Travel Planning: Acadia National Park

Plans are coming together for our October trip to Acadia National Park!

Traveling: We had originally planned to fly and rent a car, but ultimately decided that a road trip was the way to go. So the K Caravan will be heading across several states in our van, stuff and all! Our kids are good road trippers, we like being able to carry some of our stuff and gear we couldn't be able to bring easily on a plane, and lord, airports are SUCH a hassle with kids and stuff.

We plan to leave on a Friday and make it to Buffalo, where we can hang with my parents. The next day, we either leave super early in the morning and make it all the way to Acadia, or we decide to make a real road trip out of it and pick a random location before or around Boston to stop. Buffalo to Acadia is anywhere from 10-12 hours from my parents' house. Stopping just prior to Boston is one option, and hanging with JK's sister for the night; the other is a more winding route into some of the small towns in VT or NH. 

We are traveling with friends who will join our caravan in Buffalo. Their child lives out in Maine, so they are combining this with a visit to her.

Stay: We've got a place rented with a local company. We've got a whole house to ourselves, shortly after you get onto Mount Desert Island. I'm excited about this place, because it's got water views. We figured this was a good base for exploring all of MDI, while also giving us easy access to get off MDI and maybe check out parts of the park that are located elsewhere.

Hikes: I mean, as per usual, we have a whole list that we will adapt, depending on weather, kid participation, etc. EK has agreed to get up before sunrise and hike up Cadillac Mountain with me to see sunrise at the top--we shall see if she will do it. It might be JK and I, and our kids may hang with our friends. 

Other stuff: We've got plans for kayaks, renting bikes, a boat ride, time in Bar Harbor, seeing the lighthouse and other landmarks, and more. All weather depending, obviously. We also know that there's the chance to do some tidepooling and other things that will be wildly new experiences for us. 

Travel Planning: Rocky Mountain National Park

What's that, you say? You just posted a plan for this. For a snowy, winter visit, right? And also aren't you going to Acadia, like SOON and maybe you should plan that?

Yep! And those are still the plans!

My parents were here for a short visit, and my mom was talking about how she always wanted to go to Yosemite. After they left, I thought to myself, well, self, let's just take her there! So I told her, and planning commenced. She's had surgery recently, so she decided she was not up to Yosemite, her dream trip, and wanted to wait until she had recovered more. I suggested five other national parks I knew she had not been to, and she picked Rocky Mountain NP. 

I actually tried to talk her out of it, based on my own experience. But then, I did a search for easy hikes and easy walks, and looked at everything there was to do in town, and though, nah, this is PERFECT. I think she was nervous that I would want to do some big hikes, but there are lots of easy, gentle hikes I've never done because I thought they were too crowded. However, we're going in November, so crowds will be significantly less.

Stay: YMCA of the Rockies.

Hikes: (1) South Moraine Lateral Trail; (2) Sprague Lake (if she's up for it, from East Portal; if not, just around the lake and maybe down the trail a bit); (3) Bear Lake; (4) Dream Lake; (5) Nymph Lake; (6) Lily Lake; (7) Beaver Meadow; (8) Beaver Ponds; (9) Alluvial Fan; and (10) Hidden Valley. Look at those great, easy options! If she's feeling it, we could do harder hikes and just go real slow.

Other stuff: (1) Browsing Estes Park; (2) The Estes Park observatory; (3) activities at the YMCA of the Rockies. 

Day 1--Fly into Denver. We meet at the Denver airport, grab, the car, and head to Estes Park. We'll get there well before we can check in, so I'm thinking lunch in town and driving around RMNP. I'm going to pick a good spot for sunset, and we can watch the sunset.

Days 2 and 3--We are going to decide on the day or night before what we are doing. There will definitely be a sunrise viewing in the park, and hopefully a sunrise hike; driving around the park and small walks and hikes; more sunsets; shopping; dinner in town; and fingers crossed, a night at the observatory. 

Day 4 is going to be a morning in Estes Park and then either driving straight back to Denver or maybe driving around to Grand Lake, then Denver.

Day 5 is leaving at FIVE AM ugh. 

I can't wait! 

Travel Planning: Return to Rocky Mountain

Fingers crossed, universe willing, I will be back in the home of my soul, Rocky Mountain National Park, this fall or winter--other events depending. Even better (in some ways, though not all), this will be an ADULTS ONLY trip. That means the only limits we have are our own! We've got some tentative plans outlined, so here they are.

