We've been back for several days now but I haven't had a chance to chronicle the trip home. There isn't much to say except that it was LONG. We decided to mix things up a bit this time and we left at around 11pm on Saturday night (after Kenny's 20 year reunion). It does sound crazy, but it made the most sense to us since a whole day's drive would have meant a 5 am wake-up call. If I've learned anything about us this summer, it's that we don't do early and quick very well. We are night owls and lingerers. So, after all the good-bye's and nice to meet you's at K's reunion, we dashed out, picked up our van fully packed with kids and cat, hugged and thanked Kenny's parents and took highway 80 out of town. Luckily, all 3 fell asleep eventually and in this pic I took, they all slept alike. I suppose there aren't a lot of positions to sleep in when you are in an upright car seat, but I love how in-sync they seem to be.
Another bless-ed moment came when all 3 kids stayed asleep as we transferred them to a questionable-looking and cheap roadside motel we spontaneously stopped at when Kenny could no longer keep his eyes open. I felt a bit reminscent of my 20's when me and a friend (usually Tina because she was my long roadtrip companion) traveled with few plans and stopped when our eyes got tired. Now, it's online check-ins, AAA discounts, asking for an additional bed (because the world is NOT made for a family of 5!), and losing the AAA discount on account of the pet deposit. It's not as freeing to travel anymore. And though, thanks to our smart phones, we now have the ability to compare hotel locations, amenities, prices, and ratings as we're driving to our destination, which is nice, it kind of takes away the fun of the search.
When we got up 5 hours later, we were ready to hit the road after our questionable motel actually provided a breakfast of cereal and toast. I do have a bad parent confession to make about this day's drive. Not only did I let my kids have slushies on an early Sunday morning, but they also watched 3 movies. We tend to be strict about the DVD player in the van. It's only for long car trips and in a day's drive, we usually limit 2. I don't know why, but this one day we were incredibly lenient and the result - 5 of the 11 hours back was pretty silent. I can almost hear my parents bemoaning the dozens of 10-hour car trips made with nothing more than a big can of cheese curls and some books to read. They were definitely more patient with bored kids. Or maybe we were just better kids :-)
Though LONG in hours, we rushed the trip as much as we could. We didn't let anyone get out for more than 20 minutes. Kenny set the GPS and was determined to keep his goal time. We did take a few minutes to stop at the TEXAS rest spot, something we have yet to ever do in our past 12 years of traveling to and fro. We were all pretty excited to be crossing the border even if meant still 5 more hours to go. Everyone was pretty homesick. Lydia couldn't remember what her room looked like anymore which totally annoyed her brother. I was just ready to get back into a routine, if our summer could be called a routine. I think more than anyone, Radley our cat, was the most excited to be home. No more moving vehicles, no more random houses or hotels, and no new animals to sniff.
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| Lanie is screaming: TEXAS! |
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