# US Spring Break 2027

**26 March-10 April 2027 · Washington, Wisconsin, Chicago and Cody**

![The National Mall in Washington, with the Capitol beyond the open lawns](assets/washington-national-mall.jpg)

The plan is: Washington, protected parent time, Great Wolf Lodge, Chicago friends and four hosted Cody nights. It gets everyone home on Saturday for Sunday recovery. New York is not part of the current plan because the complete version exceeds the budget.

Nothing is booked. Counting every route-room hold that may become chargeable plus the Birchington taxi gives this Washington-first route a working total of **£11,740**, below the absolute **£12,000** ceiling. The researched New York-first version is about **£12,190** and is over budget and not part of the plan.

## The trip at a glance

| Date | Sleep | Main shape | Weather or disruption plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 25 Mar | Ely | One adult makes Luna's daytime handover | Move to Wed 24 if school/work prevents daytime travel |
| Fri 26 Mar | Washington | Heathrow-Dulles; settle | Preplanned transfer and simple dinner |
| Sat 27 Mar | Washington | Late-start Air and Space recovery day; one short exterior only if energy remains | Natural History at the same bounded time if the pass fails |
| Sun 28 Mar | Washington | American History and main friend window | Same indoor plan |
| Mon 29 Mar | Washington | Capitol tour, western monuments and second friend window | American Indian if the tour fails |
| Tue 30 Mar | Elkhorn | DCA-O'Hare; drive to parents | Flight disruption removes hotel pool, not parent time |
| Wed 31 Mar | Elkhorn | Protected parent day | Family time remains the indoor plan |
| Thu 1 Apr | Wisconsin Dells | Great Wolf waterpark | Resort day is already weather-proof |
| Fri 2 Apr | Rosemont | Pool morning; drive and return car | Same plan |
| Sat 3 Apr | Rosemont | Chicago friends and central walk | Griffin Museum of Science and Industry plus friends |
| Sun 4 Apr | Rosemont | Lincoln Park default and second friend window | Griffin if unused; otherwise Children's Museum |
| Mon 5 Apr | Cody | Protected United journey via Denver | Remain airside and use the carrier's protected rebooking |
| Tue 6 Apr | Cody | Low-load Center of the West day | Same indoor plan |
| Wed 7 Apr | Cody | Reservoir/Wapiti scenery | Paul Stock indoor pool and recreation centre |
| Thu 8 Apr | Cody | Beck Lake; laundry and packing | First usable unused indoor card and its named lunch |
| Fri 9 Apr | Aircraft | Cody-Denver-Heathrow on one ticket | Carrier rebooking; Luna delayed-return plan applies |
| Sat 10 Apr | Ely or safe hotel | Birchington collection and home | Walk/taxi to a Heathrow hotel unless two adults are fit; stop en route if alertness later falls |

## Day-by-day plan

### Thursday 25 March - Luna handover

Shelly or Marlon makes the Ely-Birchington-Ely trip **during Ada's school day**; Ada does not do an after-school round trip. Leave by about 09:00, complete the written handover and return before school collection. If that cannot work, move the same daytime job to Wednesday 24 March. Do not combine it with flight day.

Care runs from handover through collection on Saturday 10 April, with permission to continue through Monday 12 April if travel is disrupted. The care record must state the normal meal times and quantities, daily Apoquel time and dose, walk/toilet pattern, where Luna sleeps, vet and insurance details, emergency authority, a daily-photo preference, and who transports her if the household has an emergency. Shelly's brother confirms the whole period by **31 January 2027**. The known family friend is a two-night emergency **candidate**, subject to her date and transport agreement; Yappy Days in Westgate is the licensed professional candidate for a longer gap, subject to a successful trial, Apoquel/sleep acceptance, rate and exact-date availability. If family care and both backup layers are not complete by the deadline, use vetted professional care within the complete budget or do not commit to the plan.

### Friday 26 March - Heathrow to Washington

Leave Ely about **06:00**, use a packed breakfast on the journey, park in the prebooked official car park and use the working **British Airways BA217 nonstop, 12:15 LHR-16:40 IAD**. The early departure preserves roughly three hours at Heathrow even after a two-hour drive and 45-minute parking transfer; if traffic erodes that margin, skip the airside lunch queue and use carried food. Google Flights showed **£1,017 total for two adults and one child** on 1 August 2026, including required taxes but excluding optional bags and seat charges; reprice the exact fare and include the checked bag and adjacent seats inside the retained £4,650 whole-trip flight allowance. After border control and bags, follow the airport signs to the official 24-hour **Washington Flyer taxi** at Door 1 or 7 and travel direct to a confirmed four-night two-queen room at **Holiday Inn Washington Capitol-National Mall**, allowing about 45-75 minutes and up to £75. One adult and Ada use one queen; the other adult uses the second. Expect the hotel around 19:00-20:00, use arrival takeaway and go to bed without another outing.

