Still Trippin'

I am still recovering from our road trip, seeing as I can’t completely get myself back together and into our routine. And just as soon as I do, the applecart will be darned near trampled with the addition of SCHOOL. My baby boy will be going to SCHOOL every day, like an actual growing child or something. I’m not doing so well with this concept. (Yes, I know he’s been going to school (lower case) for 2 years now, but this is the real deal, official preschool, almost all day stuff, and I know I’m a dozen Fruit Loops short of a box already, OK?)

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned, we had a whirlwind wonderful time on our trip. A 2 solid day car trip seemed more and more daunting as the day grew closer, but as the first surprise of the journey, it turned out to be not so bad. This is directly due to 2 things: separate DVD players loaded with pre-recorded discs of PBS Kids programs and walkie talkies that allowed me to complain to the other car in our caravan that had 0 children in it. I had to share the love.

I’ll tell ya, McDonalds is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a fantastic place to let the kids burn off some pent up steam, and the restrooms are (mostly) cleaner than your average service station, but man, that menu gets a little limiting after 1,000 (or so it seems) visits. And their billboard campaign for this season isn’t doing them any favors. Dear Ronald, you did not invent sweet tea. Stop acting like it. (Also, for those of us who like to control the sweetness or lack thereof of their tea, you could provide some sugar and Equal, I’m just saying.) And to those of you who know who you are, I did not acquire my Grimace beanie baby as promised, but they are available on eBay. Again, I’m just saying.

My mother, bless her, likes to create the impression that she has more time on her hands than she does by writing detailed itineraries for her fellow travelers. This began several years ago when family are friends from various corners of the country began to descend upon Lake Tahoe annually for what became an almost reunion of sorts. At 1 point, we had 376 people (OK, it was more like 23, but it felt that way, and yes, Mom, please provide the correct statistic for future reference when you have a moment), so plans, they had to be made. And thus, the birth of the Itinerary. And the Itinerary, it is legendary. But this trip was a little different. This is the trip I made as a child nearly every summer, and since the only new person going who could read was Chris, I didn’t expect it when a 7 page, single spaced manifesto landed in front of me covering the first 2 days of a 13 day journey. She didn’t have to do it. But she did. And I am glad for it, because it brought back so many memories of summers crammed into a station wagon / minivan / super 70s mega van with my brother and sister riding through state after state looking for Stuckeys stores and begging for Dairy Queen (seriously, the Blizzard has been around for 25 year now, and I am old). So, thanks for the flashback, Mom. And not just because it gave me the excellent opportunity to tease my husband for asking if I’d ever eaten before at the exotic restaurant Cracker Barrel.

As a kid, these car trips seemed endless, with so many hours we had to entertain ourselves in very few cubic feet. (I know this goes beyond all safety-mindedness, but thank heaven we didn’t have to be seat belted in the whole time. I would have seriously gone crazier, although it might have been a reasonable defense for thwacking my brother with his Archie comic book. I feel so sorry for my own kids.) Mom seemed to have a deep well of distractions, from bizarre games involving the counting and burying of cows to an elaborate good behavior ticketing system ala Chuck E. Cheese that allowed us to collect currency every hour in anticipation of purchasing desired items from the treasure chest. And still we annoyed the crap out of each other. (On behalf of my brother and sister, I apologize to our parents. What can I say? We were morons.) I really thought I’d have to be in full on kiddie show host mode the entire time, but thanks to the aforementioned DVDs, that was minimized (I didn’t even have to switch discs all that often because they were 6 hours of random shows each – thanks, Dad!). At the end of day1, I mentioned that before we’d left, the day felt like a weight on my shoulder, stretching so far into the time space continuum that it made me cry, but in reality, it didn’t feel all that long at all. Sure, we left at 5:45 AM and didn’t get to the hotel until almost 9 that night, but it went by pretty quickly. Color me surprised.

The next day carried on in much the same way. Major props to my husband, who not only drove those 2 days solid, but the entire round trip. (I totally would have relieved him, and offered to several times, but I suspect he was happier with the job of driver than of kid wrangler, and since I’m not the most relaxed of drivers, this probably worked to our advantage.) We arrived at our initial destination, my aunt’s house, a little tired, a little dusty, but in excellent spirits, ready for Happy Hour. Bless my family, I remember Happy Hour very well, when the booze (or soda for us minors) came out of the cabinets and with it a varied assortment of cheese, crackers, and dips (seriously, the best munchies ever – I still make those dips for every party I can). Over the years, Happy Hour has started earlier and earlier, to the point that I often wondered if lunch would just blend into it. It’s a good thing. Assorted family members started showing up over the evening, and a good time was had by all. I’m thankful we made it each in one piece, our marriage in tact, and with no traffic tickets. It would prove to be an eventful vacation, with a fresh perspective as a parent of kids and not one of the kids (although it still felt that way a lot of the time).

And that’s just the arrival. I have many more stories with which to bore you, and believe me I will. It’s much better than droning on about grass (sorry about that – I just needed an excuse to use the title and picture for that one), right? Maybe if I promise more pictures of cute kids?