Still Me: Alaska Outfits planning 1 yr to 9 months out

So last two blogs I discussed discovering I had probably high anxiety and that the SSRI calmed my brain to almost flat zombie mode and that adding Wellbutrin brought me back to "me" but calmer. Below is an outfit I wore last year in Bar Harbor Maine that, OK maybe a bit cheesy but I am totally wearing that sweatshirt and jeans for sail away day departing Seattle. Look how happy I am a month before all the spinal surgery stuff happened.

The way I can really tell I'm back to me is my hobby/obsession is trip planning. And while we're two months out from GBNP, Kolob Canyon, Cedar Breaks etc I've already shifted brain to Alaskan cruise May 2027. To even the point of color pallete for trip (Forrest green, Navy Blue, Black, various Brown/Khaki, one orange plaid and Cream).

If you google what to wear on Alaskan cruise the biggest thing is layers and waterproof. So I started with buying waterproof hiking boots and am already breaking them in on cooler days this summer. And I'll wear them this fall on our hiking adventures. Got them on sale for $65.

Since I added a lot to my Amazon wish list early on; it allows me to buy over time and when things drop in price. So as to not just suddenly spend $300 on outfits. And a decent amouny will go on Christmas wishlist for others to buy for me (Mom, Brother, Hubs) but boots already aquired so only other big ticket-ish item is the 3 in 1 waterproof jacket with removable fleece and hood for $70 and a heated vest, both of which I'm buying. I'll leave the $10-$30 items for xmas. I chose green for the coat as it's different from the other winter coats I own and would work with all my outfits.

All advice is base layer, mid layer, 3rd layer optional and then waterproof coat so here's the planning and still fit everything in a carry on bag and backpack. Below is the gray sweater (already own) I plan to wear for a nice dinner and walking around Victoria, British Colombia on last night of our cruise.

I had read/seen vlogs that morino wool is a great base layer plus added bonus doesn't keep smells like cotton so can be worn more than once so I'll have 4 that in a 7 day cruise/9 day trip could each be worn twice. Grey, Black, Chocolate brown,and oatmeal cream. They also say it can get warmer than you think so to also have short sleeve so I'm taking my mocha and black hiking shirts as they are super thin and take up almost no room in suitcase and literally work with almost every outfit and navy T as there are 3 outfits this could go under. 3 fleece lined legging (black, grey and brown) and a pair of jeans for bottoms. The leggings will be worn twice each and jean 3x. Three button up tops (navy plaid, orange plaid, and black waffel top I own), two sweatshirts (both navy I already own), and 3 sweaters (black cardigan, grey with black flowers and a solid cream waffle pattern) and one silky cute top that can look good alone in leggings or under cardigan for specialty dining rounds out the tops. The only things that are not solid colors are the two plaid tops. The blue I will wear with gray and the orange with black or brown legging.

Rounding out my optional extra layer is firstly the green fleece that comes with the coat, and a navy blue fleece vest (I already own it, it's my fav color) and a battery heated vest in black because that's a perfect universal outfit color and I honestly was wanting to buy it last year for polar vortex days in Chicagoland but felt silly spending that on a vest but this is the perfect excuse.

And last but not least new hat and scarf for warmth and cuteness. I am not a fashion plate by any means as I am a classic non flashy kind of gal. But I do love it when a plan comes together and so many crossable outfits combos and know that nothing is not a 'I'll wear this alot'.

The only other shoes I will bring aside from the hiking boots is a black pair of slip on sketchers with no show socks that kind of look like flats. This is for specialty dining nights where I'll be looking a little nicer. I keep going back and forth over if I should bring black slacks or a dress as we have 3 specialty dinners but I've read Alaska is more laid back so I will only do this if there is room in the suit case. Swim suit for hot tub time and binoculars are cruise must haves that also need to fit.

When you don't realize how bad your anxiety is...