### Saturday 27 March - Air and Space and the eastern Mall

Treat this as long-haul recovery, not a full sightseeing day. Sleep without an alarm beyond breakfast needs, leave the hotel around **10:30** and use an **11:00-14:00 National Air and Space Museum** pass after the 2027 release, with museum/counter lunch. If energy and weather are both good, add only the Capitol exterior or a short eastern-Mall section, capped at 45 minutes; otherwise return directly. If no pass works, use Natural History for the same 11:00-14:00 window and the same optional exterior cap. Be back by about 15:30-16:00 for quiet time and a simple early dinner.

### Sunday 28 March - American History and friends

Use the **National Museum of American History** as the indoor anchor and its café/counter food for lunch. Its Easter 2027 opening is still a labelled recurring-hours assumption, not a confirmed calendar. Recheck before booking and again before travel. If it is confirmed unavailable, use Natural History when that was not Saturday's fallback; if Natural History was already used, use the National Gallery from about 11:00-15:00 with nearby counter lunch. Protect the largest Matt-and-Monique joint window for a bounded afternoon walk or early casual meal. Confirm their joint Easter-Sunday availability before booking, with Monday as the agreed alternative. If Sunday fails, move only the friend window to Monday; if neither day works, accept the missed visit rather than moving the route.

### Monday 29 March - Capitol and western monuments

Reserve the free **Capitol tour** separately. Then use transit to the Washington Monument/World War II Memorial area and walk only the western section to Lincoln. If the Capitol tour is unavailable, use the National Museum of the American Indian. Keep the second flexible friend window and a simple early dinner; rain shortens the exterior section.

### Tuesday 30 March - Washington to Marlon's parents

Use hotel breakfast or buy it near DCA, then use the working **10:30 United DCA-ORD nonstop pattern**, arriving about **11:27**. This timing was observed for adjacent-date 31 March, not exact-date 30 March; search 30 March before booking and retain only a schedule that still protects the parent afternoon. Carry sandwiches/fruit from DCA for lunch before the drive. Collect the prebooked automatic intermediate SUV, with Shelly primary and Marlon authorised as backup, and drive to Elkhorn. Check in to a confirmed two-queen room at **Holiday Inn Express & Suites Elkhorn-Lake Geneva**. Protect the afternoon and dinner with Marlon's parents; Marlon's sister is welcome but does not control the day.

### Wednesday 31 March - Elkhorn family day

Use hotel breakfast, have lunch and dinner with Marlon's parents or collect simple food according to what is easiest for them, and keep the full day available. The hotel pool is an optional short wind-down for Shelly and Ada, not a competing activity.

### Thursday 1 April - Great Wolf Lodge

Have hotel breakfast and leave around 09:30 for **Great Wolf Lodge Wisconsin Dells**. Use a Double Queen Sofa Suite or another explicitly named two-queen layout on a useful cancellation rate. Have counter-service lunch at the resort, make the waterpark the afternoon's single purpose, and eat dinner on site without another drive.

### Friday 2 April - pool morning and Chicago

Use a bounded waterpark session, change, eat an early resort lunch and leave around noon. Drive to **Hampton Inn & Suites Rosemont Chicago O'Hare**, unload, return the car at O'Hare and use the hotel shuttle/rideshare back. Dinner is simple food near the hotel. This remains a transition day, not a social round.

### Saturday 3 April - Chicago friends and city

Build the day around the largest confirmed joint friend window. The fair-weather default links Millennium Park, the river and a short lakefront section; use counter-service lunch and one agreed early pub-style or casual dinner with friends.

The named poor-weather default is the **Griffin Museum of Science and Industry**, followed by the same friend meal. Confirm 2027 opening, timed entry and the complete family price before purchase; do not book it across the social window.

### Sunday 4 April - complete default, then friends

If no meeting is confirmed, take the Blue Line/rideshare to **Lincoln Park Conservatory and the nearby lakefront/park**, using a reserved timed-entry slot after a fresh 2027 check, then have a café or counter-service lunch and return to Rosemont by late afternoon. If no useful Conservatory slot is released, keep the same journey and use Lincoln Park Zoo plus the lakefront/park in fair weather. In poor weather, use Griffin Museum if it was not used Saturday; if it was, use **Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier** from about 10:00-15:00, with counter-service lunch and a return to Rosemont by 16:30. A confirmed Hampton pool may replace the Children's Museum only when the whole family wants a lower-load day; verify the pool before booking rather than relying on the provisional hotel lead.

