2 a.m. – I woke up in a sweat after having a nightmare of being homeless and the “ladies of the night” were being mean to me. LOL. But seriously, I felt like I was having a panic attack because I was leaving my home for who knows how long.

8:00 a.m. We are finally on the road.

10 a.m. – Barely made it outside of the city. We always have the worst luck on the I-17. And, once again, there was an accident. This is why we hate road trips.

2 p.m. – We officially hit a personal record for how long we have spent in car. (We know just how Bougie that makes us sound).

Olivia thinks I am her personal flight attendant and Toby has whined for three hours straight (he knows it takes three hours to drive to the White Mountains, and we were three hours over his scheduled car time).

Dads are about to lose their minds.

2:30 p.m. – We have a personal goal to hike once a day and today’s was a gem. . . Horseshoe Bend! It was spectacular and just what we all needed to reset.

This is why we love road trips, unexpected adventure!

6 p.m. – Arrived in Kanab UT to a cozy little cabin. Everyone is exhausted (especially the four legged) and we still love each other.

I guess that makes Day 1 a success!

-Daddy Brock

We always ask each other about our roses and thorns of the day (favorite and least favorite parts of the day).

• Daddy Brock check-in:
  • Rose: Horseshoe bend
  • Thorn: Having to put a limit on how many times Olivia can ask “How much longer . . .?”
• Daddy John check-in
  • Rose: First family hike of the trip
  • Thorn: Traffic jam on I-17
• Olivia check-in
  • Rose: Being with the family
  • Thorn: Natalie not answering my calls
• Toby Check-in
  • Rose: Eating some pizza
  • Thorn: Throwing up the pizza
• Chippy Check-in
  • Rose: Getting to go with the family
  • Thorn: Having to go with the family