Panic - Diplomacy - Exhilarating New Years Eve in NYC

It started with a wash of panic. All that I planned! Ruined!

...then I took a breath...and thought, "Lets see where this takes us"...maybe this could even be an Opportunity Curve

...then I was nice to a stranger

...and opened myself up to what could be...

...and ended up guiding our family through one of the best evenings of our lives...

...and NONE of it would have happened without first getting an email with bad news.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I opened the email from United. It listed our flights to Aruba: Minneapolis to Chicago to Aruba. My eyes narrowed. The email said the plane from Chicago to Aruba, painstakingly scheduled to perfection to arrive just when I wanted, was canceled, and we were rerouted from MSP to Denver, to Atlanta, to Aruba...arriving a whole day late.

Luckily it was months until the trip, and I knew enough about well-meaning, but inferior computer algorithms that with the limited data it had, was just trying to reroute us the best it could. I settled my panic, and called a human at United to work through a solution that worked for all parties. I even offered to travel a day early so we could arrive to Aruba on time. It would cost me money in hotel, but my top priority was to get to Aruba for the full week of fun.

The lady at United received my diplomatic offer well, and even accepted my request to travel the night before on an EARLIER flight...just in case of bad weather we would have a whole additional flight to get to our connection location.

We were all set.

Fast forward to 3 days before our trip...

...it finally sunk in that since our overnight was in Newark, we could, possibly, visit Manhattan on New Years Eve. The family was curious, but naturally concerned with the world saying that NYC is not for the feint of heart on new years eve. (and was it even safe?)

BUT, since one of my only declared missions for our family is to offer experiences they wouldn't normally get, I decided to lead the family through a whirlwind tour of The City.

We landed at 6, arrived at hotel by 7, and from 8pm to 12:30am, we...

Took a cab from the hotel to Newark Penn Station...and bought MTA passes to World Trade Center (actually, we were planning Times Square station, but on the way, my youngest seemed sad that he wouldn't see the Statue of Liberty...and so adjusted our destination on the fly...

My ladies in front of Lady Liberty

The family in front of same...with cool clouds all lit up

We saw ground zero memorial, the Freedom tower, and the financial district (along with the NY Film Academy).

Somber...even on New Years Eve. My son the MP sure seemed deep in thought, "This is where it all started for me"

Freedom tower...and a family that seems always up for adventure

Freedom tower selfie!

We then hopped the subway up to Central Park, walked to a friendly McDonalds, and then to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree all lit up. My wife has wanted to see this for years!

...but...they had already turned it off. Sad faces all around.

Others from Europe were sure disappointed...so we all sad-faced.

 Ah well...we still had an awesome time walking. Next we saw the Apple Store on 5th ave, and walked Central Park (just down the south-east stairs, through the park, and up the south-west stairs).

Next we walked down Avenue of the Americas to glimpse at the Times Square lights. We weren't allowed to enter (so secure...we felt really safe!) but at 42nd street could see the ball before it dropped!

See it?!? That blue blob in the upper center.

Our last stop was the Empire State Building, always a favorite of mine.

One last photo with the family

...and of course with my lovely Lady. Love traveling with her

We left NYC at 11:30, (forums suggested subways are clogged after midnight) and celebrated 2016 at a small transfer station in Newark.

We all got to sleep around 1:30am. We all had an amazing whirlwind tour of NYC and can now say "Oh yeah, I've done NYC on New Years Eve!"

I'm SO happy this adventure happened...I'd like to take full credit but was just taking advantage of a seemingly terrible flight detour, and ended up with an adventure we'll never forget.

...and it was just the beginning since the very next morning we flew to ARUBA!!!

Love this family.

Experiencing Michigan Friendship

Last year we stopped by for a quick visit with our Michigan friends. It was magical. Their hospitality, along with the awesomeness of Lake Michigan made us instantly want to return.

Fast forward one year and we visited for a longer 4 day adventure. Since our first visit resulted in our son conjuring up the convincing arguments to get a puppy, this time we brought our 9 month old pup.

In those 4 days we burned stuff, shot stuff, drank stuff, drove stuff, balanced on stuff, explored stuff, and swam in stuff...all together...four adults, one teen, three girl tweens, two boys, and two pups. 