If a friend meeting is confirmed, keep this same morning and replace only the afternoon. Do not use the provisional Palatine split: no venue, route or safe return time has been agreed, and Monday has an early flight. Keep the family together, return to Rosemont by **16:30**, reset and pack before an early dinner. Laundry is optional because the checked-bag clothing cycle does not depend on this narrow window.

### Monday 5 April - Chicago to Cody

Use the protected United journey through Denver: the observed pattern was **08:55 ORD-12:53 COD**. Eat the hotel breakfast only after confirming it with the exact room; otherwise buy breakfast in the hotel area or at O'Hare. Carry a bought sandwich/snack for the connection, and have a late lunch or early supper after Jane and John collect the family. Prefer a slightly longer daytime connection if offered at reasonable cost; reject the 06:00 departure and 21:38 arrival merely to save money. Choose rooms after arrival and schedule no evening outing.

### Tuesday 6 April - low-load Cody introduction

Have breakfast at the house, make the **Buffalo Bill Center of the West** the 10:00-14:00 anchor and use its café or a nearby counter-service lunch. Spend one quiet hour in the Park County Library children's area, then collect groceries for the hosted stay and contribute to an easy shared dinner. This purposeful low-load afternoon absorbs Monday's early start and remains usable in poor weather; confirm the library's Tuesday hours before travel.

### Wednesday 7 April - scenery or indoor swimming

After breakfast at the house, use Jane and John's vehicle for a bounded Wapiti Valley/Buffalo Bill Reservoir scenic outing on roads confirmed open that morning. Carry a picnic or return to Cody for counter-service lunch; do not promise Yellowstone, whose normal-road season has not begun. Return by mid-afternoon and eat an easy meal at the house or one agreed casual dinner out.

If roads, wind or snow make that poor value, use the first usable unused card: **Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center**, then **Homesteader Museum in Powell**, then a distinct second **Center of the West** visit. Paul Stock needs a confirmed Wednesday public-swim session. Homesteader runs about 10:30-14:30 with a Powell café/counter lunch; its current February-May pattern is Tuesday-Friday 10:00-16:00 with free admission. The second Center visit focuses on the Plains Indian and Whitney Western Art collections not used Tuesday and has café lunch.

### Thursday 8 April - Beck Lake, laundry and packing

Use **Beck Lake Park** as the default: after breakfast, take a 60-90 minute signed shoreline/view walk on plainly open, ice-free ground, then have a settled Cody counter-service lunch. Return by about 13:30, complete the main laundry reset and pack before dinner, leaving the evening with Jane and John.

If Beck Lake is poor, use the first usable unused card in this order: **By Western Hands**, **Paul Stock** if a Thursday session exists and it was not used, **Homesteader Museum**, then a distinct second **Center of the West** visit. If that second Center visit was already used Wednesday, make Thursday a third, shorter visit focused on the remaining Buffalo Bill/temporary family interpretation, with café lunch and return by 14:00. By Western Hands uses a late-morning craft/design visit and Cody counter-service lunch; Homesteader uses the Powell timing/lunch above. Before payment, check and remove failed Paul Stock, By Western Hands and Homesteader cards; the divided Center collections remain the final two-day response rather than asking the hosts to research live. Reprice any extra Center admission.

### Friday 9 April - Cody to the overnight flight

Eat breakfast at the house and a proper early lunch in Cody before the airport. Use the observed protected United journey: **13:28 COD**, 2h22 in Denver, then the overnight flight to Heathrow. Carry connection snacks and buy a simple airside dinner before the long sector. Confirm one ticket, through-checked baggage if used and three adjacent seats.

### Saturday 10 April - safe collection journey

After the scheduled **09:40 Heathrow arrival**, immigration and bags, neither adult starts driving until both have eaten and assessed alertness. **Do not start the Kent journey unless two adults are fit to share it.** Marlon drives the first leg if fit; Shelly remains the usual primary driver only when rested. Make a **mandatory 30-minute meal/rest stop before or around the M25-A2 transition**, then reach Birchington and reassess before collecting Luna. The second fit adult normally takes the final leg to Ely.

If fewer than two adults are fit at Heathrow, do not collect the BMW or begin the Kent detour. Walk by the covered terminal route, or take a licensed airport taxi if the arrival terminal changes, to a pre-held **Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3** room with a verified king-plus-sofa-bed or other valid three-person layout. Eat at the terminal/hotel, extend the official parking booking, tell Luna's carer that Sunday collection applies, and sleep. On Sunday, a rested adult retrieves the BMW by the official car-park transfer while the family remains at the hotel, then the family travels together to Birchington and Ely. If nobody is fit after that sleep, extend the hotel/care and do not drive.

