Tuning Up Our Planning Mojo

My reactions on those infrequent occasions when I've re-visited blog posts written on the same date from years back have been unpredictable. I've been both pleased and embarrassed about my writing. I've been proud I accomplished things I publicly committed to and chastened by my lack of progress. I've wished I'd had courage to say more and wished I'd kept my opinions to myself. Through all those ups and downs, one thing has remained constant: I'm glad I started this blog and have stuck with it.

https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2012/04/future-filled-with-parks.html

Case in point: Although our National Park mission - declared in the post above from April 14, 2012 - has moved forward, re-reading it reminded me we're going to have to pick up the pace over the next several years. Since that 2012 visit to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, we've visited about a dozen others. (A few favorites over the seven years: Denali in Alaska and Big Bend in Texas.) But somehow, no parks got included while planning our 2019 trips. There are two we've yet to visit that are within reasonable driving distance - Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio and Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee - so 2019 is not yet a lost cause.

Still, most of the six remaining National Parks in Alaska we haven't yet seen will be a real challenge unless we get our planning mojo working more efficiently. If I happen to re-read this post seven years from now and we still haven't made it to Kobuk Valley - not to mention American Samoa - the post I publish on April 14, 2026 could be a bit more wistful than this one.