First, some photograhic evidence...

Campfire night and exploring...

Sand dunes...

Beach and lighthouse...

Currie-directed photo moments...

Looking into the future...

Crazy-loved creatures...

Fun exploding things...

Fun shooting things...

4th of July fun...

Creatures in love...

Second, here's what I learned...

We love Michigan…or At Least Michigan with These Friends In It

The woods, sand dunes, lake, fireworks, beer, and outdoorsy life were all awesome. But I wonder if it was that awesome because we had our friends as our guide?

Our Family Is Messy

We leave things around, we are into our 'screens', and with six of us we just take up a lot of space. I know we added some stress to their lives, but they invited us anyway, fed us, provided places to sleep, and were always hospitable. I wasn't even 'aware' of this until we left…I feel bad about how our kids disconnected from theirs and just left stuff around. But I suppose that's just the reality of different cultures…where every single family approaches life differently.

Much In Common, Little In Common

We love that we are quite comfortable talking the second we get there. We love participating in what they do: shooting, swimming, campfires, dune exploring, beach combing, beer tasting, cooking, salsa making, (and on and on). We love how we can talk about music, politics, religion, work, technology, etc, with no concern for fist fights (even the very touchy subject of not liking pale ale…another topic we agree on).

However, now that I'm home I realize that I don't actually do much of any of those things with my kids. Maybe what I don't have in common is the motivation to overcome the effort required to make these things happen at home (which makes me sad).

They mean the world to us

I don't see them much, and don't even really talk to them much outside of a few text chats. However, they hold such a fond place in our hearts…even our kids still talk about how much fun they had and what they loved about our visit. I eventually recognized what they sacrificed to have us there (food, vacation, comfort, peace, …) and am in awe of their friendship…it makes me wonder what they got in return?

I will always be grateful for our Michigan adventures...I miss you guys already.

What I Saw In The Boundary Waters - BWCA

I know what you're thinking…

…You think I'm going to focus on how awe inspiring and pristine the Boundary Waters is and show amazing shots that I took like this:

…or this…

And if you asked me if it was worth going, I would respond, "Absolutely…the trip was priceless" for one reason I'll mention later.

But if I am to be brutally honest, here is what first comes to mind…

The Paddling:

It rained every day, and since we covered 32 miles in 4 days, we paddled in the rain. A lot. When the wind and rain picked up, I'd need to hunker under the rain gear, look down at my soaked shoes, and keep paddling so we wouldn't move backwards…

The Portages:

Over the whole trip we crossed 18 portages totaling 815 rods, or 13,447 feet, or 2.54 miles. Further, since we took two trips per portage, we carried our canoe and 2 very large packs 5 miles. When portaging our canoe, I saw this...

When I wasn't carrying a canoe, I was carrying a 70lb pack and saw this (with my amazing boy carrying the canoe on his own):

The Food:

We had great food, and we were usually so hungry that once we cooked it we ate it standing up, so my memory of meals was not sitting around socializing, but looking for mosquitos on my fork-full of food:

The Latrine:

I know this is reality in the wilderness, and this is a big step above a hole by a tree, but it's awkward.  

The Rain:

This is the inside of our tent waiting for the storm to pass. We were fortunate by not having a lot of thunder storms, but every day it rained…and when not looking at the inside of our tent, I looked through the hood of my rain gear.

Putting On Wet/Dry Shoes:

Thanks to our leader's suggestion, I packed shoes to get wet during the day and shoes to keep dry. this is what I saw during the transition:

Putting dry shoes on (with wool socks) in the evening was the best feeling of the day. Putting wet shoes on in the morning because it's raining out anyway, and knowing my feet would be wet for the rest of the day, was definitely not.

My Son At His Best

This was one of the toughest 4 days I've had. I think my son would agree. That said, I simply loved how it brought my son and I closer...that's why it was absolutely worth it.

Further, the most important thing I saw in the Boundary Waters I don't even have a picture of...

...I saw Cole at his best.  He not only did his part, he did so much more...he led...he navigated…he looked for things that needed to be done (without being asked)...he volunteered…he paddled hard…he cooked…he laughed...and most of all…

…he made me proud.

Very proud.