Stay--Part of the reason we are heading out there is because JK will be doing a guest lecture at a university in Colorado. So, part of our stay will be at least a night near the campus. After that, we will head to RMNP. The FUN (for me) part of the plan is to stay at YMCA of the Rockies. It's our favorite area of town to stay in, and I've seen the campus but not stayed there yet. I'm so excited to try it out. 

Hikes--any and all of these always depend on trail closures, road closures, weather, etc. Some are new hikes; some are favorites revisited. Although I really wanted to dig into the Grand Lake side of things, as far as trails went, many of the trails are still closed in order to let the ecosystems recover from the fires. It's going to depend on when we actually go--if it's dead of winter, some of these are going to be terrible ideas or even inaccessible. If it's fall, we can totally do it.

1. Moraine Park Loop--a starting hike, since its got very little elevation change. It'll be a nice starting hike. Technically an out and back trail, you can do it as a loop if you use the road. It's around 5 miles, and has only about 200 feet of elevation change. We can access this from YMCA of the Rockies--no car needed.
2. Sprague Lake from YMCA of the Rockies campus--again, fairly easy on the elevation gain, with only 600 ft of elevation gain. I can and do hike that in Indiana, and I've already hiked the hardest part of this trail.
3. Lake Haiyaha--this is a nice moderate option. 800 ft of elevation gain to see a real stunner of a lake. 
4. Lilly Mountain (This is in Theodore Roosevelt National Forest!)--I feel confident we could do this hike, and that it wouldn't be a stretch.  1200 feet of elevation gain and a peak elevation of 9800 ft. 
5. Twin Sisters Peak--if I am going to make a go of it on a hard stretch hike, it's this one. I really want to do it. 2500 ft. elevation gain, 7.5 miles. I would feel really confident doing it if I had more time to adjust to altitude, but since I know I won't, I want to try this, and be prepared to turn back if needed. It would be my first summit over 11,000 ft (though I know I can be as high as 12,000 without altitude sickness, given my recent tests of it)
6. Gianttrack Mountain (with possible stopping points at the earlier summits)--this one is maygbe a more moderate stretch, for distance and elevation gain (2800ft gain), though it tops out around 9500 ft for a peak elevation. That might make it easier than Twin Sisters.
7. Estes Cone--if I don't think I can do Twin Sisters, then this is my next choice. 2500 ft elevation gain and about 7 miles--I've done part of this trail before, so I feel like I might have a better shot at it. It's also just over 11,000 feet.
8. Sky Pond--this is a bucket list hike for me. 9 miles and 1700 ft of elevation gain, with a peak elevation of almost 11,000 ft. This would be an all day hike for us, starting early. 
9. Shelf Lake and Solitude Lake--my other bucket list lake hikes. 9 miles and 2200 ft of elevation gain, with a peak elevation of 11,500. This might be out of range for us on this trip.
10. A third lake bucket list hike is Chasm Lake, 9 miles, and 2500 ft of elevation gain. 
11. Ute trail--I want to hike at least part of this. I think it would be ideal for the point to point hike we want to do. 
12. Old Fall River Road--who wouldn't want to hike this when its closed to car traffic?!?

Some of these are absolutely hard hikes (for us flatlanders), so we would have to make a whole day of it, while also being aware that being above the treeline in the afternoon is generally a bad call. I also, as always, have to play my tendency towards altitude sickness by ear, and perhaps have to grudgingly acknowledge the fact that because this is a shorter trip, I won't have the amount of time I prefer to acclimate. We are also considering each parent having a day to themselves to go on a guided hike that's way more difficult, and the other parent stays with kiddos. 

We are hoping to maybe manage some big hikes by making them point to point instead of out and back, and seeing if we can utilize a local transport service for a pickup or a drop off. 

Other "to do" items are dependent on time of year. Maybe a fall or winter market; maybe a ranger program; maybe a climbing lesson. 

Whirlwind: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

I thought I was not going to get to a national park this year until October--maybe June, if we managed a run up to Indiana Dunes for a weekend. I was apparently wrong. 

After Finn passed away, my sister decided I needed a break. I've had a rough couple of month--lots of solo parenting while JK traveled, intense work stuff, and then Finn. She begged me to jump on a plane on a whim and go with her to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks for a whirlwind 48 hours trip.

So, my plan-loving soul is going with very little notice or chance to plan. 

