How My Family and I Were Nearly Robbed on Vacation

Ever since I left teaching to work full-time on my coffee business, we have had this tradition of getting away after New Year’s for a little family vacation.  The boys have an extra week off during winter break, and so we capitalize on the free time.  It’s the same place each year—a house out in the middle of nowhere, near no cities at all, in the mountains of Southern Utah, and away from people.  Just how we would choose to get away after a busy holiday season.

Every year I have looked forward to this getaway for months ahead of time.  I’m not alone—the boys play it cool, but their excitement becomes more and more palpable as soon as Christmas is behind them.

I don’t know if you’re like me at all in this, but any time we have designated time set aside for a family trip, I allow my expectations to get the better of me.

For example, before we ever leave, I set in my mind a certain agenda that needs to be followed.  Not a traditional agenda, mind you, where certain appointments need to be kept, but an emotional agenda that looks something like this:

Day 1:  Rich family time where everyone gets along, laughs at each other’s jokes, the day ends in family hugs and kisses, warmed by the fire both physically and emotionally, the dishes wash themselves, my wife and I enjoy a glass of wine accompanied by deep emotional connection with the utter joy of being parents second only to our utter joy of being married to each other.

Days 2-6:  Repeat Day 1.  By the end, things should look almost cartoonish, with unicorns, lollipops, and heart-shaped rainbows dancing overhead.

But something always seems to happen to thwart my plan.

The great author Steven Pressfield says that every action in the universe that yields a positive outcome will be subject to a force he calls resistance—a fierce dragon that aims to kill all joy, and the progression of all things good.

We nearly got robbed by that dragon on this trip.

The first night, as we pulled into the snowy driveway, my wife remembered that she left her snow boots at home, over 6 hours away.  The worst was that as I started going through our packed items, she assured me that everyone’s snow gear was already set aside, and that I shouldn’t waste my time double checking.  The “I told you so” demons were screaming so loud in that moment; yet to capitulate would certainly start our vacation off on the wrong foot.

Cold and wet feet makes for a miserable snow experience, and my wife felt genuine panic about what she would do for a week in snow only having tennis shoes covering her feet.

Almost as bad (trust me) was the fact that later that evening I noticed I had packed all of the coffee gear necessary for a series of outstanding cups by the morning fire—except the ceramic housing necessary to actually brew the coffee.  For me, forgetting something as fundamental as a V60 Brewer is basically like asking me to “enjoy” instant coffee for a week.  And that is at least as bad as trudging through the snow in tennis shoes, let me assure you.

There were the times we drove 45 minutes to the outdoor ice skating rink only to find it was closed—twice!

There was the first night when my wife suffered from altitude sickness and was up vomiting all night, and laid out in bed the better part of the first day.

There was the tantrum my middle son threw (for a few hours) when he learned that he would have to suffer through a cross-country skiing trip with the rest of us.

There was the first cross-country skiing trip where we missed a turn on the trail and ended up lost on a 3 mile detour at dusk, returning to the lodge after dark.

There was the heavy snow and the semi-treacherous road conditions over the mountain passes.

There were the incredibly well-maintained highways, plowed and salted, allowing us to travel at high speeds like there was no snow at all.  Until we got to our driveway, where we repeatedly had to chain up just to park the car in the garage.

All of these things had us in the crosshairs of succumbing to a ruined trip.

But you know what?  This time, we fought the dragon.  We battled it as a family, collectively wielding our swords and slashing at it with all of our might and strength.  We fought it individually, through prayer and a renewed attitude and resolve to make the most of one potentially difficult situation after another.

And you know what? 

We not only survived, we thrived.  We thrived off of the sense of adventure that only steep, curvy, snowy roads can provide.  We thrived off of the fresh powder that the heavy snow provided, enjoying epic snow runs on the many nearby hills.  We thrived on the adventure of beating the sunset as we were lost in the middle of nowhere without a trail map. 

We thrived because we experienced all of this together.

So much so, that all five of us were genuinely sad that we had to come home. 

You see, for all of us, I think we would classify our most recent vacation in one word.

Perfect.

Perfect because the dragon showed up each and every day to rob us, to steal our joy, to drive a wedge between us.  But it didn’t succeed.  We slayed that ugly beast, together, and in return forged a series of memories I can only hope will be lodged affectionately in our minds for the rest of our lives…

Oh, and it helped that we bought my wife snow boots (at the store) the first day and me a new ceramic coffee brewer (online).  My brewer never made it to our remote location, but I guess you can’t have it all…