Road Trip Notes

I had told my parents I would bring the boys out to their house for a visit this summer, and June was the only month I really had available.  I don't like doing much traveling in any given month (for obvious reasons).  So we went last week.  Lewis obviously had to work so I took both kids on the 630ish mile drive by myself.

Well, in the above picture, maybe you see nothing amiss.  Maybe you see just a young boy looking at trains driving by.  But if you look closely at the wheels of the nearby car, you will see, that I got stuck in the mud.  Why did I get stuck you ask?  Or, more aptly, what was I doing off roading?

Well it's really Lewis's fault you see.  The Saturday previous (this was Monday) we were driving on 121 and the traffic is awful because there's construction at 114 and they had part of it shut down so he took the above car across a grass median much like this one to get to the frontage road to avoid the major traffic caused by the shut down.  He proudly proclaimed my car was an SUV and would be fine and where was my adventerous spirit.

So, Monday, traveling with the boys, G declares he needs to go potty.  We'd only been on the road two hours and we didn't need gas so I didn't want to make a "big" stop (one where I have to get both boys out of the car and go inside some place).  And I saw the train tracks and there were lots of trains going by so, why not pull off to the side, rest for ten or fifteen minutes (instead of the 30-45 a "big" stop requires) and watch the trains and maybe top off the baby and then go down the road?

What failed to enter my brain was the hour of torrential rain we'd driven through to get to where we were.  We had literally been out of the cloud cover for maybe thirty minutes.  So this area had only just stopped raining.  I pulled over and immediately realized my mistake, but by then it was too late, and as Lewis pointed out later, if I had gunned it I probably could have made it out but I hesitated, the front wheel slid, and stuck I got.

I freaked out for about fifteen seconds.  Then the boys freaked out.  That ended that.

Mama why are we stuck in the mud? G cried tearfully, pretty scared.

Because mama wants you to see how a tow truck works.  

Oooh?  A tow truck's coming?  G says, calming down a bit and very interested in seeing a truck.  Yes G, a tow truck is most definitely coming.

We got out of the car, G went to the bathroom (twice in the time we waited) we watched trains go by (two in the time we waited) and we played in the mud and kicked rocks.  It would have been a splendid adventure if it weren't for all the "friendly" folks that stopped to help.

I'm acutely aware that I'm a female traveling alone with two small kids when I'm a female traveling alone with two small kids.  One of the friendly folks had two pistols in his front seat (I'm all about second amendment ya'll, love me some guns, over there.  Far over there.  Way, way, way far over there when I'm a female traveling alone with two kids).  And he kept asking wierd questions, do I know you? You look familiar.  I got him going on his way but I called the tow truck guy as soon as he pulled out and said not to rush you, but crazies are stopping, please hurry.

Friendly crazy guy drove by a second time.  Blessedly the tow truck was there by then.

Lewis thought I was being paranoid until crazy stopped twice.  Then he said next time stay locked in your car and just wave.

G loved the two truck, as predicted.  He talked about being stuck in the mud a lot and if you mention it he'll tell you all about the flat bed tow truck that helped pull us out.  It delayed us about 90 minutes.  Not too bad.

But, proof that technology is grand because without my cell phone it could have been worse.

The trip to moms was good.  It went better because Chalupa was able to sleep in his own "room" (the bathroom) and G is just a great kid now about sleeping.  Not near as needy.  He sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor and he's just fine.  He reads books to himself now too, which makes my life sooooo much easier.  Though I'm not trying to get out of reading to him any time soon.  He also isn't near as sound sensitive (though I do bring a sound macine with me, just in case).

He didn't eat great (though he hasn't been in general).  It hasn't gone well lately and I'm not dealing with it great.  But it's so frustrating to me.  I have to beg for almost every bite and then when he's in a mood I'm begging, begging, pleading and cajoling for him to take a bit of peanut butter and jelly, or strawberries with sugar, or even a damn cookie.  It'd be okay if I was begging him to eat vegetables or pasta or whatever else I made for dinner for the family.  But no, I'm begging him to eat junk.

But as I told Lewis, this is the reality of feeding G.  It's the reality.  Nothing I can do about it.  I have to get better at dealing.  And fight my battles slowly.  It's a marathon not a sprint.  Things have improved greatly from this time last year (no more vomiting, positive weight gain) so in another year or five things will change again.

But he doesn't eat well on road trips and he doesn't um ... like going to the bathroom? on road trips.  First thing he did when we came home was the facilities.  He held it in for a WEEK.  Gross.