The Drive

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, we made it. Actually, we made it here about a week ago already. Time flies. The trip up was...interesting. We drove through Phoenix to LA where we picked up I-5 and headed north for what seemed like Forever. And we, of course, learned some things along the way.

Like:

• It's probably better to not leave for vacation after your husband has worked a half-day. It is very unlikely that you will be able to leave within, say, a few hours of when you thought you would.



• Also, make sure your doctor tells CVS that you would like your prescription ready sooner rather than later when she calls them to order it for you. That way hopefully it will be ready in less than 4 hours.



• It is probably better to have all car maintenance performed on your vehicle before you leave for your trip.



• If google maps says it will take you 4 hours to drive from Tucson to Blythe, and you have 2 children under the age of 2, and you are leaving at rush hour on a Friday, it will take you far longer than what google says it will.
  
  
• In 'N Out Burgers near the freeway cause traffic jams for miles.



• Booking your hotels online prior to leaving on your vacation does not allow for much flexibility.



• Almost-2-year-olds get a little giddy when they miss their nap every day for 4 days and also go to bed at 10pm every night.



• 5-month olds just get crabby with above schedule.



• Sitting in a car for 8-10 hours a day is no fun for anyone. Especially for the driver who is sitting in front of a toddler who can kick the seat.



• California traffic is horrible. It's probably a good idea to plan for an extra 1-2 hours each day for that alone. If you don't plan for traffic, it is highly frustrating when you realize how very wrong google maps is on drive time.



• Potty breaks with 2 children under the age of 2 do not take 5 minutes. Especially when the Patton museum is right next door and the toddler's daddy wants to show her the cool 'targets'.

We did learn some good things on the trip. It's great to spend so much time with your kids; you learn a lot about their habits, their preferences and what they know. For instance, Kate can now count from 1 to 10, and is speaking in 3-4 word sentences. She is also able to say the alphabet from a-g, and will sometimes say more with help. She loves to sing, and often tries to sing Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star and Black Horse by KT Tunstall. Who knew.

We are pretty sure we saw a McLaren pass us on I-5 in California. It was going too fast for me to get a picture.

And you never know what you will see on your drive through Cali. For a moment, we thought we were back in Korea.