WARNING: The headline and subhead above are purely theoretical. For now, at least.
At the very end of July, my wife and I will be packing up the car and hitting the open road. A roundtrip of nearly 4,000 km in a week with nothing but several tanks of gas, hours of music loaded on the iPod and the sights and delights of the Canadian Shield to entertain us.
Oh and a preschooler. Did I mention the preschooler?
Yes, dear readers, in less than two weeks we'll be venturing forth into the mighty wilderness in search of adventure, excitement and, ultimately, a family reunion in Northwestern Ontario's beautiful Sunset Country. And in case that wasn't a bold enough challenge, we've decided to forgo the comforts of home and camp the entire way.
Yes, camp.
Like in a tent.
On the ground.
Outside.
I mentioned there'll be a preschooler, right?
Frankly, I'm looking forward to it. Sure it'll be... interesting... to log 700 km in one day with a three-and-a-half-year-old passenger, only to have to sleep on the ground at the end of it but, as we realized while plotting our route, that's still only 7-8 hours of the 12-13 hours my daughter is usually awake in any given day. Factor in an hour or so at either end of the journey for set up etc and that still leaves a couple of hours with... nothing planned.
Nothing. No sports class. No daycare dropoff. No "just one last email for work." Nothing but family time and the great outdoors. If we see a lake we want to stop at for a swim, we stop and hit the water. If we decide to check out the world's largest somethingorother, we can check it out.
Compare that with the stress of getting to the airport, getting through security and getting on a plane whilst wrangling a three year old, only to have to convince her to sit quietly for three hours. If the kid gets antsy on a flight there's no stopping at the nearest playground, that's for damn sure.
Getting together with my extended family was going to be great, no matter what. But thanks to our grand roadtrip camping adventure, the journey will be just as memorable, interesting and enjoyable as the destination.
Well, memorable at least.
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