Hey Steve... my thoughts... personal.
I am married with a 6 year old daughter.
Jacqueline(our daughter) went to GOX2 and GONE-Moab1 as a family(with my wife).

Jacqueline went to GOX3 with myself only(wife had to work because she had Labor Day week off for GOX2).

Our daughter is probably in the top 1% for being a Xterra Fanatic.

I went to GONE-Moab2 with Xtoolbox because
a)My daughter was in school an someone had to watch her.
b)My center link was screwed. I could have replaced it... but what was the point since I would have been traveling by myself.

Memorial Day, Labor Day and sometimes Fourth of July make great 3 day weekends to have great local runs with your local area club.

I live in Los Angeles... my idea of a vacation is not to travel long distances... only to be elbow to elbow with everyone else during a National Holiday.

If I am going to be in a crowd during a National Holiday... my only compensation is a few hours drive home instead of a day or two.

Just my personal thoughts.