Will the third time be a charm?

A bit of background ... when I was a teenager my family and I went on a cross country road trip with our planned final destination being the Grand Canyon.  We only allowed my Dad to plan a day in advance so we could kinda wing it as we went.  I now understand the absolute joy my father felt each evening as he planned our next day and what kind of h-e-double-hockey-sticks that must have been for him to plan just a day at a time as a fervent travel planner myself!  We made it to Colorado, where my uncle and his family were and decided that was enough road tripping and we would prefer to spend additional time with them.  Attempt 1 in the books.  Fast forward to retirement and 2013 and a road trip my husband and I planned to do many of the National Parks.  I really wanted to attend the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque so our timing put us there in October.  Unfortunately when we were mid trip - before the Grand Canyon - the government shut down and we were locked out of the remaining parks on our list and required to wing it on a daily basis (flashbacks of my Dad's world back when!)  Attempt 2 in the books.  So here we are, in April 2018 booking our first accommodations for attempt 3 which is planned for September - BEFORE Oct. 1 - 2019!  Will the third time be a charm?  I have a planned itinerary, our friends Bo and Wanda have opted to join us, and we have thus far made reservations at Bryce and Zion (which we were locked out of also) and the North Rim of the canyon.  So far so good!  Next up, can we get El Tovar again?  We had reservations there last time and I am in high hopes to score reservations there again - but we have to wait till Sept. 1 to see.  Stay tuned!