It was a rough night. Forty degrees is really cold when you only have 2 blankets, one sheet, and light sweats for coverage and perched on a cold conducting air mattress. We all curled up in balls and wrapped ourselves as tightly as we could. But there was no way to escape the frigid temperature.

You may recall our queen size air mattress had a leak. I would be in terrible pain if I had to sleep on the ground. Ashley graciously gave me her air mattress as my only other option was to sleep in the van.

When morning finally arrived, none of us wanted to emerge from the blanket cocoon we had crafted for ourselves.

At 8:30, I made the first move and Kathy followed. We had discussed previously booking a second night so that we could fully enjoy Bryce Canyon without feeling rushed to leave. But there was no way we wanted to relive this near freezing night again.

Ashley was the last to shake loose of her cocoon. She is a classic flipper and flopper in bed. No matter how cold it is at home, she usually kicks off most of her blankets and whatever is on her feet. Her pink bunny slipper were left behind in Las Vegas because she kicked them off into the bottom of the bed. But on this morning, the pink bunny slippers were firmly attached to Ashley’s feet.

We pulled stakes and headed for nearby Bryce Canyon. First stop was the visitor center to secure a Jr. Ranger packet. We then boarded a shuttle that would take us to various important locations within the park. We spent a good portion of the day walking the rim trail.

Late in the day we found a ramp that led to the canyon floor. We got about a tenth the way down and decided to turn around as we would never make it back up if we continued.

Our tour concluded back at the visitor center to find the answers to the unreasonably difficult questions in the Jr. Ranger booklet. We forged a team of similarly struggling kids to help get everyone through it. The challenge was ultimately completed and Ashley had badge number 2 pinned to her shirt.

To avoid a horrible traffic jam, Google Maps suggested a different route out of Bryce. It sent us down a well paved back country road that was virtually desolate. We saw but and a handful of cars on this 90 mile sojourn. And prayed that our little van would not choose this time to fail us.

Happily we made it to the big city, Richfield. Our first stop was a fast food joint called Taco Time. We were so hungry we swalled the meal whole. We have no idea if the food was even good.

We chose Richfield as our destination because it was the only town within 200 miles with a Walmart. We did our shopping (including a new air mattress) and then had to figure out where to stay the night. By now it was 7:30.

Kathy started checking campgrounds when she stopped and looked at me and pleaded to stay in a hotel. I thought about the prior three evenings in our tents. Let’s recount. Wind storm. Water cannon. Freezing. Yeah a hotel sounded nice.

We found a cheap Travelodge in neighboring Salina. We got every device a nice charge and we slept like the sleep deprived people we were.

So where did we leave off? Oh yeah. Should we continue or turn around and admit defeat? Kathy had made her feelings well known last night. To be honest, I find these things a bit flukey and definitely unrelated. There was too much excitement and too many months of planning to abandon the trip at this early stage. That left the third person in our group to break the tie.

The day before, Ashley made a direct statement that she is more of a hotel person. She does not like the way we tent camp. And remember, she made these comments before we were blitzed by a rapid fire water cannon.

Specifically, Ashley doesn’t like that we use the tent only to sleep in. No sitting around the campfire. No relaxing at the site. No star gazing. We set it up, sleep in it, and take it down.

So I’m thinking it is a lost cause. To be democratic, I called a family meeting to make a final decision on our long term plans. After a brief discussion, I voted first – percervier and continue. Kathy voted second – kinda wanted to head home but left open the possibility continuing. The final and deciding voter, Ashley, said we should keep going. Kathy made a stipulation that she would demand a return home if we have just one more bout of bad luck.

I pulled Ashley aside and admitted my surprise by her vote. She said she is really looking forward to the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. I was kidding when I told her we would go there but now I guess we have to.

With the meeting completed, we packed everything up and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park.

Being Sunday, we searched for a place to go to mass. The nearest church was 20 miles past Bryce Canyon and it had just one mass a week, Sunday at 2. If only we were Morman. Most towns in Utah don’t have a stop light, but they have a Morman temple.

