An Unexpected Trip

Our trip to visit my family this weekend, can only be described as, unexpected. The trip itself was not unexpected, but the events that occurred while on the trip were. We were planning on a relaxing trip, with Johnny going hunting with my dad, and Elle, Hudson, and I playing with my mom. However, the relaxing trip that we had planned, turned out to be nothing close to what we intended.

The trip started out normal, with an hour and a half drive to my parent’s house. Elle incessantly asked if we were there yet, and Hudson persistently protested to the fact that he was strapped in his car seat. Although nothing out of the ordinary occurred, I have to say that both Johnny and I were glad when the drive was over, and we could get both kids out of the car. Once at my parent’s house, everyone was happy—especially Elle—and everything within our trip seemed to be going well. However, that night, when everyone was tucked in bed sleeping, is when the first of the unexpected occurred.

It was around 2:00 AM, when I awoke to find Hudson awake. I tried desperately to get him back to sleep, but he was not responding to any of my efforts. No matter what I did, he was simply awake. I was extremely tired, and not at all wanting to be awake, so his alertness was not accepted or welcome. But my frustration with a non-sleeping child was about to increase, because about fifteen minutes later, in walks Elle. She, too, was wide-awake, and not responding to any of my efforts to get her back to sleep. She was too excited to be at my parents house, and plus, Hudson was awake, and if he wasn’t going back to sleep, than she wasn’t either. Great. So, Hudson, Elle and I had a party until about 4:00 AM. It was a riot; and completely set the tone for a relaxing trip.

The next morning, the boys left to go hunting, and I set in for a day of sleep deprivation. However, just when I thought I was surviving, we received the next piece of the unexpected: my dad’s horse had rolled and fell of the cliff where they were hunting. This piece of unexpected was in no way welcome. We were shocked and scared. We were told that my dad was fine, but that did not put our nerves at ease. It was not until later that we found out that my dad’s horse had lost its footing while climbing up a steep hill. My dad immediately jumped of the horse and tried to keep it from sliding down the hill. My dad was sliding downward with the horse, and was trying to help it regain its footing. He may have been successful at stopping the horse from sliding and falling, if the bridal had not unfortunately broken. But since this unfortunate event occurred, the horse tumbled and rolled down the hill until it fell off the 10 to 15 foot ledge. A very sad incident indeed. But I am happy to report that the horse survived and seems to be doing really well. It has a huge gash on its leg, but nothing broke, and so it will survive.

Although our trip was nothing but unfortunate, unexpected events, it was still fun. Elle got to ride two ponies—something she has been desperately wishing to do—she got to play with her grandma, she got to play with two dogs, and she got to make new friends. Hudson also got to ride the ponies, play with the dogs, and he got to spend time with his grandma. So even though our trip was not what we anticipated nor planned, it was still a memorable trip.