Well, after all that to-do about how I wouldn't be posting anytime soon...we decided not to go to Big Bear this week, and I've got a quiet evening to myself, while Chris plays basketball. So.... i will give you a little bit more detail about the last several weeks of my life.
As is our usual Christmas tradition, we drove to Dallas, TX for the holidays to spend the time with my family and friends. While we've always flown, having four kids over the age of two made that a financial impossibility this year, so we decided to truck it. We had a wonderful time driving through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and it was fun to see the land. The three days of driving each way was a very educational experience for me, and I thought you might enjoy hearing what I learned.
1. There are five prisons between Santa Barbara, CA and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
1b. There is one windmill.
2. It is possible for the one and a half hour drive between Phoenix and Tucson to turn into a six hour drive.
3. Truck drivers know everything that's happening on the roads ahead of them.
4. Truck drivers are very friendly to women who stick their heads out the window and ask them to share their infinite knowledge.
5. A little dust storm can cause a lot of damage!
6. If you ever need to steer around Hwy. 10 in Arizona because you've been sitting still on the road for hours due to your second encounter with a 20 car pile-up, driving over dirt roads that run through cotton fields is an excellent option.
6b. This Should not be attempted if your car doesn't have a GPS system.
7. If you happen to be driving on dirt roads through cotton fields in Arizona, this is a wonderful educational opportunity. Pull the car over and pick some cotton to show your children.
8. It's possible for a dust storm to get so bad that you can't see anything outside of your car.
8b. This is a bad time to be exploring Arizona by way of a dirt road.
8c. It's also a bad time to decide that you want to educate your children by running out into a field to pick cotton for them.
9. My children are amazingly well behaved in the car.
10. Bribing the kids with various gifts every couple hours goes a long way toward keeping them well behaved.
11. Gideon can amuse himself for hours, playing "war" with two pencils and a piece of paper.
12. My children aren't so well behaved when we let them out of the car after driving for several hours.
13. I can no longer take pride in the fact that I don't get carsick
14. Chocolate milkshakes go a long way toward curing my carsickness. Starbucks hot chocolate: not so much.
15. My children's cheeks turn red when they ride in the car for an extended length of time
16. The majority of trucks on the road between Santa Barbara, CA and Dallas, TX are from Indiana, Maine, and Tennessee (in that order). (Why maine?? What on earth does the whole country need from Maine??)
17. There are two major choices for driving from California to Texas: Hwy 10 and Hwy 40
18. Hwy 40 has a lot more snow and windmills. Hwy 10 has a lot more dust and prisons.
19. There is a mass exodus occuring from Minnesota to the southwestern part of the country.
20. While there may be hundreds of Mennesotans driving on Hwy 40, we couldn't find a single one driving on Hwy 10.
21. The Grand Canyon is beautiful when it's covered in snow.
22. When the Grand Canyon is covered in snow, it's a bad idea to walk out to the very edge, because it may not be the edge at all. It may just be a big chunk of snow that's sticking off of the edge, and it may not be strong enough to hold your weight.
23. It's a bad idea to go walking around in snow, when you have holes in your shoes.
24. A three day car trip is the perfect time to knit a scarf.
25. If you want to knit a scarf in three days, you must knit for the entire three days.
26. It's possible for Dallas to have a white christmas!
As is our usual Christmas tradition, we drove to Dallas, TX for the holidays to spend the time with my family and friends. While we've always flown, having four kids over the age of two made that a financial impossibility this year, so we decided to truck it. We had a wonderful time driving through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and it was fun to see the land. The three days of driving each way was a very educational experience for me, and I thought you might enjoy hearing what I learned.
1. There are five prisons between Santa Barbara, CA and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
1b. There is one windmill.
2. It is possible for the one and a half hour drive between Phoenix and Tucson to turn into a six hour drive.
3. Truck drivers know everything that's happening on the roads ahead of them.
4. Truck drivers are very friendly to women who stick their heads out the window and ask them to share their infinite knowledge.
5. A little dust storm can cause a lot of damage!
6. If you ever need to steer around Hwy. 10 in Arizona because you've been sitting still on the road for hours due to your second encounter with a 20 car pile-up, driving over dirt roads that run through cotton fields is an excellent option.
6b. This Should not be attempted if your car doesn't have a GPS system.
7. If you happen to be driving on dirt roads through cotton fields in Arizona, this is a wonderful educational opportunity. Pull the car over and pick some cotton to show your children.
8. It's possible for a dust storm to get so bad that you can't see anything outside of your car.
8b. This is a bad time to be exploring Arizona by way of a dirt road.
8c. It's also a bad time to decide that you want to educate your children by running out into a field to pick cotton for them.
9. My children are amazingly well behaved in the car.
10. Bribing the kids with various gifts every couple hours goes a long way toward keeping them well behaved.
11. Gideon can amuse himself for hours, playing "war" with two pencils and a piece of paper.
12. My children aren't so well behaved when we let them out of the car after driving for several hours.
13. I can no longer take pride in the fact that I don't get carsick
14. Chocolate milkshakes go a long way toward curing my carsickness. Starbucks hot chocolate: not so much.
15. My children's cheeks turn red when they ride in the car for an extended length of time
16. The majority of trucks on the road between Santa Barbara, CA and Dallas, TX are from Indiana, Maine, and Tennessee (in that order). (Why maine?? What on earth does the whole country need from Maine??)
17. There are two major choices for driving from California to Texas: Hwy 10 and Hwy 40
18. Hwy 40 has a lot more snow and windmills. Hwy 10 has a lot more dust and prisons.
19. There is a mass exodus occuring from Minnesota to the southwestern part of the country.
20. While there may be hundreds of Mennesotans driving on Hwy 40, we couldn't find a single one driving on Hwy 10.
21. The Grand Canyon is beautiful when it's covered in snow.
22. When the Grand Canyon is covered in snow, it's a bad idea to walk out to the very edge, because it may not be the edge at all. It may just be a big chunk of snow that's sticking off of the edge, and it may not be strong enough to hold your weight.
23. It's a bad idea to go walking around in snow, when you have holes in your shoes.
24. A three day car trip is the perfect time to knit a scarf.
25. If you want to knit a scarf in three days, you must knit for the entire three days.
26. It's possible for Dallas to have a white christmas!
27. As fun as it is to go on a road trip, and spend time with family and friends, it's a wonderful feeling to be home again.
3 comments:
LOVED your list!!!!
(It's Stacey) That is hilarious! How are you doing these days?
hey stacey! :) we're doing great. super busy, but good. :)
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