So not until I was in early 40s did it even enter my radar that I might have anxiety. And it was a short reel from a comedian that made me realize it. But until this past fall I thought it was fairly mild, and in hindsight it was probably mid range. And I probably thought it was mild because it turns out I'm friends or related to or work with several others who have anxiety that when talking so many could relate to how I always thought thru worst case scenarios or like to plan and research everything. Only my boss saying, it sounds exhausting with how much you think about everything did it really occur to me that not everyone thinks this way. Then the spinal surgery just kicked it into massive high gear constantly. I didn't have intrusive thoughts before. Hell, I didn't even really fully understand what intrusive thoughts were until the month in pain leading up to the surgery. I had never thought of un-aliving myself but in that state of pain before meeting the surgeon when not sure what was wrong I did think; I can understand after time how someone could get to that point. And that scared me. There have only been two times in my life when I feel I was what could be classified as clinically depressed- final semester of college facing the uncertainty of life ahead and Mid Oct to Mid December this past fall dealing with the pain and surgery. Funnily both times I reached out with kind of a brush off. In college I called the health center for an appointment for mental health and they said they couldn't get me in for two months so I said forget it! and hung up. In December my PCP said it was situational and to just go for walks. No follow up. With the last few months suddenly crying for no reason (except to find out it's probably PMDD see pervious blog) I was even like, but my life is great. The pain has gone, I have bone growth at fusion (which was a massive worry last six months). This is clearly hormonal due to perimenopause. Because I have no reason to be depressed. But I suddenly felt out of control of my own self that it felt like a sudden deep downward spiral. But when PA prescribed prozac I still took 3 days researching it before accepting the idea of it. I had so many signs of PMDD and people eased fears as they were all on SSRIs that I was like 'wow, it's so many more friends than I thought. So this is why so many confirm my thought process - we anxiety people seem to find each other.' What I did not expect was how anxiety presented itself in me. The first night as I went to bed I lay there suddenly realizing I had no thoughts in my head. which then freaked me out a bit. So I was like "where did all my thoughts go? Can I still think? Pull up a memory - Rome, walking around with Jeff. Yep it's all there. Now think of something in the future you need to plan - Alaskan cruise. list of ports. activities. OK. I can come up with thoughts if I put my mind to it." Stopped thinking, and fell asleep almost instantly. Next day I said to Jeff, you know for falling asleep you've said 'just turn off your brain' and I'm like "my brain doesn't work that way"? Now I finally know what you mean. I came up with an analogy of my mind being a ballroom. And there are couples dancing all around me, and each couple is a thought. The room is wall to wall couples dancing and they each draw my attention for a moment until another couple catches my eye. And sometimes I have the couple repeat a dance move over and over with a spot light on them. But in his ballroom (brain) he is alone in the ballroom and can call a couple (thought) to dance for him. But he can also just say "tun off the lights, thats all for today." What?! And so because of suddenly not catastrophfizing or ruminating or having a billion thoughts all swirling around my brain (aka anxiety) I have had to get used to my brain being so quiet comparatively that for the first few weeks it just felt kind of blank. Empty headed. Stepford wives kind of robot almost. But so less anxious and best sleep in years. When out with two friends, one on an SSRI and one not and I described this analogy the one on the SSRI nodded as if yes, that is exactly it. And the other seemed to have a light bulb moment of "not everyone's brains is full of swirling thoughts all the time?" like without saying iut loud Do I have undiagnosed anxiety too? The last week I explained to PA as a follow up this feeling (and others). She also said my analogy was great. And we added Webutrin and I feel my thoughts are coming back at a normal healthy level. I feel like me. Not zombie me. But not highly anxious me. I went out last night and had such a light, fun night. It's hard to explain but like I hadn't been that chill in two or three years. When things build little by little by little, you don't realize how much weight you've had on your shoulders until it's all lifted off. I am a fluffy white cloud drifting along; instead of a dark rain soaked storm I had not noticed I had become.