We were going to try to get a tent site within Bryce Canyon, get changed and get to mass by 2. The only problem with our plan was that the one road into Bryce Canyon is being repaired. This left us stuck in a huge traffic jam. We sat not moving for 20 minutes and clearly we were not going to make it to the park and to mass. I made an executive decision and flipped a U turn. We had seen a national forest campground a few miles back. We found a great location with a view of stunning red rock formations.

We quickly got changed and flew off to church. We found a quaint Catholic church with seating for 25. The priest and the singing were excellent. The mass lifted our spirits and reinvigorated us.

We had a late lunch or early dinner and headed back to the campground.

The only thing noteworthy about the evening was the low temperature. The forecast was a low of 40. One of the parishioners at church told us not to worry as there should be no frost this night.

Needless to say, we are not at all prepared for cold weather. But we bundled up as best as we could. This of course included the now famous pink bunny slippers. I tried to steal them from Ashley but she quickly refused and reminded me that I was the one who wanted to abandon them.

We nestled down and braced for the cold.

So you’re probably wondering what happened after Kathy rescued the bunny slippers for the second time in one day. As you may have guessed, we sought shelter in the van.

The wind continued to gust with hurricane level force. Our van swayed back and forth. Ashley expressed her fear that the van would be blown clean over at any moment (which seemed logical to me). My less dramatic take was that nature was simply trying to rock us to sleep.

We woke up pretty sore but happy the van remained upright. It was time to plunge ahead. We needed a new tent (which we found at Walmart) and to go do something fun.

We drove straight to our first National Park of Big Trip 4: Zion. Our only goal on this day was to give Ashley the opportunity to earn a Jr. Ranger badge.

The program is rigorous at Zion. It requires visiting 7 of the park’s unique areas, completing an intense workbook and attending a ranger led lecture about the former inhabitants of the area and their interactions with nature.

At the end of a strenuous but highly rewarding day, Ashley received her badge.

This was the first real enjoyable day of this trip. We were now 2 days behind and this was only day 4. It was Saturday and we wanted to make this stop on Thursday to avoid the weekend crowds (which were massive). Flexibility is a basic tenant of the Big Trip so it’s no big deal. What’s important is that we felt like things were starting to go our way.

We drove through Zion’s back gate straight for a tiny town called Mount Carmel Junction. Our campground was quaint with large trees and a grass pad to set up our shiny new tent. There would be no wind tonight. The only downside was that the low temperature was going to be 48 degrees. With our extra blankets and cold weather clothes, we would be fine.

But of course there was another downside because that’s the luck we are having. So far our problems have been self-inflicted and natural. But what happened this night was just plain stupid.

Now before I continue our little story, I want to assure you that what has been written here is true. It would be easy to conjure these crazy things up to provide some comic relief to benefit you, the reader. But no. Sadly bad things continue to haunt us.

So we set up the tent, ate dinner, and played a game of Clue (Ashley won) before settling into the tent. We were all exhausted from an active day and a rough night prior.

As I rolled unto the air mattress, I discovered it had developed a leak (which must have happened during the wind storm). No problem. We had a backup air mattress. But as you probably guessed by now this one also had a leak. Exhausted, I fell asleep quickly despite having that sinking feeling.

We were all shockingly awakened at 11:38 by the sound of sheets of water pelting the tent. How could this be? There was not a cloud in the sky nor rain in the forecast.

I poked my head out of the tent to discover a high pressure water sprinkler taking aim at the tent firing water like a machine gun. We just wanted one normal, restful evening where we could catch up on our sleep. The kind of night so boring there is no need to blog about it.

Again, hate to use the word surreal but this was surreal. We have camped hundreds of times across these United States. We have encountered rain and cold and heat and wind. But never have we incurred the wrath of a sprinkler timed to go on at the convenient time of 11:38 pm. I can’t make this stuff up.

We figured the deluge would end within 15 minutes. It didn’t. It was set to stay on for hours.

Eventually, the water was tuned off and a sense of quiet and normalcy returned. The tent was wet inside but there was no damage and the bunny slippers were unharmed.

And with that Kathy proclaimed, “Something doesn’t want us to continue this trip. We need to go home.”

