I miss having an outlet for my writing. It’s time to plug in to that outlet again, and what has inspired me is my vacation, starting tomorrow. It’s the first time I can remember burning two weeks of vacation all at once – two weeks and a day.

Here’s the idea: drive from Texas to Washington state and back again. Six people and dog in a minivan. Accommodations will include a tent, several homes of family and friends, and the most interesting hotels we can find that will accommodate six people and a dog in one room.

It’s difficult to find hotels that will accommodate more than four people in a room. They’d be happy to take my money for two rooms, though it seems that most hotels no longer offer adjoining rooms. They won’t make any guarantees in advance that two rooms would even be near each other. I don’t really want to split the family apart, so I’m going to stick with one room. More details in a later post on how that came together.

It’s also a bit difficult to find hotels that accommodate dogs, especially large dogs. Now imagine finding room for six people and a dog, and I have a challenge on my hands. Add a one-way flight for a minor who’s coming home early, and we get one complex itinerary.

We’ve already looked at renting a tree house and a cave. Sorry, no pets. Some don’t even allow children. But we’re not giving up on keeping it interesting!

In fact, we’re debating now whether to also bring a pet chicken. I have a bad feeling about this. But I’m certain that one way or another, we’re going to have quite an adventure.