Perimenopause thoughts and newly PMDD?

I have two bosses at work, one directly above me that is 5 yrs younger and one above her that is 13 yrs older than me. Because I wish there had been more warning, I am sharing (over sharing?) everything with younger boss so she knows what may lay ahead. I'm like the ghost of Christmas future telling her the horrors LOL. And am very thankful that older boss understands and says things like "we need to give you space for grace during this phase of life." So lets look back at the last five years so far shall we? It was exactly 5 years ago, summer of 2021 as a 43 year old that I had my first what I considered then, really late period. By two weeks (oh how naive). I took two pregnancy tests and thought "If I went thru six years of infertility treatment only to accept CFNBC and then get naturally pregnant at *this* age God has a cruel sense of humor." Jokes on me. that was the start. So the first two and a half years was just wonky cycles, swinging from 16 days to 45ish. And *maybe* ever so slightly moodier so I thought, I can totally handle this. The Jan of 2024 the hot flashes started. but just one or two a day and it was winter so I'd just step out into the Chicago cold. and after two or three months they seemed to stop. Oh that's it? Silly girl! March 2024 is when the rage kicked in. OK, instead of hot flashes now I want to kill two coworkers, one for constantly clearing her throat, another for constantly complaining things she could do something about. I tell myself it's just chemicals in my brain, this didn't bother me before so just get up and walk away before saying something you'll regret. After about 5 months the rage seems to have subsided but now my cycles are anywhere from 12 days (ugh!) to 50 so really eratic. But the second half of 24 seems fairly smooth sailing. 2025 the hot flashes are back but not as extream feeling, yet more often. so instead of one or two intense it's up to 8 a day but easier. And now my skin is getting ichy and dry. And I seem to often go 2-3 days without a bowel movement. I buy some fiber gummies which smooth that out. Lotion up a lot more. Cycles in 2025 are now 20 to 60 days and I've read after a 60 day cycle you're now in late peri. Part of me thinks "Yay, it's almost over!" but my brain also thinks - if it took almost 4 yrs to get here do I have ANOTHER 4 YEARS?!? November 25 I have spinal surgery (tons of previous blogs on this) and apparently that can kick off something I was not in any way prepared for. Possible PMDD. Now I think I mentioned in a previous blog that at my physical in December I told my doc I thought I was depressed and she said she thought it was situational due to surgery and being stuck at home. Well next day got period. This becomes a trend. But then my next period is not for 72 days so hard to notice a "trend". I'm back to work for over six weeks and I cry at work on a day in early Feb. I am NOT a crier. Especially not in front of others. WTF is going on? Oh, period hits next day. Start to talk about needing HRT with coworkers. I have always had easy periods. not really emotional, barely any cramps, light flow. Next period is 57 days later but I am on vaca for last day in Vegas and home for a weekend, so low stress. *But* this is the first time I experience what is termed as "flooding", look it up as it scared me a bit that Saturday. Had two full periods worth of blood in one day when I've been a very light flow gal for a decade. Next period is right at 29 days, but the three days proceeding it I cannot stop crying for no reason, have extream anxiety and feel like I suck and everyone hates me. I have never felt this down and it scares me. Also raging at younger boss after two days of crying at work when she says "at least it's Friday" and I snap back with "Who gives a fuck if you're in hell if it's a Friday or a Tuesday?!"