Lessons?

There were two big takeaways from this trip:

1. Fun as it sometimes was to have them around, the girls are not made for trips like this.  I already suspected this would be the case, but this was confirmation.  I’ve always suspected that they pretend to find interesting what interests me because they love me.  That may not be entirely true, but my older daughter is definitely more interested in remaining in some comfort than braving heat, cold, or the woods.  My younger daughter is more adventurous (she’s the master climber for those high up caches) and she’ll put up with more, but both their interests wane after a short period.  That’s alright.  They, as they grow older, will have their own projects and goals.  I just hope to be there to help them as they have helped me, badly and with lots of whining! 😛 All kidding aside, they are the best caching partners I’ll have, even when their enthusiasm is low.  This being said, I was a bit reluctant to take them with me on my trips because I thought they wouldn’t be able to endure days in a car.  Now I realize that I won’t take them for safety reasons because…

2. Racism is a thing in small towns.  I’ve always known that because I get small whiffs here and there, but little substantial or concrete, which is how much interpersonal racism operates, dancing the line between superliminal and subliminal.  At least until recently. But after Paris…  I’m not sure what I would have done if that had gone down with the girls around.  They probably would not have understood the context of the situation and I would have been more fixated on shielding them than speaking up.  And I still haven’t been to southeast Texas, which is probably worse.  We’ve been to the edge of it already.  Vidor is just outside of Beaumont.  And, of course, Jasper.  I have delayed on going there, but it’s coming time to do so.  And I will not stop because again, I’ll be darned to heck before I let someone tell me where I can and can’t go.  

All that said, the Project is seriously winding down.  As things currently stand, I could complete it with two weekends and one day.  Or four days and a day.  Or six days (I’m not doing South Texas and driving overnight to Houston or Lubbock). It’s had me thinking about the future.  I think I know what I’m going to do once the entire state of Texas is completed, but we’re not there quite yet.  For now, let’s get to planning the next trip.  A one-day and 2 two-days?  Which one?  I think the answer is…