On the Road

Dropping Grandma off today was bittersweet. Last night we packed our car full of everything we could possibly need for the next month, and then we woke up early this morning to take Grandma to the airport. We all went in while she checked in and dropped off her luggage, and we blew lots of kisses and watched her through part of the security line. The kids were so sad to see her go. But then we took a bathroom break, and by 9:30am, we were on the road and headed for Portland.

The kids were awesome. They watched movies, played games on the ipad, played with their stuffed animals, and complained VERY little. They didn't sleep at all--I have no idea how you do that on a long, boring car ride--but they were well-behaved so it all worked out.

 I read The Maze Runner (which I highly recommend), took lots of pain killers, and dozed off sporadically like an old woman in front of the tv. Andy was bored. I kept waking up to rumble strips because he would sneak his phone when I wasn't watching and try to read his work email at 80 mph. I drove some, but mostly he liked to. I felt the worst for him because the rest of us were entertained.

He kept saying things like, "How did we get in Kansas?" and quoting Dumb and Dumber:

     Harry: I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this.
     Lloyd: I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of s!&*, man.

Northern Idaho and Southeastern Oregon were much flatter and much less exciting than we had anticipated.  But then toward the end of the drive, we got to scenes like this:

 And we were happy.

We pulled into the hotel at 9:30pm, which was almost exactly 13 hours after we had started. Not bad considering all of the stops you make with kids: Lots of gas stations, Subway for lunch, Wendy's for dinner, and one side of the road because the boy had to go and there wasn't a building in sight.

The hotel only had valet parking, so we felt like white-trash as the bellboy stood there and watched us unload 2 disheveled kids, 4 large suitcases, 1 pack of diapers, 1 pack of pull-ups, 2 Tupperwares of toiletries, 3 backpacks full of electronics that Andy didn't want stolen, and 1 each Rapunzel and Mario pillow, plus a big bag where I threw in a few plush toys, half empty containers of chocolate milk, my books, and whatever else caught my eye in the mad rush to load the luggage cart. I felt like a leper as we walked through the big lobby with all of the fancy people. Next time I'll insist on a Motel 6 where WE can look down on people.

Kids took baths. We took showers. Four of us piled into the king-sized bed. I'm pretty sure the kids were asleep in 10 seconds flat.

We're happy to be in Portland!

5/30