On the Road Again (and again and again)
i hope everyone had a marvelous christmas! we sure did, even though it consisted of mostly packing and intermittent cry sessions of tearful ‘see ya laters’ with my in-laws. i am writing this from Utah and we are officially just over halfway through our move! we’ve driven over 1,500 miles in last 2.5 days and it has been tiring. here’s our get-up.
my skillful husband is tasked with doing all of the driving…all 50 hours. i could do it but we both decided that we would both be much happier if i was a superb navigator/DJ/snack-giver and he drove because my anxiety mixed with large trucks, trailers and wind would create a bad mix. so far, definitely the right choice.
he’s also very lucky he married a super smart lady. we packed away all the baggies but we still wanted to bring some holiday butter cookies with us so i decided to use my christmas mug as a container. i literally ran up to him as if i’d just solved some sort of world crisis.
our last texas sunset for a while (and omg it takes almost quite literally forever to finally cross into some other state when traveling through Texas). actually, we are going to be back in about 2 weeks for some more stops along our tour but still appreciate my attempt at getting artsy.
we made a quick pass through Colorado where we got to spend an evening seeing my dad where i basically ate dinner then passed out on the couch (it was really exciting). i would also like to file a complaint with the director of sign placements in Colorado because this was ridiculous.
we made our way through Wyoming for most of the day yesterday and it was actually quite pretty to look at.
then passing through Utah absolutely took my breath away. mountains move me like no other.
then i spotted those sneaky mountains that were trying to hide and it looked like they were floating.
back on the road again today for another long haul but then we will be in Portland by tomorrow-woohoo! we are keeping it together pretty well for the most part and since our u-haul only gets about 8 miles per gallon-we have plenty of stops to refuel and do a series of lunges and jumping jacks.
oh and ya know what else helps pass the time? me finding all of the famous duets that couples do on YouTube (think Grease/Aladdin/Sound of Music) and belt them out to see who puts on a better performance of their role. we may be reaching of stage of crazy.
the new wifestyle: not everything has to be split evenly but rather what you both see fit as balanced.
questions:
1) what do you do to stay sane during a long road trip?
2) favorite duet?
3) highlight of your weekend? give me something good!
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jennifermckennasays
December 29, 2013 at 7:56 am
1) what do you do to stay sane during a long road trip? We play a really good game that is hard to describe but is very stimulating to the brain. Someone will say something like. ” I was lost in confusion and the other person will say something like, “I don’t think that is the word you mean (slight nod to “Princess Bride” I think you are talking about a fancy word for bruise (You don’t say the word but it’s contusion) The person who is next has to think of the word you are referencing and then a good way to change it, Its definitely engaging!!
2) favorite duet? “Suddenly Seymour” (my husband and I often sing it at karaoke)
3) highlight of your weekend? give me something good! This weekend I got to sit around with my husband’s family (Dad who invented the game, and his grandparents) and we sat and talked and sang songs from his childhood and it was just so nice to spend time with them and be around his loving family. It really made me happy to hear things about him when he was younger and before I knew him. It was also the first time I realized, this is “our” family, not his but ours. It was a nice thought.
chelsea
December 30, 2013 at 10:19 am
ohhh sounds like an interesting game Jennifer! i may need an explanation in person next time i see you but it sounds fun! so fun that you and your husband frequent karaoke and have ‘your song’! so happy to hear you got some family time and felt as though it was a shared family and not just your husband’s! that’s how i feel too and we are luuuucky!
leannalindquist
December 29, 2013 at 12:56 pm
Chelsea,
Great photos! I have been the driver for many long road trips. We moved from Montana to Portland in December 1977. My husband drove the huge U-Haul truck with one dog. I drove the Jeep Wagoneer with a dog and 2 cats. It took us 6 1/2 hours to go 225 miles because the blizzards were so bad. There weren’t cell phones, Ipods or my favorite books on CDs. How did we survive??? A good old fashioned way to pass the time is to play the license plate game. Here is the alphabetical list for you.
See you Saturday. Drive safely.
Hugs, Leanna
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas
California Colorado Connecticut Delaware
Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho
Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi
Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma
Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina
South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah
Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia
Wisconsin Wyoming
chelsea
December 30, 2013 at 10:20 am
Leanna! you are too awesome! thank you for listing all states in alphabetical order-we totally played that game!! that sounds like the longest road trip you all took to get out here and a lot of animals to manage! daaaang! see you soon!!! xo
tkogearyTK
December 29, 2013 at 3:19 pm
1. Stay sane? Books on tape, singing in car, at this time of year – doing our annual couples planning for the 7 goals to accomplish, playing games (e.g name cities or some other topic then someone starts, the second person must name a city or the topic that starts with the last letter of the prior city or topic)
2.Duet. its not my favorite, but just heard Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers sing zits lands in the Stream…pretty good
3. Weekend highlight. Family time! We did our annual target practice with creative targets (gingerbread houses – my nieces’ idea) and games night playing Apples to Apples, What’s yours like?, and poker. We are home now…and the highlight was cleaning out 4 kitchen drawers -felt good!- and laundry.
chelsea
December 30, 2013 at 10:22 am
loooove that you are setting goals together too TK! we got to some of that and then i got too cranky from being in the car too long. books on tape definitely helped pass the time too! also-your family target practice sounds amazing. love the gingerbread house target-ha!! glad you had a great weekend!
Paula Howley
December 30, 2013 at 1:48 pm
1. I always bring books to read and journal to write in. and a magazine. I only buy magazines when I travel. If I’m driving, then constantly manning the radio looking for a better song.
2. hmmmm, favourite duet- that’s tough. I think my fav would have to be Bowie and Freddie Mercury doing “Under Pressure”. 2 drama majors battling it out. truly epic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I
3. I had an amazing weekend. Took my daughter and her buddy to see Frozen on the weekend and loved it. On Sunday Meg and I went into Vancouver to see the Nutcracker and then we had dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe right on the water next to the Olympic Cauldron. Everything was lit up and Meaghan was over the moon at the sight of it all. She has decided that she MUST live in Vancouver when she grows up.