Arrive: Fly into SLC, arriving at 12:00 AM, are you even kidding me, meet my sister, grab rental car, and drive to Arches. 

Arches: roll into Arches while it's still dark, hike with headlamp to a good spot to watch the sunrise. We've got a few picked out. We don't have timed entry reservations, so we need to get in before 6 am, and we will stay until we are done. We've got some mild to moderate hikes picked out and we will see what moves us. 

Canyonlands: we will take a quick break in Moab and go check out Canyonlands. We've got some short hikes picked out and highlights to hit. 

SLC: return to SLC on basically no sleep and crash at hotel. Next day, check out Antelope Island and downtown SLC.

Depart: Leave SLC at 6 pm and arrive in Indy at 2:00 AM ARE YOU SERIOUS ugh.

It's going to be wild, and hopefully, what my heart needs right now. It's a disservice to the parks to spend so little time in them, but I'll take what I can get. I'm struggling with the idea of leaving JK and the kids while things are so fresh, but JK is pretty much pushing me out the door. 

Travel Planning: Acadia National Park

I can't believe I get to do this, but the stars aligned and everything came out just right, and it looks like this fall break we will be in Acadia National Park.

Our original plan was Rocky Mountain NP, but EJ and I were talking about fall break and travel plans, and she asked about other places. So she and I came up with a list of other places we thought it would be cool to visit. When I mentioned Acadia to JK, he immediately latched on to that idea because (1) something new and (2) we would fly into Boston, which would give us the chance to see his sister. So, we are off and running on an Acadia National Park adventure--neither of us have ever been, and we've always to go. I may plan a solo trip to RMNP for a short weekend, just so I can get my time in the place I love most. 

Tentative plan: Fly to Boston, rent car. Drive to Acadia and stay in vacation rental there. Hike, explore, do the national park things for 4-5 days. Come back to Boston, hang out with JK's sister, do the Boston touristy things (and maybe toss in some national historical sites!), for a day or two, then head back.

I've started planning hikes and picking places to stay. I tried to talk JK into a train ride from Boston to Maine, but no dice there. 

Training (For A Purpose)

We've had few rounds of miserable weather, making everything a muddy mess even days past the rain. I've also continued my trend of being slammed at work and so tightly scheduled that the best I can do is a short hike, supplemented with the usual (sigh) indoor workouts. Then there's also my annoying AF foot, which is getting better, slowly, s l o w l y, but still dictates that any extended cardio and endurance work needs to be rowing, biking, swimming, or elliptical. Short hikes only. Hopefully by fall I will be healed totally. 

Why am I doing all this? Other than the obvious--I don't sit still well--we are tentatively planning on a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park this fall. Just typing it makes my heart sing. It also means that I need to get ready for altitude, to minimize the altitude sickness, and building up for hiking bigger elevation gains, which don't come naturally here. 

Cardio / endurance: This is for trying to make sure I can sustain longer amounts of heart pumping activity. This past week included: (1) 45 minutes of sprints (rowing); (2) 45 minutes of level, mild incline, medium incline (elliptical); (3) 45 minutes of alternating between no incline and medium-high incline. Once the weather gets nicer, I will start adding the swimming to build up my lungs. Could I start swimming now? Yes. It's an indoor pool. But I am a grown ass woman, I do as I please, and after almost 20 years as competitive swimmer, it pleases me to NOT be in a pool until late May/early June. 

Strength / weights / HIIT: These all get lumped together for me because I tend to use weights and strength training as my rest in HIIT circuits. On the menu lately has been: (1) landmine work; (2) weighted squats; (3) overhead presses and curls; (4) triceps; (5) lunges; (6) etc. You get the idea, just trying to work all the areas. HIIT has been focused on (1) burpees; (2) step ups and box jumps; (3) planks in all their various forms; (4) jumping--jacks, rope, etc. though I have to go easy on the jumps with my foot; (5) pushups; and (6) other move your body, heart pumping exercises. 

Yoga: I used to be SO FLEXIBLE. Very, very flexible. It had to do with my sport--it was critical to be flexible and I worked at it for hours. I've since lost most of it, and I'd like to gain some of it back, because it was cool and also made recovery A LOT easier. Yoga combines light core and strength and balance work into that flexibility, so it's been a great option. I am very much on the struggle bus, though. I signed up for a rally nice app and have been working my way through that, and I think it's making a difference. It's been a month and I am noticing I can reach farther and hold poses longer. 

