You know your vacation was just the right length when you've had an absolute blast, but are starting to daydream about sleeping at home in your own bed. (Not that the camper bed isn't also our own bed. But it's just not the same. At home, there are hardly ever screaming children or motorcycle dudes with mullets directly under our window at 10:00 at night.) I plan to fall backwards onto our bed later today after we arrive home and make a snow angel. Er, blanket angel. The camping itself has been hugely entertaining, but I was not prepared for how interesting I would find Gettysburg. Otto is a...
Except, of course, that never stops most of us from trying to, anyway. When we pulled up (soggy) stakes at the Adirondack Park and headed back down to my dad's house, we remarked that this particular leg of the trip had been surprisingly entertaining in spite of the rain, but that it was really a shame the weather hadn't cleared up while we were there. Of course as soon as we got settled down at Dad's, the sun came out and it's been beautiful the last few days. While we've been, you know, sleeping inside. So that was a little disappointing, sure, but on the other hand, my stepmom makes a...
Hey, guess what it's doing here in the Adirondacks. Go on, GUESS! It's raining. Pouring, actually. Has been for hours. The good news is that the rain held off until late afternoon, today; we arrived yesterday afternoon and had just finished setting up when my dad and step-mom pulled up to settle into the campsite across from ours. Last night's dinner was a low country boil prepared by Otto, because you can take the boy out of the south but you cannot put him in a camper without Andouille sausage. Or something. We had planned to eat outdoors, but it was already sort of damp and icky, so we...
So I wrote that last post and Otto and I joked about how I'm just easily spooked and kind of jumpy in the car, and how really the worst is behind us---we're headed further north, now, and we'll take a different route when we come south again (read: NO BOSTON OR CONNECTICUT DRIVERS), and really, it wasn't so bad, and the camping---OH THE CAMPING---is gonna be awesome. I told him he was right, I was going to focus on the good stuff coming up and stop obsessing over all the people on the road who are apparently trying to kill us. And yesterday we retrieved the children after two long weeks...
Two long days of towing, and we've finally landed in New England with Otto's family. This is very, very good. It will be even better once I finish hyperventilating. Which at this rate will happen... never. It turns out that I don't even have to be driving to end up being completely stressed out by the trip. I eventually ended up just going to sleep at every possible opportunity, because being aware of what was happening was an adrenaline-fest. And I can only take so many hours of sitting there with my heart pounding. In the course of just two days, we: 1) Had a mower on the side of the road...
Today marks the beginning of an auspicious event: Our first big tow. At this very moment, I am in the passenger seat of our truck, tapping away on my netbook (and its infuriatingly teeny tiny keys), while Otto steers us northward towards the kids and our first Big Camping Trip. By next week---after doing the requisite family rounds, like spending some time with Otto's mom now that she's post-transplant---we'll be hanging out at Lake Placid and telling my darlings to please just stop touching each other. I feel compelled to point out, here, that I grew up AND went to college in New York, and...
My darling Otto was kind enough to pick me up at the airport on my return to Atlanta, last week. Sure, I could've driven myself in, left the car in long-term parking, and then driven myself home after I got back, but there was one small problem with that plan. Otto took the GPS on HIS trip last week. So the conversation before we left went like this: Me: I need the GPS to get to the airport. Him: I'm... taking it to Pennsylvania. Because I'm driving. You're FLYING to Colorado. Me: I'm not flying to the airport. I need it to get to the airport. Him: You've driven to the airport before. Lots...
As predicted, I remained in Colorado just long enough to get adjusted to Mountain Time and then come home and be really tired. I couldn't seem to get to bed at a reasonable time last night, but had to get up to the alarm this morning, and the net result is that I am now typing this while face-down in a very large cup of coffee. That's just as well, because it's good nasal irrigation. I don't know if you know this, but Georgia is just a WEE BIT more humid than Colorado. It's true! And as a result, if you take southern nasal membranes up into the Rockies, it's only a matter of days before all...
It's kind of hard to type with both a baby and a laptop on your lap, it turns out, but it is awfully warm and cozy. I make my own little travel furnace with my favorite accessories! No, really. So far I am torn as to my favorite part of this trip. It's a very close race between: 1) Sophia has stranger anxiety, and cries whenever someone other than her parents or brothers hold her... except that she also loves me---she never cried for me, not even the first time I picked her up. I feel like a superhero, what with this proof positive of my Baby Whisperer status. (As I said to Kira yesterday, I...