We almost had a “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” moment. We checked out of the Plaza Hotel and we were merrily cruising down the road when Ashley let our a little whimper. “Did anyone remember to grab my bunny slippers?” she cried. I suggested we buy a new pair on our way out of town. Kathy was a bit more sympathetic and insisted we reverse course and retrieve the pink slippers.

A half hour later, the bunnies were rescued, Ashley’s mood improved massively, and we were back on course.

Today’s plan was to visit Zion National Park and to find a campground near the park.

As I drove, Kathy was reviewing her camping materials to find the best place to set up for the night. She contacted several campgrounds but they were all sold out. One mentioned a state park near a lake in Huricane, Utah that had primitive tent camping. They had plenty of available places to set up.

We drove straight to Sand Hollow State Park. It features a lake and sand dunes. Many Jet Skis use the lake and off road vehicles ply the sand.

We chose a site near the lake. The entire place is covered in other worldly orange sand. Ashley said it looks like a scene from a Star Wars movie. The sand is very fine, hard to walk in, and tent stakes slip right in without needing a hammer.

We watched a glorious sunset, played some games, and finally settled down to sleep around 10. Then the real fun began.

With a sudden, violent gust of wind, our tent was under siege. The stakes that slipped in oh so easily were now out and our tent was flapping furiously. Concerned for our safety, we decided to put the tent down and seek shelter.

We handed Ashley the essentials – keys, wallets, phones and glasses and ordered her to the van. Kathy and I fought desperately to remove the poles to allow the tent to lie flat, a maneuver that had succeeded perfectly in prior wind storms.

But this was no ordinary wind. I can’t explain why we didn’t heed the now obvious warning – c’mon, tenters should never stay in a place called Hurricane.

As we attempted in vain to get the tent down, a massive blast of wind lifted our very large tent and plastered it right unto Kathy. On the other side I grabbed and pulled and wrestled with the airborne tent but I was no match for the gale force winds.

We continued to fight the tent. The gust relented briefly and we guided the twisted, mangled tent to the ground.

Kathy dove into the shredded tent amist the shattered poles and endless sand to retrieve the rest of our belongings, of which there were many. Sleeping bags, air mattresses, electronics, computer, toiletries, clothes, shoes. Ashley was right there with us loading up the van.

The van was parked about 100 feet away, across thick, silty sand and now 75 mile per hours winds. Normally, we could carefully consider the precise location of each and every item. Tonight it was shove it in and close the door. Worry about it later.

I hate to use the word surreal because it is way over used. But this scene was surreal. I felt like we were in a movie. The sky above was clear and calm and beautiful. The kind filled with the wonder of endless stars. On the ground it was Armageddon. The wind was roaring like a hungry lion. We had to yell to each other and it was still hard to hear. The tent twisting and flopping like a fish out of water. Our flashlights shining in the darkness.

The sand was blasting us with tremdous force filling our eyes, nose, ears, and lungs and coating our skin. The strength of the wind made it hard to walk.

When we arrived earlier, I was enchanted by the incredible colored sand. I considered putting some in a container to show everyone the magical sand. However, our night in the sand storm left us with enough orange sand in our shoes to last a year.

The recovery mission almost complete, Kathy decided to take one final dive into the once proud tent.

The shrill of Kathy’s laughter filled the air. She emerged looking absolutely giddy if not a bit worn out by the events of the evening. I gazed at her, questioning her current state of sanity.

She thrust her fist in the air as if to signify we had achieved victory out of near tragedy.

In her fist was a glorious sight…two pink bunny slippers.

Our goal for day 2 was simple. Get to Las Vegas. Head north on I-15 and never head south. I’m happy to report: mission accomplished.

Breakfast at the Best Western was really good and really filling. The drive was blissfully uneventful. And the weather in Vegas? Muey caliente.

After a quick bite at the oversized and very busy Las Vegas In-N-Out, we tried to visit the Coca-Cola store near the MGM Grand Hotel. As I whipped the van into the parking structure driveway, Kathy exclaimed, “6 foot 1”. In other words, we ain’t gonna fit. With the storage box on the roof, I figure we are close to 9 feet. With a steady river of pedestrians in front and a line of car behind, we were stuck. The fact that the temperature was a sweltering 106 degrees was not helping.