So, that's the workout scoop around these rainy parts. 

Upcoming: Indiana Dunes National Park

I am EXCITED for spring break. I know we had a (rather glorious, if I say so myself) trip to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park planned that we had to abandon, but I am excited for our little trip sessions that we are taking. GSMNP, we'll see you soon.

On the menu instead is (1) Chicago (gonna hit some museums, eat some pizza, and stay in a fancy hotel with a pool); (2) Indiana Dunes National Park; (3) Gabis Arboretum (which as TRAILS and TRAINS, could this be more perfect for us? Probably not); (4) Shades State Park; and (5) Turkey Run State Park. The Chicago - Indiana Dunes - Gabis section is all on one loop, so we will take a few days do that. Shades and Turkey Run are going to be day trips, so we will leave early in the morning and return late afternoon. There's an off chance that we will also do a daytrip to Brown County, but I am betting that we actually do one of our beloved Fort Ben hikes instead. 

Indiana Dunes NP and Indiana Dunes SP are right next to each other, so we may go back and forth into both. I'd love to do the 3 dune challenge, which has an elevation gain of about 550 ft--hey, it's Indiana, we take what we can get for elevation gains. We are also hoping to do Cowles Bog Trail, Dune Succession Trail, and/or Tolleston Dunes Trail. Gabis has lots of 1-2 mile trails, but honestly, we are going to have a hard time pulling JD away from the trains. We may take turns with adults hiking while the other does the train thing. 

Shades and Turkey Run are within a stone's throw of each other. they've got similar topography--ravines, cliffs, waterfalls, etc. There are long span bridges, stairs cutting down ravines, and even ladders to climb alongside waterfalls. Depending on how good of a time we are having, we may do two separate day trips to them, or combine into one long day. We'd really like to do the 6 Ravine Challenge--really give the kids a challenge--but we will just have to make that call the day of. They can definitely do it, but it may depend on how well JD slept that night. That's a 650 elevation gain, so it would be a big one, and we might take almost half a day to do. JK and I could do it at a good clip, but our goal with kid hiking is get them to love and enjoy it, not march them along. 

Coming along with us this trip, other than humans: (1) EJ's new backpack; (2) JD using the Osprey Moki for the first time on a longer hike; (3) testing out new water filtration devices; (4) my new Hoka trail running shoes; (5) if weather permits, I am going to try my Chacos and see how they do for hiking; (6) JD's new hiking Keens; and (7) new hiking pants for JK. 

Indiana State Parks and Indiana Dunes National Park

We planned, and the universe laughed. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is off; Indiana State Parks and Indiana Dunes National Park is on!

We decided to put GSMNP on hold for either a winter trip or a spring next year trip. We had a few projects come up that we decided made it smarter to have a shorter time away. We are installing a new master closet in our house all my our own selves, and it's going to take some dedicated, focused time that we will have over spring break, if we aren't gone for all of it. Then, our washer started its Final Cycle Into Imminent Death, and the closest delivery we could get was during spring break (please, Washer Gods, let the washer last until then).

All in all, a smarter decision to have a shorter trip away and make sure we have time at home to get these projects done and settled. 

The Plan. One day and one night in Turkey Run State Park and Shades State Park. This is an easy combo, since the two are only about 15 minutes away from each other, and we will try out the Inn at Turkey Run. We've been meaning to go to these two, especially this winter, because Turkey Run has fantastic rock formations along the creek, and when the creek freezes, you get a hike you can only do a few weeks out of the year. ALAS, our plans were foiled by me and JD getting covid in early February, so it will be a wet spring trip. We've got some neat hikes picked out, and hopefully it won't be too muddy.

From there, we head on up to Indiana Dunes National Park and the neighboring Indiana Dunes State Park. We planned out two full hiking days there, and staying at a nearby hotel. Again, have some nice trail options picked out and we are excited about the water views, even if we are staying far, far away from that frigid nonsense.

As a grand finale, we are going to head over to Chicago and spend the night there. We will hit up hopefully three museums that the kids will lose their minds over, and get some Chicago-style pizza (or... not, if you are JK and allergic to tomato). There will also be train rides, naturally.

We will head home after a full day in Chicago.

A Trip Owed

I am currently owed a solo trip. 

