Mama did a great job getting us packed into one bag. Kaner would be proud. All five of us were packed into one duffel bag. This is without cycling stuff, but still, diapers and clothes for five people for a long weekend in one bag is cat 2 packing, at least.
We made a trip out to Eagle's Nest to see Apple Granny and to try to talk her into leaving the farm there and moving in with us. With the babies and such, we couldn't afford to fly out there, so we packed into my "new" wagon and made the 12 hr haul on the road.
Before leaving on Friday, however, (my b-i-l) Lonnie and his clan stopped by for a quick visit on their way to CO. In the big picture it is kinda funny that they were plowing up I35 on their way to CO while we were loading up to plow I30 and I40 to TN, yet we somehow still had a Chloe-style dinner here at Stella.
I didn't get to eat with them, as I was at the shop getting new tires on the "new" car. Pretty much a leap of faith that the 13yr old car would make the 1400 mile trip, especially considering the only driving I'd done with it at that point was the test drive. And to think that I'm not much of a gambler.
We hit the road at about 10pm. The kids slept for the most part, which made for a pretty dang easy trip. Now that I think about it, it wasn't until Tuesday morning, when I took Noah to school, that he'd actually sat in a seat in the car. For the 12.5 hr trip there and the 13.5 hr trip back, he was packed into the back of the wagon with our bag, a blanket, a couple of pillows, and his PSP thing.
Anyway, we went up to see Apple Granny and enjoy a quiet weekend in rural TN. Now that Mama has a real job, we can't get away for a week at a time like we used to do, so we had to squeeze in our RnR qucikly. After driving through the night, I had a world class nap on Saturday...windows open, hearing the critters in the woods, and even the sounds of a tug boat in the far distance on the TN river.
There was visiting and some being made useful for Aunt Betty and Apple Granny. A trip up to the church to take some bottled water, carrying a few things out to the barn and up from the basement. Had to be careful, though, because I didn't want Mama to think I was all hip on doing chores.
Somewhere in there was some real good banana pudding that Granny said was for my birthday.
The little ones played with the dogs and sticks and stuff. Noah and I hiked (a pretty tough hike, actually) through the woods, across a couple of pastures and down to the river where we climbed on fallen trees, watched a steamboat go by, and got up close with a cottonmouth. It was pretty much a Tom Sawyer/Norman Rockwell-type weekend.
The visit was short, but it was a good one. The land up there is postcard beautiful, and the roads (though I didn't bring my bike) beg to be ridden. The rolling hills, 2-mile climbs, the forests, the perfect pavement, the country-quiet...
We hit the road for the return leg on Monday morning. The wagon ("Ingrid") was holding up with a minimal of coolant and oil leakage, and the spedometer and tachometer freeze was only temporary. Overall, as travelling goes, Ingrid is a solid vehicle for us, and after driving the Bessie and Moby for so long, we were glad to have something that got gas mileage in the 20's instead of the pre-teens, especially since we were paying anywheres from $2.99 to $3.69 (fugg!) per gallon.
It is one thing to travel through the night with babies in the car, but it is quite another to travel during the middle part of the day. But all things considered, I think they did a fine job of it. There was a short bit of cabin fever from all of us, but we're also rolling in a spot that is half the size in which we are accustomed. 13+ is a long time for a grown up to sit in one spot, so for the babies to be strapped into those seats was a significant chunk of their time alive.
We did stop for coffee, a lot. We also stopped for a family fried chicken dinner at a fast-food joint called Mrs. Winner's. The whole time we were there I had a voice in the back of my head that sounded like crOzzy saying, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner." Another de-car wasa at a rest stop in Arkansas where the babies ran around while me and Noah chucked rocks and a water bottle up into a pine tree to knock down cones. Mama has been collecting pine cones lately, so we were speeding up the process. Knocking pine cones out of trees is fun. Should try it sometime.
It was pretty late when we got back, but the adventure was a good one. The quality time with Apple Granny was still too short but worth the trip. The nap I had on Saturday, however, was certainly worth it too.
2 comments:
What kind of vehicle do you drive now? Do you still have your truck?
Who dat?
Still have Bessie. We gave it to Noah, so it isn't going anywhere unless he says so. Will have pics and such of the new wheels in a day or so.
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