Road Trip!

We took a road trip to Atlanta and back this weekend. About 7 hours in the car each way. We got out in time on Thursday, and managed to get to our destination in plenty of time for Mike’s 6 pm dinner obligation. Along the way, we stopped for a picnic that looked a lot nicer than it was. The food (homemade chicken salad sandwiches and fruit, yum!) was just fine, but what we had hoped would be a relaxing break in the day instead was a bug-infested eating contest so we could get back into the car as soon as possible. Disappointing, especially, for little boys who could have used some run around time. Still, when we arrived in downtown Atlanta we pulled the car into the hotel where Mike’s meeting was and trekked inside for a bathroom break and for Mike, a change of clothes. The boys had a blast watching the glass elevator in the lobby and running back and forth to burn off some steam, which was great.

The wonderful details of our actual time in Atlanta are for another post. Suffice it to say here, we were so glad to see three very dear sets of friends and their respective little ones, all close in age to our little ones, and a very good time was had by all.

On the way home, we got started later in the day, after lunch, and had a bit more fun despite the driving rain through Valdosta. Alex got all the way to M before getting bored with the Alphabet Game Sean taught me a few trips to Santa Fe ago — the one where you race to find signs containing whichever letter of the alphabet you are on. He did a great job, and I am sure it will be even more fun when he can actually read the signs, and not just spot letters. After that, we even managed a few games of 20 questions, and Alex sort of got the hang of it, though he guessed tree and truck a lot. He did a better job of being the one in charge to answer the questions.

We did a late afternoon snack stop, and this time we were bug free and got to enjoy fresh fruit and some turkey and cheese without rushing. Dinner was fast food, unfortunately, but at least the kids got to run around and burn off a bit of energy at the play place. After dinner Alex was very wound up, but I was able to sing Alex and Nate both to sleep with the songs of my own youth: Autumn to May, Puff the Magic Dragon, Moon Shadow.

Once the boys fell asleep and were tucked in with their favorite blankets, Mike and I continued to play 20 questions for the rest of the trip — this time, focusing on places rather than things. Playing that game was surprisingly fun — it definitely highlighted for us how well we know each other, as the most important questions often turned out to be “Have we been there together? Have I been there without you? Have you been there without me?” It also allowed us to rehash many wonderful shared memories, and share many pre-us memories with each other. As happy as I was to pull into our driveway, I was also a bit sad to end the game, and our trip.