Let me back that up. Obviously, at a very shallow level, this pandemic screwed up a lot of plans people had. Some of those plans for us were lots and lots of travel. We had two glorious, GLORIOUS trips planned for 2020 that we had to cancel (basically, big loops of national parks out west, with cool extra things, like a train ride and viewing the night sky at Kitt Peak). We put them off and put them back into our pocket of "somedays." 

In October 2021, I decided I was taking a solo trip. For a lot of reasons, I was in stress city. So I was going to go away. At first, I wanted to go, obviously, back to Estes Park. Although JK never would have stopped me, I could tell he did not love the idea of me hiking up in those huge mountains by myself, and so close to when it could snow huge amounts. I could not truthfully tell him I wouldn't hike alone, because I was absolutely going to do that, so I decided to ease his mind and go to Tucson and Saguaro National Park instead. My brother and his family are there--they live practically at the base of one of the park units--and he would come with me and hike, or my sister in law would.

Great! It was going to be fun. But then a long standing injury of JK's reached a critical point and required surgery. Even minor foot surgery means no walking, and so, I canceled my plans, as you do. Six weeks of no walking sucks, by the way. 

Now we are about to enter to vortex of JK being gone for three weeks for trial, where I am the solo parent, and at some point when this trial is over, I am doing this solo trip. I mean, I would actually love it if we could ditch the kids and go on a trip together, which we haven't done since... 2015, when we went to NYC for two nights together and left EJ with Grams. JD wasn't even born. 

Anyway, solo trip. Or trip with JK. The top of my list is always to be RMNP and Estes Park, so let's just take that as a given. JK really, really, REALLY wants to get to the Grand Canyon, and honestly, that's one I think might be more fun without kids. The hikes are not easy, and if we could snag a camping permit, we could even try hiking all the way down. I would love to go to the Utah parks, but I want to go in as close to off season as I can because yikes, those crowds. We are both very interested in doing Acadia soon.

If I am by myself, I want to hook up with one of the many outfitters who do guided backpacking, and do that. That way, I can hike myself into oblivion, and JK won't worry because I am with a knowledgeable group. I am taking some backpacking classes over these next few weeks so I can start learning, and I am excited. 

Where would you go? It's so hard to choose. 

Travel Planning: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

As things often do for lawyers, everything congealed and solidified. Motions were granted and denied, trial dates were set, subpoenas issued, and lo, we were once again able to plan our lives. We settled on Great Smoky Mountains National Park, ultimately ruling out Mammoth Cave National Park because its closer and it's one we feel we can do in less time than the full week we have to play with. 

We are selecting a cabin as we speak, and are picking one where we can bring Finn. He will have to stay behind most of the time, as pets are only allowed on two of the park's over 800 miles of trails, but he will be happier traveling with us. Like I said, he's a lazy bum, so if we hike in the morning and hang with him in the afternoon, he will be just fine with that. 

I created a list in my AllTrails account to flag hikes we should check out. There's a better than 50/50 chance that my mother in law will come down for a few of the days, so maybe JK and I can even do an adults-only hike at some point and leave the kiddos behind. 

When I say I've flagged "some" trails, I honestly mean I've flagged 52. There's no way we will go on 52 hikes, but I do enjoy having a menu from which we can choose. They're mostly all on the Tennessee side, since that's easiest for us to get to, but I've got some flagged that venture in further and over the state line. 

• Various parts of the Old Sugarland trails
• Peregrine Peak
• Courthouse Rock
• Laurel Falls
• Gatlinburg Trail, so we can bring Finn
• Nature trail walks, like Fighting Creek and Cove Hardwoods
• Twin Creeks
• Cucumber Gap
• Huskey Gap
• Chimney Tops
• Rainbow Falls
• And so many more

We will never get through all of those, especially the harder trails I have picked out. I am hoping for one harder trail, maybe one that gets us to a summit, but I would rather save that for sans kids, likely. EJ could totally do it, but JD is a bit more iffy at age 4.5. He can go for hours and loves adventure but when he hits the wall, it's over. 

Things we need to get in order:

• Air bed. Most of the places we are looking at are two bedrooms, and our children are, uh, aggressive sleepers. Having them share a bed would result in hilarity and possibly injury. They can share a room, as long as one of them is on an air mattress. 
• New hiking boots for JD. He's somehow outgrown his. Again.
• New hiking socks for the kids, who have worn holes in basically all their socks. 
• Shoe inserts for me, to help my sad feet.
• New daypack for EJ, so JD can now carry EJ's old pack.
• Some upgraded rain gear, because I think we are going to need it.