Count **£250** for that Heathrow room even if a refundable rate is found. If the named room is unavailable, hold another terminal-accessible room that needs no family driving and still fits the complete ceiling. Also pre-hold two cancellable no-Luna route candidates within the separate **£180 en-route stop allowance**: a valid three-person family room at **Premier Inn Dartford** after the M25 and another at **Premier Inn Ramsgate/Manston** near Birchington. Confirm the exact sleeping layout, parking, late check-in and food/collection option. If alertness falls before Birchington, stop at the next held room ahead, park, eat at the hotel or collect food, and sleep; Luna's care extends to Sunday. If the change happens at Birchington, leave Luna and the BMW with the carer and take a licensed taxi to the held Ramsgate/Manston room if nobody can drive; eat there, sleep, taxi back after breakfast and collect Luna only when a rested adult can drive. Cancel both holds only after the family has safely passed their useful points. The care sheet must permit Sunday collection and the BMW to remain at the care home.

Before travel, also hold a cancellable dog-compatible family room on the intended Birchington-Ely route: the working candidates are the Welcome Break property at **South Mimms M25** for the A1 route or **Ramada London Stansted Airport** for the M11 route. Use one only after confirming two separate double/queen-width surfaces-one for an adult with Ada and one for an adult with Luna-plus no published bedroom, bed **or furniture** prohibition and a total including the current £20 pet fee within the £180 allowance. A stable double sofa bed is acceptable for this emergency stop; a lone twin is not. Cancel the hold after safe arrival. If alertness falls **after Luna has been collected**, return her to the carer only while that is the nearer safe move; otherwise stop at the held route hotel, feed/walk/medicate Luna from the accessible overnight kit and use the confirmed sleeping arrangement. Welcome Break does not allow pets in restaurants/bars or unattended in rooms, so collect dinner before check-in or have one adult collect it while the other stays with Luna, then eat together in the room; do the same for breakfast and drive home after eating and sleeping. If neither adult can safely reach even that stop, pull off at the first safe staffed place and arrange a local room/taxi rather than continuing. Do not depend on an unverified same-day Dartford cancellation. Use a prepared freezer meal only after reaching home.

## Every lunch

| Date | Lunch default |
|---|---|
| 26 Mar | Heathrow airside counter service; carry an arrival snack |
| 27 Mar | Air and Space or Natural History museum/counter food |
| 28 Mar | American History café or nearby counter service |
| 29 Mar | Capitol/American Indian or nearby counter service |
| 30 Mar | Sandwiches and fruit bought at DCA |
| 31 Mar | With parents or simple collected food |
| 1 Apr | Great Wolf counter service |
| 2 Apr | Early Great Wolf counter service |
| 3 Apr | Chicago counter service |
| 4 Apr | Lincoln Park/Rosemont café or counter service |
| 5 Apr | Carried airport sandwich, then food with hosts |
| 6 Apr | Center of the West café/nearby counter service |
| 7 Apr | Picnic or Cody counter service |
| 8 Apr | Cody/Powell counter service or Center café, matching the selected weather backup |
| 9 Apr | Proper early lunch in Cody before the airport |
| 10 Apr | Heathrow terminal/hotel meal if resting; otherwise mandatory motorway-service meal/rest stop |

## What to book and check

Before paying for anything non-refundable:

1. Recheck the Lantern's last/first school dates and adult work recovery.
2. Confirm all passports, Marlon's UK re-entry documentation and current US entry permission. If any fail, do not book the US trip.
3. Complete the Luna care record, two-night backup candidate and professional-candidate trial/date/rate check.
4. Confirm Matt and Monique together for Easter Sunday 28 March or the Monday alternative. Confirm Marlon's parents for 30-31 March. Also ask whether **31 March-1 April** is acceptable if the flight must move; the later variant cannot be used without that separate confirmation. If neither parent window works, do not book because Elkhorn is required.
5. Search exact-date 30 March DCA-ORD and reject a timing that removes the protected parent afternoon. If every useful 30 March option fails, use the complete one-day-later variant only when the parents have confirmed 31 March-1 April; if its exact 31 March flight also fails to protect the parent afternoon, do not book this trip.
6. Reprice every flight, adjacent seating, baggage, named room, transport, safety hotel, food, activity and care category together.
7. Confirm each journey is nonstop or one protected ticket; reject self-transfers.
8. Reserve **Air and Space for Saturday and the Capitol tour for Monday as separate bookings** once their 2027 inventory opens. Recheck the unpublished Air and Space and Lincoln Park release windows; silence before release does not block payment.
9. Hold cancellable hotels, Great Wolf, the automatic SUV, the Heathrow room, the two pre-Birchington route rooms, the post-Luna route room and Heathrow parking before committing to less-flexible items. For Washington, confirm the exact four-night two-queen room, true total within £1,000 and useful cancellation deadline. Verify Hampton's exact two-queen room, breakfast, pool and shuttle; missing breakfast uses bought food, missing shuttle uses rideshare and missing pool leaves the Children's Museum plan. Include one checked family bag and its exact charges in the flight total.