Thanks to the grace of God, the driveway was just wide enough to slowly make a 7 point U turn. I gunned the van back onto the Strip narrowly avoiding a collision and we crossed the Coca-Cola store off our list.

Our next stop was the Ethel M chocolate factory. We had seen brochures for the self guided tour in the past but had never visited. We were greeted with hands full of various chocolates.

We watched the chocolate making process. It was interesting, but we were disappointed that not a single oompa loompa could be found. But the air conditioning was sublime.

Our final stop was to check in at the Plaza Hotel at the end of the Freemont Street Experience. After relaxing in our room for a couple hours, we decided to venture out.

Now either Kathy and I have gotten more prudish or the level of debauchery has risen significantly in downtown Vegas (probably a bit of both), but I can say all three of us were uncomfortable perusing Freemont Street. Lots of mostly naked men and women, the omnipresent odor of pot, and the over abundance of public intoxication, did not make for the wholesome family outing we were expecting. Poor Ashley asked if she could close her eyes while we guided her back to the hotel.

We finished the evening playing games, taking glorious showers, and turning the lights out at 11.

I maintained a daily journal during our 3 previous Big Trips. Once a week I would send an email to family and friends to recap all of the highlights of the prior week. The main intention was to let everyone know that we were still alive.

My plan was to do the same thing this year. But our first day was so incredible that I want to document the entire day in detail to give it the proper justice it deserves.

The day started for me at 1:58 am. I woke up with a dry throat and a powerful thirst. I staggered to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. In the dark, I searched the cabinet then realized that all the water bottles had already been packed in the van. Still slumbering, I wheeled around to find the silhouette of a glorious bottle of water expertly perched upon the kitchen countertop.

I quickly spun the top, threw my head back, hoisted the rim to my lips, and felt the cascade of liquid fill my mouth.

Though my brain was tired, it took me about a tenth of a second to realize this was not the life affirming refreshing taste of water my tongue was sensing. Before I swallowed, I remembered that Kathy had filled an empty water bottle with laundry detergent.

I rushed to the sink to spit out the vile elixir. My mind immediately rewound 45 years prior when mom would make me eat soap for saying bad words. Only this time, I consumed the soap before I said bad words.

My mouth foamed over like a rabid dog. Luckily very little detergent made it down my throat. And my night guard received a cleaning like never before. And better yet, I took the Tide Challenge. So yay me!

The next morning we loaded up the van and Ashley and I were ready to go. Kathy had expressed her desire to leave at 4:30 in the morning. My position is that we had no reason to leave that early. I was thinking like 10 am. Ultimately, we compromised and left at 2:03 pm.

As we were heading for Las Vegas, all I needed to do was take 52 to the 15. That’s it. But of course I missed the 15 (because I never take the 15 ever). We jumped on the 805 (traffic), then the 56 (traffic), then the 15 (more traffic). At least we were headed in the right direction, albeit slowly.

Suddenly my phone rang. Kathy answered. It sounded serious. It was our alarm company. We had a water leak near our water heater. In preparing to leave, I shut off the water and unsuccessfully attempted to drain the water heater.

As we continued north, Kathy called Cassie to have her evaluate the situation and call us back. It turned out she could not find her key to the house. She drove to Grandma Martin who believed she had a key, but it didn’t work. Another trip back to grandma’s and another key and still no luck.

We had no choice to but to turn around and realize that one more item should be added to the definition of Big Trip. A key ingredient of a successful Big Trip includes leaving a key with someone in town.

Two hours of grueling traffic later we pulled up to Cassie’s and gave her one of our keys and a hug. We raced home to find a very small puddle of water under the alarm sensor. I talked to dad who helped me drain the water heater.

By now it was 7 pm. Our Big Trip was 5 hours old and we were back home still 6 hours away from our Las Vegas hotel. Kathy was game for a run but I just wanted to go to sleep. We compromised.

We stayed the night at a quaint Best Western in Temecula. We first dropped off a house key with Susan and grabbed dinner at Rubios at Grossmont Center. At 8:30 we were finally on the road.

