Friday, April 26, 2013

Wish Me Luck......

After a huge amount of careful planning for the past three months the day has finally arrived.

I am known for my strict schedule every time we go somewhere. I watch the clock and schedule a certain
amount of time to each activity. It works great when we are trying to get in as much as we can in a couple of days or three, this trip is a little different though. The first two days are set in stone, but the other seven is up in the air. My OCD is in overdrive about this, but I think it will be okay.

This is also the first time the wife and I have ever gone anywhere for a whole week, much less without the kids. This is also the first time I will have ever left American soil.
Usually our outings are a couple of days with the camper in tow. If we do get a chance to get out of the area then I always squeeze in a battlefield tour or two. The wife hates it, but she goes along with me anyway. She has even went as far to say "no battlefields this time".

Tonight we will be in College Station with the oldest girl showing us a night out on the town. Then on to Huston where yes, I managed to talk her into a tour of the San Jacinto battlefield. Then off to New Orleans and the French Quarter, then on the boat for seven days.

I am lucky enough to have some friends that will be staying at the house to make sure it is secured and the animals all get taken care of. I also have about twenty folks that will be watching the place while I am gone. I have no worries that everything will be just as I leave it when I get back.

One other thing I want to clear up. I am not going to justify this trip, but I do want to say, living the lifestyle I live has made it where we do not vacation. My homestead is my vacation and the activities we do there is our release from the everyday life. I have never felt really any need to spend money on something that will just be memories in a month or two. Sure I could have used this money to further my dream of the homestead and when it's all said and done I will probably regret that I didn't do just that. The homesteading/survival/prepping life has always been my life. I didn't just wake up one day and make a decision to do this. My mom and dad live this life, my grandparents lived it and for forty one years I have. It is the normal for me, not a weekend trip to the farm or an apartment pantry filled with food. Not saying that is bad, but saying what most of the blogs I read dream of living how I live.
I said all that more for me than you so I can justify it to myself that the wife and I do need to get away for a week. This is not so we can refocus or need a break from the mini farm. It is so we can be together doing something we have never done before in a place we have never seen, while we still can. It's that simple.        
Y'all have a great week and I hope to see ya on the flip side,
 MDR        

25 comments:

  1. Wow. Jealous! We don't go on vacation either. :)

    Have a wonderful time!!!

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    1. Thanks Rae, this is on the bucket list. It's one of those half to things I guess.

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  2. Live for the moment - and enjoy :)

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  3. Have a great vacation! Hopefully you are going to a sunny beach paradise and will be sipping on drinks served in coconuts while soaking up the sun :) Can't wait to hear all about it!

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    1. Thanks Kelly, I would be disappointed if that didn't happen.

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  4. Explanations; friends don't need them and enemies wont' believe them.

    The only justification for a vacation/time away from home/trip/whatever you want to call it is 'can we afford to do it and everything else we have to do' -- and that is only something your family needs to answer or know.

    Enjoy the cruise; I've taken two (one on my honeymoon) and absolutely enjoyed the experiences. Hope you do too.

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    1. Thanks Bob, I just don't know about the crowd. I don't like people very much and I think there will be too many people around me. Other than that, I am sure it will be great.

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  5. Try to relax & have fun. As long as you don't try to be the first ones off the boat at a port, the crowds (from the boat itself) shouldn't be a problem.

    Enjoy yourself, can't wait to hear all about it when you return!

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    1. Thanks DFW, If for some reason we don't get on the boat we thought about heading out your way.

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  6. Have a good time! Catch all the shows on the boat, they are probably pretty good.

    We'll be here when you get back.

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    1. Thanks Preston, If I have too good of a time I might not be back.

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  7. The best prices are in Cozymel as an FYI and always haggle!!!

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  8. MDR - you and the wife DESERVE this. and you better go and have an awesome time or i am gonna have to come down there with the *ss-kicking boots on...and i know that you don't want that!

    buddy - go have some fun...and then next year come up here and have a true and proper vacation....just sayin'...

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Thanks Kymber, so far so good. We get on the boat tomorrow. We have had a full two days already.
      Don't you worry, a trip up there is being planned and then I will show you how rednecks live.

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  9. Good luck. Hope you both have a safe, wonderful trip. God bless. ♥

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  10. Replies
    1. Thanks betsy, we are trying but the traffic is the worst.

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  11. Ok, Modern Day Redneck, this is a fellow Texan and a wife of 26 years, so I feel eligible to tell you that you must suck it up and act DELIROUSLY happy on these AWESOME trips away from home, for the wife and kids. They need memories of being in a different environment with the husband/dad because they might not be as enthusiastic about homesteading, etc., as you are because you are very good at it. So, smile for those photos and have the time of your life because it is really for their life that you'll be vacationing. Actually, I bet you'll have a better time than you imagine, especially because you'll be so happy to eventually be back home!! And, I understand, I'm what is called a "home-body" and am perfectly fine with that label, but these days I have to push myself to travel outside of my zone. I bet you will incorporate something you learned during vacation to the homestead! SMILE AND SAY CHEESE! :-)

    Lana

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    1. Thanks Lana, I know what you are saying and plan to do the best I can. I have already learned a couple of things I plan to incorporate. I will do a post about them when I get back. I visited an amazing place outside of Houston today and got the grand tour.
      I also just came through your area and I hope you are safe. The water is a rising.

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  12. Breaking: Has an American POW been found ALIVE in Vietnam??????????

    http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/04/breaking-has-us-army-pow-been-found.html

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