Revenge

Source

When we take road trips as a family, there are (obviously) five people in the car.  What that boils down to, is five bladders in the car.

Getting five bladder in sync?

Never going to happen.

Thus, the Golden (heh-heh) Rule of Car Trips: 

If one person has to go to the bathroom, EVERYONE will get out of the car and go too.

The kids hate this rule.  They hate it because it is rarely them who is making us stop.  To be honest, it's usually my fault.  Three pregnancies take a toll on a bladder and so usually every couple of hours or so I make us pull into a rest area.

As soon as Rich puts on the turn signal, protests start from the back seats.

"But I don't have to go!"

"I'm too comfortable."

"I'm right in the middle of a game!"

But we push their protests aside, remind them of the Golden Rule, root them out of their warm nests and take them in.

Hayden voices the loudest protests.  Probably because it is never him who requires a stop.  Never.  Also because he sits the furthest back in the car and it's hardest for him to get out and we interrupt whatever game he's playing to make him do so.

By the last leg of our D.C. journey he had had it with all of us.  At about 8:00 p.m. we stopped at a gas station to fill up the car and for them to use the bathroom one last time before they fell asleep.  Hayden walked over to the cooler and grabbed a liter bottle of water and brought it to me at the cash register.  I gave him a skeptical look but he said he was really thirsty so I bought it for him.

We all loaded back into the car and headed down the road.  About 10 minutes later, just as the girls were getting comfy and a little drowsy,  from the way back seat, Hayden yelled, "Finished!" and held up the empty water bottle in a triumphant gesture.

"Hayden!  What are you doing? If you drink it all at once you're going to have to go to the bathroom!"

He just grinned.

Then he cocked his right eyebrow and said, "That's right.  And when I do, everyone has to get out - it's the Golden Rule!"

And then he laughed maniacally.

Happy Veterans Day

This is my Grandpa, Colonel Merle F. Allen Jr. with the P-51 Mustang he flew in WWII.  He was in the 357th squadron which, honestly, means little to me but whenever I mention it, WWII buffs salivate.

I'm honoring him today, on Veterans Day because he is indeed a veteran.  In fact, after the war he elected to remain in the Air Force and after he retired, he served in the National Guard.

The man has served us, and served us well.

But that's not how I know him.  I know him as the happy, laughing man who is always delighted to see us.  When we were children he would take us on walks, popsicles in hand and listen to our stories. He was largely deaf by then due to ear damage caused by engine noise and perhaps that made listening to us easier, but he always did it with a smile on his face and an interested, "Is that so?" interjected at just the right time.

Visiting my grandparents in Fairfax, VA was a treat.  Somehow their life seemed fancier than ours.  There were always martinis served during a proper cocktail hour before dinner.  While my grandma was well enough to cook, dinner was always a sit down affair involving steak or chops and fancy potatoes and a delicious dessert.

And at every meal, my grandpa would declare with complete sincerity, "Why that is the best _____________ I've ever had!"

There is no perfect man in all the world.  All of us have our share of regrets and "should haves" but I believe my grandpa has fewer than most.  On his 90th birthday, my uncle said this in his toast.

"Ninety! How has he done this?  I don't know if he knows.  I'm going to take a stab at it.  This is a man who simply does the right thing at the right time so he can spend the rest of his time enjoying life with no regrets or worries.  This is a smart guy!

"Moderation?  Yes.  Never overweight, never underweight, never drank to excess, and of course never smoked.  Exercised moderately always.  A man of discipline, yes.  But Dad is too graceful, too effortless.  Discipline implies not allowing yourself to do something that is not right.  I don't think it ever comes to that with him.  This man just does the right thing at the right time because why would you do anything else?"

Granpa Merle was born in 1920 and grew up on farms in Oklahoma and Illinois.  His childhood, like those of most children at the time, was hard.  In addition to dealing with The Depression, he was also sent away to live with relatives while his mother battled tuburculosis.

He married my Grandma Dee and with her and their two children, the lived in Japan, England and all over the U.S..  When my grandma died, he remarried and then when wife #2 died, he remarried again.

When you live 90 years you have many opportunities for love.

He and his wife, Carol still travel the world.  He is still delighted to see us each and every time we get together and he still eats the best meal he ever had nearly daily.

I want to wish him (again) a Happy 90th Birthday and I also want to say thank you to him and to all veterans.

Thank you for your service, your time, your effort and your care.  Happy Veterans' Day!

The Drive

I have to tell you:  I was not looking forward to this road trip.  In my head, the two day drive was taking on all of the appeal of oral surgery.

Then, the day before we left I was discussing our plans with my friend Tracey and when I mentioned we were driving she got excited for me.  It seems that Tracey (whose kids are the same ages as mine) actually likes road trips - even plans them on purpose.  Her enthusiasm about the fun they always have started me thinking that I might actually like the road trip.

Y'know what?  I did.

