I was very tired and completely unmotivated to pack and get ready for the trip after going to the baseball game the night before so I made the very smart decision to go to bed and get up before the sun. I wanted to hit Walmart before the crowds and sans kids & dog so I could have a record-setting shopping trip. I was totally on target until I reached the check out line and noticed I'd forgotten my wallet. At home. Bad thing #1.
I recovered gracefully and returned home to pack. Things were going entirely too smooth as we were out a full hour before I'd hoped and more like 2 hours earlier than I assumed would really happen. We were on the road. I kept looking around wondering when the hammer was going to drop. Well, I actually felt it in the form of a hunger pang. Ugh, I'd left our smoothies on the counter. Bad thing #2. I debated with myself and ended up going back to get them as Dave would be quite angry once he found them (or smelled them) once he got home. Ok, so at least we were still early.
After several stops we ended up at my mom's house to drop Brodie off to play with his dog friends for the weekend. Seeing the flushed faces of his grandchildren, Peepaw offered them all what looked to be a 256-ounce Powerade which they so happily tucked under their arms. Bad thing #3. I know, how could that be so bad, right? They were hot and thirsty and giving him those irresistible pouty blinking eye faces.
Well, lets fast forward to 2 hours later in the trip when we are stopping every 15 minutes for the kids to pee. Only once in my life have I ever had to stop so much for a passenger. They were attempting to finish a case of beer though, so at least it was a little bit entertaining. This was just painful. We ended up stopping 8 times. It got to the point where the kids would say "Really?" in that sharp, patronizing tone when the next offender would ask me to stop. That is until they realized they needed to go too. I"m surprised Dave (who left more than an hour after us) didn't catch up to us!
So I used to pride myself on being able to make long trips without stopping. My 20 year streak starts over today though. By the time we got to the campground it was time to quickly unpack and setup before dinner. The trip was so long I forfeited and let the kids play while I did most of the setup. They'll get their job assignments at our next stop.
They were very happy to see Dave and even happier when we said it was pool time! I'll take my 3 bad things any day with happy faces like this!
Off to walk up the mountain tomorrow!
Allison and I really like the family picture. Looks like a nice place there.
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