Driving Miss Daisy Crazy
Long car rides and kids just don't mix.
That is my number one strongest impression from our vacation, and I figured I'd just get it out there in case any of you had any doubt about that. Have you heard any of those stories where people from my parents' generation reminisce about those long road trip vacations they went on as kids, packed tight in the family station wagon as they traipsed all over the country visiting Yellowstone and Niagara Falls? I've decided that either they don't have any idea how awful it is to be the parents on such a trip, or that their parents were made out of the same stuff as the pioneers who pulled handcarts across the plains. After all, we made that trip with two DVD players (one for each row) and four sets of headphones for the kids (so we didn't have to listen to Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses six times in a row). We also had an ice chest packed with drinks and snacks galore. And the kids still drove me nuts.
Now, to be quite fair, the kids did pretty well, all things considered. I guess part of the problem was that I got tired of being in the car for such a long time. I'm not a good long distance driver (never have been), and when it was my turn to drive it was excruciatingly awful. But crammed into the front seat with stuff packed in all around me was not comfortable either.
Ah yes, all the stuff crammed everywhere. I did the best I could at packing as compactly and efficiently as possible, but even still . . . luggage for six people for a two week trip is one huge pile of stuff! All of it had to be carefully wedged in just perfect, since we also had to fit the six passengers in the van, not just the stuff. Terence is a master at that part, fortunately-- but it did mean that every single person (except the driver) had things stashed all around them until we were all hedged into narrow little spaces. It made stopping for bathroom breaks quite a challenge, since we had to practically unpack to get the kids out.
Oh, let us not forget the bathroom breaks. When you have five potty-trained family members, you end up stopping A LOT. Especially when your husband's only possible way to stay awake while driving is to gulp down Dr. Pepper after Dr. Pepper. And even with a gazillion stops, we still had three potty accidents in the back. (Terence had to buy an air freshener to hang back there. One of the first things I did when we got home was to pull off all the seat covers and wash them. Yuck!!)
That is my number one strongest impression from our vacation, and I figured I'd just get it out there in case any of you had any doubt about that. Have you heard any of those stories where people from my parents' generation reminisce about those long road trip vacations they went on as kids, packed tight in the family station wagon as they traipsed all over the country visiting Yellowstone and Niagara Falls? I've decided that either they don't have any idea how awful it is to be the parents on such a trip, or that their parents were made out of the same stuff as the pioneers who pulled handcarts across the plains. After all, we made that trip with two DVD players (one for each row) and four sets of headphones for the kids (so we didn't have to listen to Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses six times in a row). We also had an ice chest packed with drinks and snacks galore. And the kids still drove me nuts.
Now, to be quite fair, the kids did pretty well, all things considered. I guess part of the problem was that I got tired of being in the car for such a long time. I'm not a good long distance driver (never have been), and when it was my turn to drive it was excruciatingly awful. But crammed into the front seat with stuff packed in all around me was not comfortable either.
Ah yes, all the stuff crammed everywhere. I did the best I could at packing as compactly and efficiently as possible, but even still . . . luggage for six people for a two week trip is one huge pile of stuff! All of it had to be carefully wedged in just perfect, since we also had to fit the six passengers in the van, not just the stuff. Terence is a master at that part, fortunately-- but it did mean that every single person (except the driver) had things stashed all around them until we were all hedged into narrow little spaces. It made stopping for bathroom breaks quite a challenge, since we had to practically unpack to get the kids out.
Oh, let us not forget the bathroom breaks. When you have five potty-trained family members, you end up stopping A LOT. Especially when your husband's only possible way to stay awake while driving is to gulp down Dr. Pepper after Dr. Pepper. And even with a gazillion stops, we still had three potty accidents in the back. (Terence had to buy an air freshener to hang back there. One of the first things I did when we got home was to pull off all the seat covers and wash them. Yuck!!)
When I had originally planned the trip on Mapquest, it had given me an estimate of about 22 hours for the full drive to Mississippi. But we spent a little more than twelve hours in the car the first leg of the trip and more than fifteen hours the second day. Twenty-seven hours total. And that was just one way!
Don't you just wish you had come along for the ride?
Comments
I think you are way brave because just driving into Mesa with Justin is a headache - I call him the worse car passenger ever! Before we've even hit the stop sign to leave the community he's asked 2x how much longer! I'm glad you survived!
growing up we went to Michigan often, and we always drove. It's a 32 hour drive. When I was 16, we went back to Michigan. We squished my parents and 6 kids in a Honda pasport. A honda pasport is a small SUV. It only has 5 seats, and then the back area that is for lugage. So we had two 16 yr olds, a 15 yr old, a 12 yr old, 10 yr old and 9 yr old. So we weren't little kids, and we had to squish 8 people into five seats. my parents of course sat up front, then 4 of us sat across the bench that only sat 3, and then 2 of us had to sit in the very back. Not comfortable. No seats. the ones who sat back there usually just laid down and slept. The lugage was on top of the car. driving 32 hours like that. Now that I think about it, how dangerous!