Summer had officially begun and we, of course, had no specific plans for the next month. We used Sunday afternoon to catch up on sleep. Monday we kicked it in to high gear. We ran a few errands, deep cleaned our house, packed our bags, and caught up on a few long neglected to do items. We thought we could leave on our cross country drive around 10:00 the next morning.

Tuesday rolled around. We started finishing up the last loads of laundry, packing the car, and doing all those last minute things that take far longer than you think they will. Pretty soon our goal for departure was 12:00 noon, then 1:00 p.m., then I stopped making time specific goals. We pulled out of Meredith Street just before 4:00 p.m. and drove to the hospital to visit a sister who I visit teach and Josh home teaches who had just had a nasty surgery. It felt awfully familiar to spend all day packing and anticipating leaving town only to swing by the hospital “really quickly” on the way to the freeway. I think that is how every family vacation of my childhood began. And, of course, we had to swing back by our house to pick up a couple essential items that we forgot. By the time we got on the interstate headed out of town it was past 5:00 p.m., just in time for rush hour traffic. At least we finally had some time to think about what route we wanted to take West.

Using our phones we mapped our way to Nauvoo and headed in that direction with the idea that we would drive as long as we wanted and stop when we were too tired to go on. The beginning of the drive was beautiful. Spring is in full swing in Pennsylvania so we had a very pleasant drive through the green, lush countryside. Once it got dark we started taking turns driving while the other one slept.

We had packed up a cooler of food and as we were driving out of town we decided we would try to eat only that food and save ourselves some money on the trip. That lasted until we stopped for gas right after crossing the border out of Pennsylvania, when Josh simply had to have a corn dog. That part of the plan was definitely better left behind.

We continued to drive on through the night toward Nauvoo. At 6:00 a.m I had to pull over and we both crashed for a little over an hour in our seats by the side of the road. That was the low point of the drive. We pulled into Carthage at about 9:30 a.m, the only tourists in sight, and had a private tour of the Carthage jail. That is a sacred place. The Spirit there was beautiful.

From Carthage we headed to Nauvoo. We drove along the edge of the Mississippi River and into the historic part of the city where you see the temple crowning the settlement. We were able to go to a session in the temple and then again, because it was not crowded, we were able to walk around and see different areas inside of the temple. It was so beautiful. The building itself is lovely--inside and out--but the history and context of that temple make it even more poignant an experience to be there.

After the session we drove around the city a little in the rain and then headed to a hotel and slept and slept and slept. Feeling refreshed the next morning, we started off on another day of driving. The highlights of our next long haul were highway 2 running through the Iowa countryside and the view of the stars as we drove through Flaming Gorge at 2:00 a.m. We were the sole travelers on that highway in the middle of the night, so we pulled over and looked up at the stars. Then Josh made me play frisbee for a few minutes just because we could.

The day after we woke up in Nauvoo, Illinois, we woke up in Roosevelt, Utah. Since we arrived there at 4:00 a.m. we slept in as long as we could, but then we rallied for a wonderful day playing with that cute pack of little girls. Greg and Shannon’s house is one of my favorite places on earth. It was a little sad to be there without Kate and Jane but at the same time it was kind of nice to be the carefree aunt again.

Saturday we went for a 43-mile bike ride in preparation for our century ride at the beginning of June. Being on my bike again felt great. Climbing up what in Pennsylvania we would call a mountain but it Utah we call a hill didn’t feel so great. Any lack of pep I will conveniently blame on the elevation change! Let’s just hope three weeks of training can get me where I need to be.

It is good to be in Utah again. It is good to be close to family. It is good to be close to mountains. It is good to see people walking to church. It is good to feel the cool breezes at night.

My girls didn’t even give me the cold shoulder as I had feared they might when we met up with them in Salt Lake. They have been darling, much more cuddly than usual. Jane keeps saying, “I need you, Mommy.” and coming over to be picked up. Getting the girls ready for church today was a challenge, however. They fought me every step of the way. Their favorite response to everything I asked them to do was, “Grandma doesn’t do it that way.” At least I know they enjoyed being with their Grandma for a week. Maybe someday I will figure out how to be a caretaker of her caliber.

So, in spite of Woodford Planning we managed to make it home. Two all night drives wasn’t how we anticipated crossing the country, but it all worked out in the end. Maybe one of these days we will learn the benefits of planning ahead, but for now we are just flying by the seat of our pants. It is Kate’s birthday tomorrow. Ask me if we have everything ready like good parents would. Nope. Again, Woodford Planning; we have talked about it several times and thought about it a lot but nothing is really ready.