Reagan went into the trip with a severe case of sleep deprivation and so she slept most of the first day.  She and Faith share the middle seat and they have worked out a seating configuration that pleases both of them so no fighting there.  Hayden has the back seat to himself and he crawled in and plugged in to his multiple gadgets and was happy as a clam.

Occasionaly I would rouse them all to look out the window and notice we were in a different state looking at actual scenery and they enjoyed that.  We had good conversations.  Two days of close confinement ended up being an enjoyable thing.

We stayed in a hotel the first night and for the first time in a long, long time we all slept in the same room.  It was kind of a good feeling listening to each of them sleep.  Admittedly it was not the best night's sleep I've ever had, but there was something sweet about it.

It turns out that my kids are fun and funny and I like them.  Who would have guessed?

All in all, everyone was happy.  Everyone but Lorraine.

Lorraine is the lady who lives in the GPS.  I heart her and she hearts me right back.  Whenever I need her, I just plug Lorraine in and faithfully follow her turn by turn directions and she never lets me down.  As a geographically challenged person, without Lorraine I would - quite literally- be lost.

Rich, being a man and all, is not quite so willing to just take Lorraine at her word.  He questions her authority.  He even (gasp!) consults the map app on his ipad for alternate routes.  When driving in and around the D.C. area there are lots of alternate routes and sometimes Rich thought he knew better than Lorraine.

At first she tried patience.  In her calm, authoritative voice she would gently reprimand.

"Re-calculating. Re-calculating.  Drive .4 miles and make a U-turn." 

As the week went on though, Lorraine got surly.  Directions became curt and her voice took on a hint of tension.  No more warnings, just, "Make a U-turn" and directions became vague, "Drive 8 miles."

To make matters worse, Rich and Hayden began to mock her by finishing her sentences.  "Drive 8 miles . . . straight off a cliff" or "Make a U-turn . . .  into a semi-truck."  It got so bad that I turned her off and put her away to spare her the indignity.

Once we turned for home, Rich started following her directions again because, really, there was only one route to take.  I think that by the time we hit our state line she was appeased.

I sure hope so anyway.

I'd hate for her to feel vengeful next time I need her!

D.C. Is Educational!

Of all the things I learned on this D.C. trip - and I learned a lot - the most valuable educational experience was here.

This, my friends, is Union Station.  It is a train station located near the Capitol building.  Union Station is a very convenient place to park when touring the Capitol.  Pretty much your parking choices in D.C. are:

• Drive around in circles until you happen upon a street spot and then fight other cars for it.
• Pay a king's ransom to park in a garage.

Union Station is of the ransom variety but only the ransom of a small, unpopular king.  So we parked there and then headed into the station to get to the street.  Inside, the station is rather like a small airport with arrival and departure gates.  It also has amazing shops and restaurants of endless variety.  The architecture is absolutely beautiful.

I have no pictures of these things though because I was on a mission.

I, of course, had to stop and use the bathroom.  Therein, lies the important lessons I learned that day:

1. If you have to use a bathroom, no matter how badly, find one anywhere that is not in Union Station.
2. No matter how long you have waited in line in the bathroom, if the woman coming out of the next available stall shoots you an apologetic look, let someone go ahead of you.

I spent the week soaking up teachings of history, heroes of the past and lessons of government but the education that will truly stick with me for life?

Found in the bathroom of Union Station.

The Cabin in the . . . Woods?

As a veteran of many trips to the D.C. area, I can not stress enough how perfect October is for a visit.  The temperature was not too hot, and not too cold.  The traffic was about as good as it gets (not that that's saying much).  We didn't encounter any crowds or a single line for anything.  Oh - and the scenery?

Amazing.

Especially where we were staying.  Because my grandpa lives in a two bedroom apartment in a retirement community, it's not really an ideal spot for our large, loud bunch and so he rents a cabin for us at nearby Algonkian Regional Park.  I would imagine that in the summer this spot is crowded, but in the fall we had nearly the entire park to ourselves.

We stayed in the same three bedroom cabin that we did six years ago.  Here we were then.

And this was last week.

Doggone it, a lot changes in six years, doesn't it?  The car, the kids, the clothes - but not the cabin.

It still sits right on the bank of the Potomac.

The setting, combined with the autumn colors made for magnificent views.

And of course, if you put kids near a body of water, you also have instant entertainment.  Add in a steep riverbank to climb and they can spend hours out there.  Well, except Reagan's ankle couldn't manage the climb.  That's okay.  She enjoyed the wireless internet. ;)

I must say, that I enjoyed their outdoor play a lot more this time.  Four year old Faith and seven year old Hayden were highly unpredictable creatures.  The proximity to the river was a bit nerve wracking that trip.

There was also all sorts of wildlife around.  The deer were thick and we also saw squirrels, raccoons and this guy.  

Anyone know what that is?  I'd guess beaver but I never saw the tail.  It lived in a hole in the riverbank and was mighty elusive.

The trees are so thick in the area that you would never guess civilization is less than two miles away.  Until lunch time, and then it's good to know that there's a Popeye's just down the road!