July 5, 2012

Holiday Road


Time to vacuum out the ol' family truckster, load up the suitcases and pack the cooler – tomorrow we're hitting America's freeways and making our way to a family gathering at Lake Tahoe, California.

It will take us two full days of driving to get to Tahoe. We'll leave Missoula tomorrow around noon and head south on Hwy 93 through Idaho, through the top half of Nevada, then cut over to Cali. The girls are already dreading the long ride. Little do they know that thirty years from now they'll laugh and reminisce together about family roadtrips. It's a rite of passage I wouldn't dare deny them.

Besides, my kids don't know how good they've got it. Rear air conditioning vents, iPods, prepackaged snacks. In my day it was a steamy hell (pardon my french) in the back of our mini-van. As the oldest of six kids I was always in the way back. The air conditioning never even reached that area. You could cook a 20-pound turkey back there. I clung to my walkman (trying to keep those cheap headphones perched on my head) and dined on sweaty cheese sandwiches (you know how cheese gets when it's warm). As a matter of fact, that is one of my most vivid childhood memories – eating sweaty cheese sandwiches from a lukewarm cooler on family vacations. My parents (bless their hearts) in an effort to keep us healthy and grow our little bodies to the fullest potential, were part of the health food movement of the 1970s. We ate the grainiest of breads, with chunks of cheddar, or spread with oil-on-top peanut butter and a swath of honey (which soaked into the bread for a soggy/sticky effect). It was during one of those childhood trips that I said quietly to myself "my children will never know the warm, squishy taste of sweaty cheese." I think I've upheld that commitment mostly for my own sake though. The mere thought of those sandwiches makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

Oh! Just so you know I'm planning to take you all along with me as we journey. I've got my laptop, my camera and I'm ready to report to you from the road. I'm hoping to have Wi-Fi along the way and at our house in Tahoe but of course there are no guarantees. So if I disappear for a few days do not assume the worst. We're fine, and I'll fill you in when I hit a "hot spot." (Worst case scenario I will be back home to my iMac next Saturday.)

Vamos!

Here's some music to get you excited!

8 comments:

  1. AWESOME!
    I need a road trip, and if I can't make my own, then following yours will provide me some of the fun... and please, don't leave out the hairy details. Sweaty cheese! OMG... we had pita bread and sprouts, and no AC. Road trip memories are like a badge of honor... it hurts to earn them, but then you bring them out, share them, and carry them with pride!

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    1. Oh Natalie - WE had sprouts and pita bread sometimes too and I hated sprouts back then (although I love them now). Here's to our road trip badges of honor - displayed with pride to show our strength!
      :)

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  2. I am still smiling at you as I type, Jenny, and LOL a lot:) Had to stop reading so I could refocus as you recounted your tortuous trip details ... including your familiar menu ... which I inflicted on our children as your folks did on you. Does it help to know you were not alone in your suffering :)
    Happy trails and tales to you until we meet again...
    Gracie <3

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  3. Have fun! Your post made me smile - I remember our three week summer holidays in France fondly, even the day long sweltering drive from Caen down to the Vendee, where we usually stayed. No ac, just hot, hot air. We would RUN to the campsite pool when we arrived without even unpacking the car.

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  4. My sister and I used to keep washcloths in our cooler, and we would drape them over our sweaty faces. This was as we were riding in the back of our family truckster, on a mattress. No AC, obviously, but lots of Country Time lemonade.
    Safe travels, Jenny!

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    1. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?!
      We sometimes had a mattress in the back of our van too. So funny.

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  5. I love the road trip details-we too have many fun memories. My brother was a seat Nazi and I spent most of the time sleeping off the effects of Dramamine! My kids also have great road trip stories, like the time we drove to Glacier in our Olds Cutlass Ciera, 3 kids and a rat, something was wrong with the catalitic converter and we would go 70 mph downhill and 25 up-it was s long trip! I think kids are missing out in these days of movies in the car and A/C. All those sweaty cheese sandwiches build character-right?! Hope your trip is great.

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    1. Once we had a parakeet and our collie travel with us. I remember the dog eating my brother's food right off his lap and my brother bursting into tears.

      My youngest is a Dramamine queen - she's thrown up so many times, once on our way to Glacier. Ugh.

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