Post-it Note Planning

We were munching on onion rings at Scotty P’s, our go-to hamburger joint, when Sarah asked, ‘Dad, can I see the where we are going next year?’  What she was asking for was the yellow sticky note listing where we planned to travel to each year.  I reached into my wallet and pulled out the note, crisply folded in half with my microprinting and handed it to her.  Just scanning through the locations listed by each year gave us a sense of being closer to our next adventure and inevitably would bring up stories from the past trips.

I don’t recall the specific conference call I was on, but I do recall my mind wandering to faraway places with dirt trails and scenic vistas.  Places I wanted to introduce my girls to and expand their horizons.  The previous year we had journeyed through Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands and my favorite park, the Grand Tetons.  I had placed an emphasis on introducing them to these iconic parks and seeing the wildlife, mountains, and beauty of too many sunrises for golden hour pictures.

Grand Tetons circa '08

As the conference call went on I was thinking of all of the possible places we could go and then the project management side of me kicked in.  I thought about how old the girls were and how many summers we would have for family escapades before college and grown-up life gets in the way.

USS Arizona '12

What I had on hand during the call was a yellow sticky pad.  I started to doodle out ideas of what national parks to see and when to see them.  I organized my thoughts, jotting down the years on the left side of the note, then the age of the girls at that time, followed by the places I hoped we could travel to.  The last column listed which holiday, Thanksgiving (T-day) or Christmas (C) we would spend in Pittsburgh.

Yosemite Stars '14 ~ 1:00am

Zion NP '15

I’ll admit the yellow sticky travel planner was as much a selfish wish list to see some of these places (Yosemite, Sequoia, Volcano National Parks) as it was a core feeling of wanting to share former adventures (Grand Canyon, Zion, Glacier NP) with the girls.  Over time the order of trips shifted around as family schedules often do under the principle of ‘best-laid plans’.  The vision and the purpose of the yellow sticky note stayed the same, to have a family fandango through parks that offer wide-eyed, never-ending journeys.

Yellowstone NP '16

Havasu Falls GC '18

Over time the yellow sticky travel planner has turned into the national park pinboard collection in our family room.  A collection of park pins reminding us of where we have been and hope to visit again.

The pinboard is nice, but I still keep the yellow sticky in my wallet.  During some conference calls, it comes back out .......  and I smile. 

Come to think of it, this note is full, where is that Post-it Note pad?  It's time to make some plans.