En route is a book on hikes in GSMNP as well as a park-wide trial map. We also like to buy a giant box of assorted individually packed snacks, and that works well for all hiking related snack needs. I think I may have some pre-made meals ready to go and bring them down in a cooler. I would have loved to try camping out here, but Jeff convinced me it will still get too cold during the night to make for a fun experience.

If you've got any experience in GSMNP, we are taking recommendations. 

Travel Planning: Spring Break 2022

Due to Lawyer Problems (an actual thing requiring capitalization), we are still planning what we are doing for spring break this year, and we aren't able to book anything yet. We are on tenterhooks*, waiting to see how these trials and schedules shake out, and then we will execute one of our plans, last minute style. Since we need to stay flexible, we are also playing the game of potentially needing to book a flight or a place to stay last minute. 

This is not my favorite game. 

Coming up with itineraries IS one of my favorite games though. I have an entire inventory, so when day comes where JK says, "Let's talk about going to Iceland!" I will cheerfully pull out the three suggested Iceland itineraries I have. Yes, I am like this all the time, why do you ask? Also, my itineraries often have charts and spreadsheets. 

Great Smokey Mountains National Park. This is the busiest national park, but spring time has a lower number of people, a high number of budding wildflowers, and more than 800 miles of hiking trails that don't get used as much by people just doing the drive through. There are still lots of vacation rental places available, and many of them take dogs, so we could bring the current model of golden retriever. It's a close enough drive. I have no interest in going to GSMNP in the summer--it sounds like a crowded mess. I bet fall is gorgeous, but again, I bet everyone else has heard that, too. Spring is when I've always wanted to go to GSMNP--hiking, wildflowers, weather that starting to warm, nearby Gatlinburg. This is my preference for a trip.  

Mammoth Cave National Park. I mean, how cool is this? It's the world's longest known cave system and it's practically in my backyard. Cave tours, a bike trail that used to be a railroad for the train loving child, some nice looking hikes, and if we are lucky, a chance to do a kayak trip on the Green River. At first, I was all excited, because it looked like there were backcountry trails we could get to in one part of the park, but reviews of the trails all talk about how muddy and unmarked they are, which is probably not the best bet for our family right now. So, I think we are looking at a cave focused experience, with some hiking and biking in the main area of the park. This is JK's preference--as long as he is able to go (that's a whole other part of the logistics questions).

Red River Gorge Geological Area, in Daniel Boone National Forest. Have you heard of this place? Lots of people in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky go here for camping, rock climbing, hiking, and more. It's a real stunner of a place--a canyon system within the Daniel Boone National Forest, and it's got more than 100 natural sandstone arches. There's more hiking than you can shake your trekking poles at, and I'd love to try a rock climbing lesson. There's also kayaking tours that take you INTO a cave on a kayak, which, yes, please, sign me up. I think this is a strong second place for both of us. 

Saguaro National Park. Yes, I realize I just named a whole bunch of places close by and in easy driving distance, and here I am, throwing out an option in Tucson Arizona. That's the luxury of having family in other places--it makes spontaneous trips easier when you have a place to crash. I love Tucson, and spring is a great time to visit. You might even catch some cactus blooms (and some cactus pollen). We'd hike in both units of Saguaro National Park, and over in Sabino Canyon. The kids would love the Desert Museum, and maybe we could catch some night sky action on top of Mt. Lemmon, or do a sunset horseback ride. Not to mention my brother and his family and their pool. Major cons to this are the expense of the flight, car rental, and having Finn the dog stay with the dog sitter. 

Complicating logistics is the fact that I might be doing this solo with the kids, because lawyering and trials are stupid some times. So maybe JK will be there; maybe he won't. What do I want to tackle without him? If he's not with us, we are not going to Mammoth, because he really wants to go. Should I plan for Tucson, because I would have more family? But that's a hassle with tickets, etc. My preference is GSMNP or Red River Gorge--I am comfortable driving there, I would be fine being there sans JK. I would be equally comfortable in Tucson, but then I am dealing with flights and refundable tickets and dog care and ugh. 

So, we are seeing how a few more things shake out before we make decisions, then we will pick one. 

*Did you know that it's tenterhooks, not tenderhooks? Tenterhooks were hooked nails in a wooden frame called a tenter. Tenters were used in the process of making woolen cloth in the 14th century--the metal hooks were used to stretch the wool on the tenter as it dried.