"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry..."

...and apparently of would-be campers in So Cal as well. While the fam made it to Joshua Tree yesterday in decent time and in fair weather (excitedly, as the forecast was for a greyer and colder day), alas, we had not factored in spring break. So past the college scene and calendar are we that we didn't ancipate the flocking of every rock-climbing young American would to their mecca of Joshua Tree, and their corresponding occupation of every single solitary campsite in the park. We know - we checked - not fully believing the knowledgable park ranger and pervasive "full campground" signs hanging outside each of the five campgrounds we drove through. A colleague of Y's who lives in the area was hiking in the park yeseterday and told Y that he's literally never seen the park so crowded. Kind of the opposite of how we'd envisioned the scene and experience.

We made the best of the situation by enjoying our picnic lunch and bouldering with the kids here and there on rocks, in between the various park campsites we checked out... and a full In 'N' Out burger meal on the way home, shakes and all. The kids did remarkably well in the car for the approximately nine hours of van time they logged (it's about 3 hrs 20 minutes one way, and travel through the park isn't quick either as it's pretty large). We left home at 7:45 AM and returned home around 9 PM. We especially pitied J, as he fondly remembers our fall camping episode, and we'd talked up the tent and campfire and such for several days... And, truth be told, ourselves given our enthusiasm for the trip and the 3 or so hours of prep work we'd put in getting ready to go on Friday night.

But it was a good experience in handling disappointment, particularly as a family and for Y and me to think through how we want to explain and handle such episodes to kids in a fair way that builds maturity. And we're hoping for a do-over at a closer-by campsite a couple weeks from now...