The last time I went on vacation, {I} went to Kentucky. It was in 2011. It was a 2-day road trip there, 3-dawn stay, and 2-day road trip with the Hubs, the Big One, Ms. Middle, my mom and my dad. Yea, that was fun.
Actually, it wasn't near as bad as most would think. Yes, there were the ups and downs, but that's ok. It happens. We started off by having my parents meet us at our house. Ugh. My mother is very organized, like, too organized at times. Very Type-A. She tried to deal with the fact and no one else in my family is quite as anal as her. Not always (or even generally) successfully, but she does try. We were packed, but the car wasn't packed. So that started the trip out extra fun.
The first day, we drove to Naperville, IL to stay the night with my cousins (not Kate) and drive the rest of the way to Kentucky {stopping at every Dairy Queen on the way~I'd say I gained a lot of weight on the trip, but since dairy and I don't get along, I probably actually LOST some} with them. The Naperville fam has a pool. Crisis 1. It was flipping COLD for the middle of July. I mean it was full-on summer and it felt like it was only 50 outside. So, the Beanie Babies lost their minds because we told them they were NOT able to go swimming. Then, they wouldn't eat and that was bad. They need to eat or they turn into crazy people. So they were crazy people for the rest of the night. The Big One couldn't sleep because it wasn't her bed, then Ms. Middle needed to sleep with us because she was "tared of de black ky, in da doom".
Morning comes, thankfully, and I'm asked if I would like to start the day out driving. Somehow, I got out of it. GREAT! 'Cuz I was tired from not sleeping that night. I took a snooze the first 15 or so minutes of the trip when my dad yelps, "where's the money? We need toll money and {his cousin} has one of those d@mn passes and he's going to leave us in the dust. You know, he drives like 80 on the side streets, how are we going to catch him..." on and on and on until I say, "DAD! I've got change, chill out." "Ok" he says and does. We get to the first toll and we give the guy the correct change and he says, "you could have gone to the lane where you just toss the coins in the bucket." Really? Hadn't thought of that, since that line was WAY smaller, but we didn't think we actually had exact change at the time we got into the long-@** line.
On our way again, {his cousin} was calling to tell us that he was waiting for us two exits down, at the Dairy Queen. He was mad, though, because it was closed. Seriously? It was only 8:30 in the morning. Most people would assume Dairy Queen would be closed, right?
Somehow, we made it through about 8 or so hours of driving and dad and I were in the car with the Beanie Babies again. We were almost to our destination when the GPS told us to do something other than the written directions, which were different from the way my dad remembered going, which was different from what appeared the car in front of us was doing {the cousins...and my mom and husband}. So, I demanded that we listen to the GPS. Good thing. Once we were on the "strange" road, my dad recognized it. WAIT! Where did the other car go? Oh crap, they went straight. Oh well, we think, they'll catch up.
We drive a few exits and decide we need to call them. They STILL hadn't turned and said they would figure it out. We get to the destination. They are not there. We wait about 30 minutes, they are still not there. Now, our cell phones don't work. Not mine, not dad's, not my work phone ('cuz everyone brings those out of state while on vacation, just in case their work burns down, right?), not my aunts, not my grandma's...how would we get a hold of ANYONE if THIS place burned down while we were staying there? Oh yea, land/LAN lines. Remember those?
Anyhow, we're about to use that land line, when the other car finally gets there. The Hubs gets out and proclaims, "on the way home, I am NOT riding with them. We got escorted by the State Police for 20 minutes." I thought he was exaggerating. He wasn't. We're assuming that he was on his way home, but dude really drove in front of them about 20 minutes before waving them to take an exit...the RIGHT exit.
...and this was only in the first two days of the trip...
On a side note, the Big One is 6 and this summer, she will attend her 7th annual {Dad's-side-of-the-} Family Reunion. Since she was only 6 months old at her very first one, as long as she goes every year, she will have always gone to one more than her current age.
...and Kate, you totally could have written about your trip to my parents...I was going to, but it was uneventful for me (except seeing you, of course). Just like going there usually is, except with more noise.
So, how long has it been since you've been on vacation?
