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<p>I woke Gary up before the sunrise this morning. We planned on going to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve today. The weather forecast said it’s going to be 104°, therefore, I wanted to be at the preserve and hiking before it got too hot. It was pretty drive through the endless farms as the sun was [&hellip;]</p>

<p>It was really hot last night. When I went to bed, it was still 87°. I have also never seen so many bugs or heard so many bugs banging against the tent. If Kati were here, she would have been absolutely miserable. G3 wasn’t very comfortable either with the heat. Plus he kept tossing and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I slept well last night. I fell asleep listening to the cicadas and woke up to birds. The highway noise didn’t bother me. And the RVs were so quiet, I wouldn’t have known they were there if I hadn’t seen them. No generators, no loud people. This morning, I still don’t see anyone, only another [&hellip;]</p>

<p>G3 wanted to visit the arch in St. Louis. When I travel, I don’t like to plan too much. Plans can be like prisons, locking you into something. I like the freedom of being on the road and being able to change direction and go off course if something better reveals itself. Therefore, I didn’t [&hellip;]</p>

<p>And so begins our summer 2023 road trip. Gary and I got up early this morning and we were on the road by 5 o’clock. It’s just the two of us this time. Kati stayed home to take care of things that need to be done for us to move, things that need to be [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Sedona is incredibly beautiful. We only passed through it on our drive north to the Grand Canyon, but we were so stunned by the Red Rocks we wanted to spend more time with them. Our new ATA friends spoke favorably about the hike up Cathedral Rock so Kati suggested the hike for our morning itinerary. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We woke up early this morning in hopes of getting to the Grand Canyon before it got too hot. I didn’t want to be in Arizona a second time with my family without taking G3 to see it. I was there years ago, back when I was 21. The summer I graduated college, friends and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Today is Dad’s birthday. If COVID hadn’t killed him, he would have been 75. It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth summer we’ve had to spend without him. Today is one of those days where the missing doesn’t seem to get any easier—especially since G3 has had so many accomplishments this week that [&hellip;]</p>

<p>There is no rest, no downtime between seasons. This morning we woke up early so that G3 could compete one more time before he takes the rest of the summer off. I think it’s important to take a break, to give your body time to maybe not rest but do something different. And of course [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A year and a half ago, we would not pay for G3 to compete in combat sparring. He wasn’t good. If he scored a few points in one match it was a lot but never enough to win. He was always eliminated in the first round—often within the first thirty seconds. When we switched schools, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>This morning we work up early so that we could watch two of our instructors test. One was testing for his fourth degree belt. Another was midterming—a step on her way to earning her fifth degree belt. They both did very well. While I was in the Convention Center bathroom this morning washing my hands—it [&hellip;]</p>

<p>II woke up at 4:30 this morning so that I could go hiking before the heat got too extreme. Still, it was 88 degrees when I got into the car. I nudged G3 before I left to see if he wanted to come with me, but he was tired and opted to sleep. A wise [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Airports remind me of Dad. In my life, I have flown more alone than with him, but still being here makes me miss him. Maybe it’s because until last summer, two of the last times I had flown had been with him when he and Mom took G3 to Disney. On the drive to the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For a crowded campground, packed mostly with RVs, it was surprisingly quiet last night. We thought Independence Day partying would have stretched into the late hours but it didn’t. Even the fireworks were done by 10-ish. After breakfast this morning, we broke camp, packed up the car and got on the road to return to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I slept well last night. The generator stayed off which was lovely. G3 stayed up late and woke up early to read. He is now half way through the shining and asking when we can go to the bookstore to pick up another King novel. Today is much less hazy, although the haze has not [&hellip;]</p>

<p>If you are sleeping in an RV and running a generator all night, you are not camping. You are being rude to those of us who wish to get away and experience the great outdoors. Last night, despite the huge crowd, the campground was surprisingly quiet, except for the loud hum of one generator. The [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We were supposed go camping yesterday, but we delayed our trip for a day because of the air quality. Camping in New York next to the Canadian border did not seem like the best idea when the air quality there was worse than at home. This morning the air quality was much improved so we [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, Yesterday was the Northeast District Championship for Taekwondo. We were both really nervous. I was hoping to walk away with a medal. With the season G3 had, we expected him to win a title–and he did, just not one we thought likely.&nbsp; On Friday night, G3 and I drove down to Lancaster to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, Our lives are in chaos. Kati’s dad is not doing well. As a result, she has been spending nearly every weekend and much of her free time down in Delaware taking care of him. (But that’s her story to tell, not mine, so I will leave it at that.) With Kati gone, there’s [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I woke up early this morning and took a short hike. G3 didn’t want to join me. It seemed as if the rest of the campground was asleep since it was really quiet. The hike was more of a nature walk through the forest, but I still relished the serenity—listening to the birds and watching [&hellip;]</p>