THE ROADTRIP: PART I

Note: While on the road, I tried to post this but the pictures didn't load. I didn't have time to fix it then so I deleted and re-posted it today with some revisions. My apologies to all and thanks to Jan who pointed out to me that once it's posted, it stays in the reader even if you delete.

As usual, we got off to a rocky start. Sleep deprived and packed like sardines into MHS’s truck, we set off at 4:30am last Tuesday. The original plan to leave the night before was scrapped upon the realization that we wouldn’t be ready to leave until 11:30pm. JackASS and I had one of those lovely little marital spats so it was a VERY quiet ride. There’s something about a roadtrip that drives his stress levels through the roof and I have little to no tolerance for it. (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is solely responsible for loading and securing the bike into the truck, packing D1’s three truckloads of STUFF into one truck and dealing with all the STUFF I require on a lengthy trip. What’s the big deal, right? Easy for me to say…) We were back on speaking terms and holding hands like the lovebirds we are by the time we arrived at my dad’s at around 9:00am. We placed D1’s dog into Daisy’s capable hands, had some refreshments and set off again on our trek to North Carolina. MHS had to drive the entire trip because the truck was packed so full and in such a way that if we moved the driver’s seat up so that my short little legs would reach the pedals, the whole tower of boxes would fall and we would never get them back into place to put the seat back again. I was elated because that meant I was able to read blogs on my blackberry, (which is still working beautifully on day 12) twitter, receive your well wishing comments by email, read a book, and nap felt really bad for him.

Doesn't this look cozy?

We reached our friend’s home in Charlotte around 5pm. Note to self: Plan trips to Charlotte to avoid rush hour traffic. The place is booming with new construction, new homes, shopping centers, and office buildings but the roads have not kept up with the pace of the city’s growth.

It was great to see our friends, who we will call the Half-Backs. Half-Back, is you’re not familiar with the term is used for people who originally lived up north, migrated to Florida for better weather and realized Paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and moved again, this time to North or South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, etc… which is…..half way back; hence Half-Backs. They have lived in NC about a year and a half and have a beautiful and very large home. Both travel extensively for business. I’m currently developing a plan with MHS that we could sell our home, move into theirs and as long as we’re careful and keep moving, they would never know we were there.

We weren’t the Half-Back’s only visitors, Mr. HB’s father and his girlfriend and were there visiting from Florida as well as their 20 year old son, Handsome. They also have a daughter who is D1’s age who lives with them. They grilled out and we had the most relaxing and wonderful time sitting outdoors in the cool evening, eating, drinking and catching up on the happenings in everyone’s lives. Then Cutie, their daughter, introduced me to Sweet Tea Vodka, apparently a South Carolina specialty. This caused a great deal of discussion about if it was tea flavored vodka or a mix of mostly tea with a little bit of vodka. I decided a taste test was in order. Cutie served me a large glass of the stuff and after one sip; I knew it was definitely sweet tea flavored vodka and NOT tea with a bit of vodka. However, I kept sipping and drank the whole glass. I think my knees wobbled a bit when I stood to leave. I wish I’d had the presence of mind to take a picture of the bottle for reference this post.

This is Handsome enjoying some of his mom's specialty: ice cream pudding.

Unbeknownst to me, Cutie made a call to D1 to tell her that she was giving me the 12oz. “taste test”. D1 was concerned knowing I normally stick to beer or wine. My, how the tables have turned. Aren’t they cute to worry about us!

The hour was getting late and we still had to travel another hour north to MHS’s brother’s, Hammerhead, where D1 is staying. It’s so hard to leave good friends when you know you won’t see them for quite awhile and you’ve only had a few hours to catch up. Alas, we had to leave.

Everyone was asleep when we arrived at Hammerhead’s. The next morning, I awoke early to visit with D1 while she got ready for school. Of course, I’ve seen her get ready for school for years but this was the first time knowing she was a teacher and not a student. Hammerhead left for work and D1 and my niece, Fireball, left for school. Fireball is a student at the school where D1 teaches. MHS and I ventured further north for a business luncheon where midlife crises were the topic of the day. And I thought it was just me.

We finished lunch just in time to make it back to visit D1’s last class of the day. It was fun to observe her in her professional element. I’m sure every mother and father would feel this way but we were really quite impressed by her teaching skills and the way she was able to control the classroom. She gave a quiz on weather and climate and insisted that MHS and I take it too. You’ll be happy to know that I passed the 6^th grade social studies quiz with 100% but missed the bonus question. Oh, and MHS missed one but got the bonus question right, if you’re wondering. He will be so pleased when he finds out that I shared that with you.

This is D1's favorite student.

When the school day ended, we assisted D1 with her parent pick-up duties and then helped her redecorate her classroom. Fireball was at volleyball practice in the gymnasium. We were just kicking into high gear decorating and desk moving when a student came to the door announcing Fireball had been hurt during practice and D1’s presence was requested there. Moments later, upon our arrival in the gym, the coach told us, it didn’t look good and it was probably broken…..again. Fireball had this same injury last year during volleyball season and I’m told it happened the same way. Fireball is an amazing athlete but apparently a little slow in the “learning from your mistakes” department. Sorry, kiddo.

We got her home and resting comfortably. Once her dad was home, we left to take D1 out to dinner. We had a great time harassing the waiter in a way that only D1, (D2) and I can do. I think we embarrass MHS but he just smiles and remains silent. Did you know that in the state of North Carolina you can’t get a burger cooked anything less than medium-well? Some crazy law about wanting to protect the public from e coli. D1 winked at him and we got it Medium. It pays to have pretty daughters.

We left the next morning before Fireball had her doctor’s appointment. We found out later that it wasn't broken but ligament damage instead. She has been instructed to stay off it for a week and then be re-evaluated. We're all hoping and praying that she won't need surgery and will be able to play again before the season is over but that might just be wishful thinking.

Oh and they have this new, very cute puppy named Daisy. I wanted to put her in my suitcase.

Stay tuned for Roadtrip Part II.