### If the parents can host only 31 March-1 April, or 30 March flights fail

Stay a fifth Washington night. On **Tuesday 30 March**, use the National Museum of Natural History from about 10:00-14:00 if unused; otherwise use the National Gallery of Art if unused; if both were consumed by Saturday/Sunday failures, use the National Portrait Gallery from about 11:30-15:30 after rechecking its 2027 hours and entry. Have museum/counter lunch, take a short Sculpture Garden or eastern-Mall walk only if conditions suit, and eat an early hotel-area dinner. On **Wednesday 31 March**, take an exact-date morning DCA-ORD nonstop, carry DCA lunch, collect the same automatic SUV and protect the afternoon/dinner with Marlon's parents. Thursday 1 April is the full parent day, with the hotel pool only as a wind-down. Move Great Wolf to Friday 2 April; use its counter-service lunch, waterpark afternoon and on-site dinner. On Saturday 3 April, use the bounded pool morning, early resort lunch, Rosemont check-in and car return, then the first Chicago friend window over an early casual dinner. Sunday 4 April uses the same Lincoln Park/Griffin weather logic and the largest remaining friend window; pack before dinner. Fly to Cody on Monday 5 April as in the plan.

This is also the complete response when no 30 March flight protects the required parent afternoon. It is valid only after an exact 31 March flight is found that does. Its working Washington-first total is about **£11,860** before exact repricing. If professional care is needed, no current version fits the ceiling; do not book until a complete reprice does.

### Why New York is not in this plan

The researched New York-first version is about **£12,190** after all potentially chargeable safety holds, above the absolute £12,000 ceiling. It is therefore not a version to book. If exact prices later create enough room to include it, rebuild and recheck one complete route before booking; do not splice New York into this plan at the payment stage.

## Cost plan

| Category | Allowance |
|---|---:|
| Flights and airline extras | £4,650 |
| Paid accommodation, including no-driving Heathrow room | £2,450 |
| Local transport | £375 |
| Rental, driving and parking | £1,150 |
| Food | £1,450 |
| Activities | £400 |
| Insurance, tips, Luna thank-you/supplies, three route rooms, taxi and incidentals | £1,265 |
| **Working maximum** | **£11,740** |

Family Luna care is provisionally **£0 fee**, with up to £150 for thanks/supplies inside incidentals. The total counts the £250 Heathrow room, three £180 route rooms and £100 taxi even if unused; only a verified cancellation deadline after each decision point may reduce it. The Washington-first plan is the current plan. Adding the £600 professional-care allowance makes it **£12,340**, so professional care currently stops booking.

## Packing and preparation

- Use one checked family bag as the default and include it in the fare comparison; carry-on and under-seat bags hold medicines, one change each and flight essentials.
- Pack a complete 16-day underwear/socks cycle and enough rewearable tops and layers that neither the optional Hampton wash nor Thursday's Cody wash is required. Use either wash as a useful refresh, not as a dependency.
- Prefer bringing Ada's booster after checking every carrier's rule. If not, reserve one with the Wisconsin car **and** have Jane and John confirm a legally suitable booster in the Cody vehicle before any non-refundable payment; one local rental does not solve both places.
- Keep ordinary medicines, inhaler and motion-sickness medication accessible.
- Pack swimwear, compact laundry supplies, cold/rain layers and a small cool bag.
- Prepare Luna's labelled food, Apoquel, written routine and authority pack. Ask the carer to keep a separate post-collection overnight kit accessible: lead and harness, two bowls, towel, 24 hours of food, Apoquel and Luna's familiar blanket/sleeping setup for the confirmed hotel surface. Retrieve it with Luna and keep it above-not beneath-the main luggage until the family reaches Ely.
- Prepare one or two freezer meals for the return.

## Photograph

[The National Mall in Washington, with the Capitol beyond the open lawns](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Mall,_Washington,_D.C._(20100325-DSC01316).jpg), Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.