😳 So much for telling my brin it's just chemicals and to keep your mouth shut. Thankfully after crying at work on Wednesday I called MD office and had appointment Friday. Cried to PA who brought up possible PMDD caused by surgery. Since I am a smoker, no HRT for me due to bloodclot, heart attack and stroke risks. So there's nothing you can do?! I cry in despair. She says prozac. This freaks me out immediately. But I spend the next 3 days talking to friends and researching. Turns out even my best friend without my knowledge is on lexapro; another SSRI. And for PMDD specificly Prozac is the first line of defense. And one of my main concerns was I read you should not drink on it. yet BFF, brother and 3 coworkers who are all on various SSRIs were all like "pfft, yes you can - just not a lot. And you might not feel great the next day if you drink like 4 or more drinks" OK, that's a rarity so I start that Tuesday June 2nd. Now I will say day one I took it at 630am and from 915 to 1045am I felt so jittery that it w a s like an IV main lining coffee. Read perhaps I should cut back on caffeine while on it. Cut back to just one cup of coffee and two pops that day and next. Day 3 forgot and have felt fine ever since with my normal caffeine intake. First two weeks I feel great! I had also started taking magnesium 90 mins before bed. I sleep through the night! This has not happened since I was like 40 (I'm 48). I just assumed as a woman you get to a certain age and you have to wake up and pee around 3am. Nope. Have not a single time in the last six weeks. I do not know if that's thanks to prozac, magnesium or a combo but OMG this has been the nicest, deepest sleep of my life. And things I kinda knew but hadn't fully realized were effecting me that much - like motivation. I had no problem with finding the motivation and energy for dishes and laundry etc. since starting prozac. I am going to make a whole other post soon about realizing what I always thought of as mild anxiety, was probably large. And how much better that is. But day 15 on med, I had another cry day (Ok 36 hrs) follwed two days later with period of just a single day of flooding again (cycle day 59). And then day 21 of med, I had a fight or flight day when I felt like something bad was gonna happen, I just didn't know what. I spent the whole day with my shoulders up around my ears in tension. So at 5 wk follow up told PA about those plus the sexual side effect of prozac can be inability to orgasm...I said, I can still cum but it's more like 'well that was lovely' instead of OMG! She decided to add Wellbutrin. So all this to say, the last 5 years have been a roller coaster. And since it just kept getting worse and worse, part of me wonders Jesus, What's next?! But every cryfest (except for the one that made me finally call a doc) has been a day or two prior to period. So PMDD seems right. But being five years into peri, when is it coming? No one knows. Last 9 months it's been as short as 26 days to as long as 72. So clearly it's lengthening. And my FSH basically says I'm menopausal. I guess I just have to wait between now (cycle day 30) and whenever next period decides to show up (possibly up to six weeks away) to see how this drug combo does next period. ETA a few factoids I forgot. Five years ago is also when my eyes took enough of a shit that trifocal contacts were needed and two years ago even that was too hard on my eyes/brain and had to start wearing readers. Three years since my hearing got so bad I got hearing aids. And the peri side effect of itchy ears is real and an extra torture if you have hearing aids in. But finally *and funny that I forgot it* BRAIN FOG. I thought it was bad last year but these last six months it has really stepped up. I forget mid sentence what I was going to say. I forget names of people and things. It feels like I'm headed straight to a demntia ward if not for reading alot that this is highly.common. And just what I found when googling that weekend before starting drug as I thought PA was a bit nutty for suggesting ACDF caused PMDD.

