The LONG Car Ride (Christmas 2007)

The LONG car ride
Thursday, December 20, 2007.
This morning, we woke up at 4:45! (I think that is an hour that should only be seen with the “P.M.” behind it.) Anyways, when we finished packing, we started loading the van. That took about ½ an hour. Then, we wrestled the cat into the cage in the van, and the dog jumped in with happiness, knowing that she was not going to be left home!
We had just pulled out of the driveway, and the cat, that had no clue what was happening, decided then was a good time to dump her litter pan, so litter was everywhere and we hadn’t even left our street yet! We cleaned it out when we stopped to fill up with gas.
So, after filling up with gas, we drove LONG stretch to Dallas, where we ran into traffic because of an accident. So, after sitting in traffic for 20 minutes, we saw the accident. This pick-up truck (A Ford F150, I think) was sitting in traffic a while earlier obviously, and a semi truck behind him stopped too late, and smashed into the bed of his truck. If that wasn’t bad enough, the impact of the hit pushed him into another semi truck that was in front of him! I think that truck was totaled. J
At that same traffic accident we saw a Ford Mustang police car. It looked SO cool….
The cat, who has not had many experiences in the car, hates being caged up. She can’t see out any windows and that drove her crazy. For about the first hour she let us know that. “Meow, Meow, Meow” got very very annoying after a while. She then started drooling and panting, which made me nervous. Finally I put her on my lap, and after a look out the window, she has been fine.
Well, it is 9:40A.M. and Barbara, (our GPS) says that we will get to Kansas City (half-way) at 5:20. We spend the night there. It all depends on the weather…
We just stopped for lunch….we are back on the road again…..now Barbara says we will get there around 6:00PM, I am starting to wonder, “Will we EVER get there”!

Friday, December 21, 2007
We stayed overnight in Kansas at my Mom’s Aunt’s house, we left in the icy van around 7 A.M. (In the fog!) We stopped for breakfast soon after that….Barbara says we will get to Grandma and Grandpa's about 3:15. It is 11:15 now, so we only have 4 hours left!
Jenna and I really need to stretch, but my Dad has the mentality that since we started and don’t have any icy roads, or traffic (And the fact that we have knocked 15 minutes off our arrival time, thanks to Dad’s great driving) that we will not stop till we get there….sigh, eventually we WILL get there.
We are in Iowa right now, there are snow covered fields, and it is starting to feel like winter to us! It is only 37 degrees right now. Not much has happened today so far….we will see as the day goes on. For now, I am HOPING that we get there SOON!

January 1st, 2008 10:00A.M
After a very nice Christmas vacation, we are back on the road again! We are in Illinois, just about to Missouri (I think). It is 17 degrees and very icy. When we left Racine at 6:30 this morning, the highways weren’t even plowed! So, for a little while we thought we were about to go in the ditch. But, my Dad is a good driver and kept us safe! It scared us a little when we saw a semi-truck in the ditch!
Our van is VERY loaded down. Patches has finally stopped meowing! She meowed from about 6:30-8:00, and I finally took her out on my lap for a few minutes, but when I put her back, she got VERY crabby! She would much rather be on solid ground than moving!
Gracie? Well, she hasn’t been awake much of the trip, as you may remember me saying. She slept on my lap (on my pillow) for about 3 hours, and now she sleeping on Dad’s pillow in between the bucket seats.
For a little while, I was SO excited that we could see snow, but now, since we almost went in the ditch, I’d much rather be in Texas!
Barbara says we will be home by 12:15 A.M.! Dad is going to drive straight through, so we will see how that goes!
For now, I am still really scared that we will go in the ditch!!!!!!!

January 1st, 2008 12:00 P.M.
We are now almost halfway!. I thought we were about 2 hours ago, but we took a different road…and now we really are almost halfway. We stopped for gas and coffee. (I had some REALLY good cappuccino!)
There is no more snow, now. I have sort of mixed emotions about snow. Great for snowmobiling, yet bad for walking and driving in!
Jenna does not feel good; she is sleeping, and has slept most of the way. We only have 13 hours left! Yippadedoda. Pretty soon we will have TB (Tired Bottom’s)
Well, I think we are going to drive a while before we stop for lunch…….I will write a report of what has happened in a little bit.
January 1st 2008 2:58 P.M.
We just had some excitement! We stopped for lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s near St. Louis,; we got back in the car, and when we got to St. Louis, Jenna was going to take a picture. She then realizes that she didn’t have her camera. She had left it at the restaurant. So, we drove the 8 miles back to the restaurant and found the camera.
Okay, back on the road. Jenna and I played Packers UNO for a little bit, and then I felt something wet under my feet. My 40-ounce- Arizona Tea has spilled about ¾ of itself onto the mat under my feet. I took a drink, and evidently didn’t turn it tight enough. After about 20 napkins, 45 Wet Ones, which were dried out, and a bath towel, of mopping up……most of it is up. It is a little sticky, but I guess we will have to clean the mats later.
Barbara says we will get home at 1:58 A.M. Sigh, only about 11 hours left in the car. Jenna and I wanted to try to play our new Electronic Monopoly in the car, but, Dad packed it in a suitcase under everything in the trunk. Oh, well…..
Hopefully we will get home quicker than it seems!