This photo of Stanton / Meramec KOA is courtesy of TripAdvisor
I love taking vacations with just Hailey now that I’ve gotten the hang of it. Initially it was kind of scary. When I was married the only vacations we took were to visit my ex-husband’s family, so I didn’t really have any experience with booking rooms and flights and things like that. It was intimidating to think about going to a strange place and being the only responsible adult.
My first vacations as a single parent were camping trips, usually with friends. The first solo trip Hailey and I took was to Moab for Mother’s Day. It was my Mother’s Day present to myself. I love camping and hiking, Hailey, not so much. I also took my nephew with us. Hailey and Kyle are as close as siblings, and he saved the trip more than once.
We hiked all day in the desert, carrying backpacks full of water bottles so we didn’t dehydrate. I took a ton of pictures, the kids explored, climbed and jumped, scaring me half to death in the process. The time away was quiet and mellow, even though I was with two teenagers.
My advice when camping alone with children, unless you are a very confident camper, is to stay at a KOA. They have bathrooms and showers and cabins you can stay in. Our cabin had a little front porch with a swing where the kids sat and made each other laugh while I fixed dinner. There was a grill and a picnic table in our little yard. After dinner the kids played cards on the bunk beds, and lots more laughter ensued.
The nights brought high winds which made me glad we weren’t in a tent. The cabin was perfect, and as that wind was howling I was grateful for four walls. And sleeping in a bed beats sleeping on the ground any day of the week.