Sports Bras, Mace, and the Wide-open Grand Canyon

Moms need open-air adventures.  What stops us, moms, from pursuing those dreams?  For my good friend, Jen, it wasn't a light decision.

As the travel bug crawled under her sun-kissed Florida skin, dozens of questions danced in her unsure mind:  do I really have the time to research and reserve the details of a trip? Can I cover the costs?  What about the toll on the kids from mom being away?  Who will care for the house?  Will I come back? (just kidding...we think)

As a tenured professor at Central Florida's forty-five-thousand student-enrolled Valencia College, and single mom of eight-year-old twins, Jen longed for a chance to reconnect with the adventurous part of herself.  For many of us, it can feel like we lose an adventure-hungry part of ourselves one hundred times every week between picking pink, ABC gum out from between the new couch cushions, organizing playdates to fight screen addiction, and desperately trying to find something each night for the relentlessly picky, under four feet tall, to eat.  

Jen weighed the options:  spend time and money on herself or spend the same amount of time and money in different ways wishing she had spent time and money on herself in the bounds of her own self-designed adventure. 

The answer was clear:  take the adventure, book the flights, make the time to research the area, and send the kids to Grandma's (they'll recover).  She made the fabulously smart decision of treating friends to large bars of dark chocolate so they would care for her house, and she said, "no," to organic food for three months, a new bra (sports bras will have to do), and useless new toys for the kids.  She said, "yes," to Vegas and the Grand Canyon.  

No kids.

No laundry.

No bedtime.

No more losing herself (unless it is in the pages of a good book or the eyes of a charismatic, Grand Canyon cowboy).

She was bound to her North American adventure, 2,300 miles away from her home in Orlando, Florida.

This mama's first stop?  RollerCon - an eccentric, wild, Las Vegas gathering of roller-derby-loving women from across the country.  Favorite skates?  check.  Pigtails?  check.  Neon crop-tops?  Check.  

For six days, women soaked up the sultry Vegas sun from Westgate Resort hotel decks and pools, roller-skated through the streets, ignored hard-earned blisters (and nosy onlookers), and indulged in everything roller-derby.  Dressed in every neon color imaginable, feathers of all shapes and sizes, black leather, and stretchy lace, women pushed their favorite pair of wheels across temporary floors to sweat out life's frustrations, demonstrate why roller derby requires mouth guards, and laugh like hell.  

Are roller-derby ladies bad***?  I'll let you answer that one, but here is what I've picked up from hanging around a derby lady:  These mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, competitive athletes, teachers, attorneys, and nurses aren't just committed to their sport.  These women are committed to being good friends, reliable teammates, and whizzing through life's challenges as their authentic selves.

Jen's second North American adventure stop?  The Grand Canyon.  By herself.  

Knife?  Check.  Portable bed?  Check.  Middle-of-nowhere campground reservation?  Check. 

Three nights at the Happy Trails Campground in Meadview, Arizona included - which we love - the following disclaimer on their website: "If you are afraid of dirt and some rustic adventures, don't come here, this ain't no Ritz sweetheart!"  

Definitely Jen's kind of place.

Jen booked her reservation, showing beyond doubt, that she isn't a Ritz princess.  She is an adventurer, a free-thinking campground enthusiast, and a restless mom seeking dark nights of star gazing and breathtaking hikes in one of the world's largest canyons.  

In her rented SUV, she set up a mattress and all camping necessities.  She texted friends back home, myself included, letting us know she arrived, where she was headed, and how she was doing.  To keep safe, she notified the front desk she was there alone, and of course, slept with a long, sharp knife.  Size, after all, does make a difference.  My departing gift to her as we rode in my gray F150 to the airport, was a bottle of mace decorated in rainbow glitter.  

By day, Jen explored the Grand Canyon's most loved features, the Sky Walk, and soaked in the desert's panoramic views.  She visited the Hualipai - a federally recognized Indian Tribe -nation's land and stuck her toes in Lake Mead and the Colorado River.

She didn't sleep much, but she star-gazed, read a long-awaited book, kept off social media, and meandered along at her own pace everywhere she went.

As she took in the sights, her soul felt restored to itself.  The trip did not keep her the same; it changed her, as most trips do.  With the time alone, and the quietness to think, she unraveled a knot in a current relationship and devoted herself to a great purge of belongings upon her return (which did happen).  The change in heart, temperament, or direction trips often provide our busy minds, reveals why the trip needed to happen in the first place.   And maybe we cannot all afford or take the time off to travel to the Grand Canyon, but you'd probably be surprised by where you can land within just a few hours of your own home.  

Go explore, pack the car, send the kids to grandma, dip your toes in the lake, stargaze, make a new friend, or meet an old one.  But whatever you do, don't forget to return to your Bad*** mom self.  You're worth it, totally and divinely worth it.

For future reference, I give rides to the airport in exchange for extra thick bars of dark chocolate.  The check-in texts, to ensure you are alive, are available for free. ;)

Peace,

Annette