Seems to me these trips involve a lot of good luck and a little bad luck. I think we took care of all our bad luck in one day even if it was entirely self inflicted. This much is certain, there is no where to go but up!

That’s a great question and thank you for asking. Rather than providing a textbook definition, I prefer to give a little personal history that will explain the term “Big Trip”.

We took our first Big Trip in the summer of 2005. I had decided to quit my job. This would be the first summer in 17 years that I had more than two weeks off. I had the whole summer and beyond. An occasion as epic as leaving the rat race deserved a worthy celebration. We decided to embark on the vacation to end all vacations.

The kids were 11 and 9 and life was just streaking along. Kathy and I were seeking a memorable family bonding experience to start our new life. A Big Trip involves family.

As our new life did not include a significant income stream, we decided whatever we were going to do over the summer had better not cost much money. A Big Trip is done on the cheap.

We took inventory of what we did have: a minivan, a tent, sleeping bags, and Six Flags annual passes.

That’s not much but it’s a start.

Next, we studied a map of North America. Where did we want to go? Our Six Flags passes got us into all of their affiliated parks for free. In 2005 that meant visits to such places as Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Buffalo, Montreal, and Baltimore.

With a $50 National Park Pass we could visit every national park across the nation for free. We were looking at places like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, and Mount Rushmore.

A Big Trip covers a lot of miles. If done correctly, you should dip your toe in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

What about accommodations? We decided our goal was to live out of the tent as much as possible. No doubt at times the weather would force us to seek shelter in a motel. Do we try to make reservations?

Before we had kids, Kathy and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon. We decided it would be fun to hop in the car and just pull into a motel when we were ready to stop.

We made it into Flagstaff around 11 pm and the entire city was sold out of motel rooms. It was a disaster.

With that experience in mind, we decided to wing it because that’s how we roll. We had a phone book sized Good Sam campground directory that helped to locate parks that would accept tenters. For you young people, in 2005 phone books were used to help find phone numbers and the publication was 5 inches thick.

Have we ever had an evening like that night in Flagstaff? Maybe a couple. But not enough to make us plan too far ahead.

A Big Trip involves accommodations on the fly. This creates way better flexibility to do what we want to when we want to. Want to stay an extra day? No problemo. What about changing the destination? No worries at all.

Let’s recap. A Big Trip is:

* Family

* Cheap

* Bi—coastal

* Flexible

The trip planning for Big Trip 4 started in 2007. Not long after the successful completion of Big Trip 3.

By my calendar that would put Big Trip 5 around 2019. And it would include just Kathy and me.

Kathy and I were passionate about these trips and we were happy to keep dragging Cassie and Trevor along. High school was looming for Cassie as she would be entering 8th grade in the fall and we figured number 4 would probably be it until the kids were out of college and on their own.

We did not get the opportunity to go on that last hurrah with Cassie and Trevor. On July 13, 2008 we welcomed Ashley into the world. She was a beautiful baby and we love her very much. But with a new baby in the house it was clear we would be in no position to go on a Big Trip for many years.

In the years that followed Ashley’s arrival, we went on many smaller road trips – Seattle, San Francisco, Texas. But we have not taken a full fledged cross country Big Trip with Ashley.

Trevor and Cassie are now out on their own. They completed college and have started careers and they have all the makings of being successful. Ashley will be 11 soon and she is smart and funny and talented and so much fun.

We have decided this is the year. Back on the road in a 2000 Mazda MPV. With a tent in the back and a storage unit bolted to the roof rack, we are ready to again discover the beauty and wonder and history and fun that is America.

As we start the planning, we marvel at how much has changed since 2007. Back then our only technology was a laptop and two Nintendo Gameboys. WiFi was almost impossible to find. Navigation was done with Streets & Trips and a GPS dongle that plugged into the USB port.

Now we will have smart phones and tablets, Netflix and YouTube, and a Nintendo Switch. All the planning is through Google Maps. This may sound funny, but we miss the old Streets & Trips.

Even though we have done three of these Big Trips in the past, we are still excited and a little nervous. We are definitely out of practice. But I know once the planning is done and the van is packed and we hit the road, all will be good in the world.