As promised in my previous post, I am going to share with you a few details from our trip. Remember friends, a trip is what you take with kids in tow, a vacation is what you reap in......retirement.
I don't share these things to boast that we got a break from home, but hopefully to help others be able to get a break as well.
This year the kids and I went back to Flint, Texas. We spent one week here after Rick left and in that fog completely missed everything that East Texas has to offer. This time around we were able to enjoy the educational opportunities, the history of the area, and the locals at the church we attended and the resort.
Being just the kids and I, none of which can drive yet, I opted for the two day trip down and back, and we spent about two weeks at the villages. You can learn more about how I find these arrangements in a previous post:You CAN afford a vacation!
One of the reasons I enjoy homeschooling is that we can go on our schedule. It is rewarding to read and study our country's history, then go see the sites in person.
While we had a great time and some growth as a family, it wasn't as relaxing as some envision. The issues with the dairy industry followed us there, along with odds and ends- like the car I had at the mechanics and a few farm issues. As you picture us basking in the sun, edit that to keeping 5 kids busy during endless days of rain and a lot of cooking, cleaning, laundry and lunch packing.
The kids enjoyed themselves and all the activities that the resort has to offer. We did a lot of hiking and walking of the grounds, card playing and HGTV watching.I can honestly say I have played enough mini golf to last me a few years now. Maybe more.
I tried to do this trip as frugal as I could. I paid for the condo last year. We were given a gift card for eating out at Christmas, which we used for travel down and back, and one time of eating out per week. I packed lunches for the other days if we were not at the condo over lunchtime. The kids paid for their own activities, and we found many free attractions. Two of my girlfriends gave me a gift card for coffee (thank you!), and also helped with snacks. Fuel costs could have been better with anything but a F350 passenger van, however there are not many more vehicles that can fit all 6 of us AND our stuff, that would get better than our average of 13.8 mpg.
Below is a snapshot of our costs. Actual out of pocket costs for this trip were about $2,100.00., with most of the lodging paid for in advance. At the end of the day what I gathered from this spreadsheet is that I need to save about $25/person/day of "vacation" that we wish to take.
On the last day there was sun and humidity before the next set of storms rolled in. I was able to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and watch the kids play in our mostly deserted unit parking lot. The kids played in the pool, we packed most everything up, ate at a place called The Purple Pig, and talked of what they missed from home. I sat on the back deck for the first time that last night.
I can see why other #solomoms wouldn't do these things. It's exhausting. It's hard to watch everyone. In fact, we had to pull #5 out from under water, not once, but twice. He's fine. But there was no swimming on the way home. That was enough of that!
If there was a year to not spend money on a trip, it is this one. But just like most of you get two days per week away from your workplace, we need that time away as well. It's the price of sanity. It's also my effort to do everything that I can to give these kids somewhat of a normal life. To give them exposure to different cultures, different areas of the US, to stand on ground that was once a POW camp and see what big city life entails. They are still shortchanged in a few areas, but they will not be able to honestly say that I didn't give it my best.
A few snapshots of our trip.....