6 Months Post OP ACDF - Bone Growth

Because I can see how many people have viewed blogs...I know ones with ACDF in title have been viewed more. So I know some have found these when worried / researching what to expect or if what they're currently going thru is "normal". So I wanted to just jump on with a 6 month post op update. I was fully cleared from Spinal Surgeon two days ago. Since I started smoking again at 6 weeks post op I was very fearful I would not have signs of bone growth. I researched the hell out of Red Light therapy and did 8x a month from late Jan to present in hopes of helping with bone growth. When I specifically asked, he pointed at the xray and said bone growth looked "great. One solid unit" going from above fusion area to below. Said I had no worsening of areas above and below (AKA adjacent disc disease), my stenosis, arthritis etc all looked just as they were prior to surgery! Yay! Celebrated that night with a rare piece of cheese cake bought at store. Still get slight zapping nerve pain in left if bending over or leaning on left arm but 95% normal is so much better than constant pain so if this is life now, I'll take it. Sitting up straighter than I have my entire life LOL who knew moms were so right about sitting up straight? But laying down, I can sleep on either side as much as I want. I do get muscle spasms here and there but they only last mere seconds. And they are anywhere from neck side to upper back to upper arms. Maybe 3ish times a week? So I'll be sitting at work or at home and suddenly back of right upper arm twiches for 30 seconds. Just long enough to think, huh that's twitchy, then it stops. A few days later it will be a total different spot but same thing. In the past 3 months I've only had 4 days where muscles felt sore enough for a muscle relaxer at night. End of March, I did stop icing neck/upper back 3x a week because we went on vacation and I felt fine when we got back that I thought - oh, maybe I don't actually need it anymore and was doing it out of habit. But last two weeks I've felt a bit more sore that I'm back to icing here and there. Again- if this is life from now on...it's better than the alternative and not that much a burden on life. Otherwise life is totally back to normal (see earlier post today on all things vacation planning and hiking LOL to know I'm back to old me). Hope anyone that has read thru all the posts post-op can see there were times I was sure life would never be normal again. And while some recover quick, some a few months like me and yes some I have read some said it took a full 18 months (And the rare horror stories of never feeling better) that you can hit low points and work your way up. Try to stay positive.

Ever Evolving Travel Plans

So two blogs ago I said two things that have now changed. I said no planned nature side trips for Oct 2026 and that I didn't know if Great Basin National Park was worth it. Fairly soon after that posting, we decided to do it. The fall plan now is so packed, we're crazy! We will pick up car and head the 4 hours north to GBNP, stopping along the way for a gift shop at the edge of the Extraterrestrial Highway and hiking for 90 mins or so at Cathedral Gorge State Park before a few short (I'm talking .5 to one mile each) at the NP. I've reserved a little cabin nearby on AirB&B. The area is supposed to have some of the darkest skies of the lower 48 and we will be there a day before a new moon so only 2% moon lit; should be amazing. Next morning, we will do 3 mile Alpine Loop Trail and then Lehman Caves Tour. Then possibly drive thru Cedar Breaks National Monument area before the Kolob Canyons area of Zion we missed last fall for sunset. Final morning before Vegas, awake and arrive at Snow Canyon State Park for 1-2 hours of hiking at sunrise. Like I said, we're crazy. The other change, is we'll put off doing Banff for another time. Why? It's a bucket list wish I've had for a few years now? Because Mr. Juice threw out another idea that we just had to jump on because of our Diamond status with CET. We have now booked.... AN ALASKAN CRUISE! It is booked for mid May 2027. We're doing Haven on NCL again; because once you go bougie you cannot go back. Jeff's one request is a Helicopter ride to a glacier and mushing huskie sled dogs in Juneau. OK! So one day/night in Seattle and then 7 days aboard the NCL Encore (fitting name for our second cruise). How I will handle a full year day dreaming and researching this when in the two weeks since booking I feel I have already spent a third of my free time looking at stuff? I'll be so overloaded with all things Alaskan ports by then I may make my head implode.

Two women have questioned him on if I really want to do this. Why are so many ladies beach girls that they can't imagine that others are not? You give me the combo of water, mountains and pine trees and it's my idea of heaven. This is why Banff is so high on my list, Lake Tahoe is my favorite spot in the US and we talk about when we'll return to Yosemite someday. Beaches and sand barely peak any interest in me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed our trip to the Bahamas, but I do not daydream about future trips to a beach at all. Give me hikes among the trees looking over a rocky shore vista anyday!

JTNP / DVNP / Vegas Spring 2026

We did a day in Joshua Tree and a day in Death Valley before heading to Las Vegas this trip. Having never been to either I can say our impression of JTNP was meh but we were pleasantly surprised by DVNP.

The issue with JTNP was two fold. First, I changed my mind at 3am before hoping in car to airport to wear black shit kicker boots instead of my tried and true hiking boots. why? Because they matched my outfit. ugh. Started getting blisters because my feet were sliding around in them not wearing thick winter socks. By the time we hiked the Arch Rock/ Heart Rock trail I had four blister, one on each heel they size of a lime and one on each top covering from big toe to almost pinkie toe. So in other words, all but my toes and the center of my foot. I couldn't walk anymore after just 2 of six miles in. So we just went to viewpoints afterward. Secondly everything looks the same. Rocks and Joshua trees. We like more variety in our parks. Mountains, valleys, waterfalls, Spires, look this way WOW! Look that way OMG! IDK, it just didn't seem as grand or WOW packed as other parks. So after only 4 hrs we were fine to leave. a disappointing dinner followed. Not the restaurants fault, I just made poor choices.

Awoke really early so we headed out towards Death Valley over an hour before sunrise. First hour on the road we only saw maybe 5 cars bu the time we stopped at iconic Rt 66 Roy's Cafe for a smoke break at day break. Drove to Baker before stopping again for more coffee and bathroom where we encountered signs saying "special event, expect delays" on the road between Baker and Shashone. Stopped in Shashone for breakfast (great stop) and asked waitress what was going on? (Though clearly a race as port-o-johns and water stations every 10 miles or so made that evident) She said annual Baker to Vegas Relay. 120 miles run by teams of Law Enforcement. 🤯 We got ahead of it 30 mins before start apparently. It takes them all day and overnight!

Arriving into DVNP and around a curve - there was the super bloom I had been hoping for! A sea of yellow. What a sight! went around another bend and it looked as if people were walking on water (wish I had a picture). As it was people out in Lake Manly. We stopped, walked about 15 mins out to waters edge. Did a few more views; Devils golf course, artists pallete etc but my feet were still a disaster and it was now over 100 degrees (before noon last weekend in March!) so we headed to The Inn for drinks. Beautiful but pretentious AF.

Then over to The Ranch to check in and grab a nap. Back out and over to Inn for dinner followed by cocktails at Ranch's Last Kind Word Saloon. Night sky viewing from our rooms patio and off to sleep.

Awoke with enough time to catch sunrise at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and hit Zabriskie point before we headed off to Vegas, happy to have visited DVNP.

We got to Vegas, dropped off car and in Paris at 1030am Sunday. Shockingly Paris already had our room. Just a regular Burgundy King in main tower this time (Mr Juice has new host so a little disappointed no suite this time but it's fine). We each had our biggest wins of the trip in the first day, each just over $1300. We were pleased with new handpay limits meaning no taxes removed. Mine was on Buffalo Chief Platinum in Paris, Mr Juice's was in Cosmo on a Buffalo Revolution. Lunch at Beer Park. Dinner going to bed was grabbing Bobby's and eating half the burger & fries saving the other half. Table games were unkind this trip, but at least $5 Miss stud Sun/Mon/Tues. We only played $10 once on Wednesday before giving up. Only twice did we have time at them, others it was a fairly steady draining of our buy in. Once Mr Juice left table up ever so slightly in time it took me to lose $200.

We stayed hopping between PH, Cosmo, Bellagio, Horseshoe & Paris everyday except Tuesday when we did north end; RW, Encore/Wynn and southward. Some decent wins here and there between everywhere so that we didn't have any huge losing days but nothing as big as that first day. The funnys of the trip...on Monday after two or three Mimosas Mr Juice got me laughing so hard after an unlady like burp escaped my lips at the Cosmo and his jokes mocking me that I started crying I was laughing so much. But I think Cosmo only saw the aftermath of me wiping my eyes from crying that a slot attendant came over asking if I was OK all compassionate and caring looking. So then I was giving him a hard time they think he mistreats me.

Second funny was Tuesday morning. I came down in khaki capris at 6am and was playing a game when a security guard came over and was looking at me kind of funny. He then told me my pants blended with my skin color enough on camera that they thought I wasn't wearing pants! And he was sent to check it out. What?! LOL, that's a first! I thought I looked nice that day. Told him it's a hazard I guess for pasty white chicks. As a midwest girl coming out of winter, my skins is the color of uncooked chicken. So then we made jokes the rest of the trip about me Winnie the Poohing around the casino in my shirt no pants combo. Only meals of note were lunch per usual at Delmonico for the lobster bisque on Tuesday and dinner at Cheri Rooftop at Paris. I fear this will close soon as it didn't appear crowded at all and they text me an hour before reservation time saying our table was ready. We walked over to make sure there wasn't an issue with the reservation timing and her response was "no, we're just bored so thought if you wanted to eat early we'd let you know you could." And it turns out it's not one for my celebration dinner so oh well, we'll have to have two meals in October to use both Mr Juice & mine.

Final observations, there were so many families this trip with young kids for Spring Break. And I'm talking a bunch of under 10 yr olds out at 1130pm. Was a bit annoying as they were a lot being told to get out of casino area as parents played slots. Paris had about 25% of slots off changing them out Mon-Wed which was annoying during a 5x week but we did get to play new games Thursday before we left. We left town with about one day (20%) of gambling budget and each close or made Diamond Plus again. Town felt down still (aka 2025 levels, not 2023 busy but not dead). But after being in severe pain on October trip from needing (unbeknownst to me) urgent spinal surgery it was nice to have this trip where my biggest pain was blisters from hiking. When I went into my ACDF spinal surgery in November I was unsure if life would be "normal" afterwards. This was blissfully normal, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

2026 Travel Plans and thoughts already forming for 2027

 So the Vegas 2x a year we've done so far, were 2018, 2021, 2023, 2025 - none back to back until now.  2026 will be the second year.  Actually with Oct 2024, June & Oct 2025, and now April/Oct 2026 that will make 5 trips in a row. I love Vegas but for even me that's too much!  

So I have informed Mr Juice that we will NOT be doing Vegas in spring of 2027!  He reminded me that we had non-couole trips; he went on golf trips 2x a year both 2024 & 2025 and I went to Maine/Acadia plus trips to mom in OK so they are not back to back plus we've done the added nature side trips - Oct 2023 was Monument Valley, Page, North Rim GCNP (before it burned down 😥) and Oct 2025 was Zion and Bryce.  And we have this springs upcoming nature side trip.  But still 2027 will have a non Vegas couples trip! 

But that does indeed mean our travel plans are Vegas end of March/beginning of April and his annual Oct Birthday trip.  But for spring since the America the Beautiful pass is good until Sept 27th we are going to...

JOSHUA TREE NAT'L PARK & DEATH VALLEY NP!

I am hoping for a super bloom spring.  We have flights, hotels and car booked.  I have itinerary of hikes mapped out. About 6 miles a day in each. Where to be for sunrise or sunset.  Ideas for dinner spots.  It's all set. Woohoo! I got a scratchoff poster of all the National Parks with like 8? Maybe done so far so looking forward to two new ones!  

We have not talked of adding anything to October and honestly we've seen most everything driveable except I recently saw a vlog about Great Basin NP in Nevada.  Its a 4 hr drive North.  From first impressions doesn't seem worth it.  But I'll dig deeper to see if I change my mind.

But instead I've already jumped to 2027.  I want us to go to Banff for 4 days in June for our 18th anniversary.  It will be pricey because of stay in bucket list hotels but not even half the price of a gambling trip.  I've already watched vlogs and have a tentative itinerary (with space to add).  Since Mr. Juice doesn't not share my thought of such a thing as "too much Vegas" he's asked for a spring guys trip for golf. Knock yourself out.  As he has way more vacation days than me and those two will eat up much usual spring/summer trip budget there may not be anything else the first half of 2027 but ya never know.