A smooth start! First, a wonderfully sympathetic US Air curb check-in attendant, not only did not charge us the curb check-in fee, but didn't charge me the overweight charge for the bag, which was SO heavy, that even Andy had trouble hefting it into the trunk of the car to take us to the airport. Obstacle 1, overcome. Then, between OM & YD, lugging it off the baggage carousel and onto the the luggage cart at the Minnesota airport was not a problem. My fear of being able to handle getting that bag, plus my pull bag, onto the rental car shuttle bus (while YD handled her own 2 bags), was unwarranted, as at Minneapolis airport, there are no rental shuttles, you just take a tram, onto which we could wheel our luggage cart, to the rental car area. Then, between the 2 of us, toss the bags in the car, and we're good to go.
At the Dollar Rental car counter, I am informed that we have a mini-van waiting for us. Worried about being able to take all of our baggage in a regular car (Andy had trouble fitting it in his 4-door Q-45 Infiniti), I am thinking, hmmmm...mini-van, not what I had in mind, but, it certainly would solve the space issue. Then I see the expression of extreme dismay on YD's face upon hearing the words "mini-van," and I ask the representative if there are any other options. "Call later, after more cars have been returned, and if one comes in, it's all yours." Several hours later, we call, a Chrysler Sebring (the kind of car YD had before receiving her grad gift of her Prius), is there, if we want it. Knowing the size of the trunk of that car (humongous), and seeing the look of hopeful anticipation on YD's face, it's back to the airport we go (luckily our hotel is only 4 miles away), to trade in monstrositoid mini-van (which YD has already named "Andre the Giant), for sweet Sebring.
Tomorrow, after stopping at Target for road-trip supplies, we are off. 4 nights of no reservations on our way to Yellowstone. The giant corn maze in Sioux Falls, SD, is looking mighty inviting....
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Is getting there really half the fun?
That's my biggest challenge, one of the reasons I wanted to take this trip, and one of the reasons I only hesitantly made reservations in advance (many of which I have already changed. Who the heck knows when you're going to be getting places when you're on a road trip?!?).
The ultimate challenge, for a type-A, results-driven /goal-oriented personality like mine is, can I learn to just relax and enjoy the ride, without tunel-vision focus on the destination? The journey is what this trip is all about, and awaaaay we go!
The ultimate challenge, for a type-A, results-driven /goal-oriented personality like mine is, can I learn to just relax and enjoy the ride, without tunel-vision focus on the destination? The journey is what this trip is all about, and awaaaay we go!
Oh the places we'll go, oh the people we'll meet....
...the challenges we will face! Some I have already faced, and conquered, such as mastering the computer printer-generated iron-on t-shirt transfer, which we used to make the shirts we're going to wear on TPIR. Even I, a pretty carft-challenged person, faced that mother, head-on, and came out on top!
One I have faced and miserably failed at is packing efficiently. I know how to do it, I know I am capable of doing it, I just choose not to do it. I've read all those tips on how you can travel for a year with just 5 verstile pieces of black clothing. A beach cover-up turns into a dinner dress! Flip the skirt upside and inside out, and voila, a shawl! Yeah, right. You can certainly travel with few pieces of clothing, if you don't mind wearing the same thing often, don't like dressing up and/or accessorizing, and don't mind looking like a schlub most of the time. That is not me!!
In a month's time, I realized that I probably wear just about everything I own, so I took it all. I am prepared for the overweight charges. It's better than being unprepared for whatever fashion requirement we might come across. YD is right along with me on this one. Between the 2 of us, not only will we be able to supply that Native American reservation with pharmaceuticals, but we will most probably be able to outfit every adolescent, young adult, and adult female living there.
The challenge, I realize, is not in packing lightly, that's not going to happen, it's getting the bag into the shuttle that takes you to the car rental agency. I can use carts at the airport, and once it's in the car, I'm home free (I am also bringing a smaller bag to bring in/out of the hotels, once in the car, the big one will live there, and just refresh what's in the little bag). If I can hoist that baby onto and off that shuttle, and into the car, it will be another challenge faced, and conquered!
One I have faced and miserably failed at is packing efficiently. I know how to do it, I know I am capable of doing it, I just choose not to do it. I've read all those tips on how you can travel for a year with just 5 verstile pieces of black clothing. A beach cover-up turns into a dinner dress! Flip the skirt upside and inside out, and voila, a shawl! Yeah, right. You can certainly travel with few pieces of clothing, if you don't mind wearing the same thing often, don't like dressing up and/or accessorizing, and don't mind looking like a schlub most of the time. That is not me!!
In a month's time, I realized that I probably wear just about everything I own, so I took it all. I am prepared for the overweight charges. It's better than being unprepared for whatever fashion requirement we might come across. YD is right along with me on this one. Between the 2 of us, not only will we be able to supply that Native American reservation with pharmaceuticals, but we will most probably be able to outfit every adolescent, young adult, and adult female living there.
The challenge, I realize, is not in packing lightly, that's not going to happen, it's getting the bag into the shuttle that takes you to the car rental agency. I can use carts at the airport, and once it's in the car, I'm home free (I am also bringing a smaller bag to bring in/out of the hotels, once in the car, the big one will live there, and just refresh what's in the little bag). If I can hoist that baby onto and off that shuttle, and into the car, it will be another challenge faced, and conquered!
From Advil to Zyrtec
Now I know why cross-country road trips are mostly attempted by the young. They haven't yet developed the worry instincts of older, more experienced folks, particularly parents, particularly Jewish parents.
YD spent about an hr packing, her most agonizing moment coming when she realized we were low on anti-frizz hair gel and it was too late to order any more. After the same hr, I had yet to finish writing down the drugs I wanted to take with us. What might we encounter, microbiologically-speaking, on our trip? I need to be prepared for all possibilities! I am taking 3 kinds of oral antibiotics (2 kinds of topical), an antiviral, antihistamines, decongestants, NSAID's, antacids, bronchodilators, and an epipen. With the pharmaceutical armamentarium I have amassed, I can probably treat
most of the population on the Native American reservations we expect to visit.Maybe President Obama should add me to his health care initiative. I can truly bring health care to the people!
YD spent about an hr packing, her most agonizing moment coming when she realized we were low on anti-frizz hair gel and it was too late to order any more. After the same hr, I had yet to finish writing down the drugs I wanted to take with us. What might we encounter, microbiologically-speaking, on our trip? I need to be prepared for all possibilities! I am taking 3 kinds of oral antibiotics (2 kinds of topical), an antiviral, antihistamines, decongestants, NSAID's, antacids, bronchodilators, and an epipen. With the pharmaceutical armamentarium I have amassed, I can probably treat
most of the population on the Native American reservations we expect to visit.Maybe President Obama should add me to his health care initiative. I can truly bring health care to the people!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Division of Labor
If the pre-trip tasks are any indication, and I am sure that they are, it is clear what is going on here. One of us is the worker bee, and one of us is the Queen. Guess which is which? While I (with the help of Big Al, of course) am spending my days making reservations, printing out confirmations, organizing the papers, rechecking the reservations, scouring the internet for ideas, calculating mileage, figuring out the budget, etc, etc, YD is watching TV. It's for the trip, she reminds, me, she is watching TPIR and studying up.
She tells me she has a good idea for our shirts, and describes it. It is good. Better than what I have come up with, which is zilch. Since crafty is not a word I would use to describe either of us, she tells me we need a special kind of paper that you can print things on from your computer printer, and then transfer them by ironing to a t-shirt. She tells me the images we need. Then she goes back down to the sofa and the TV.
I spend the next few hrs finding local stores that carry the paper, then driving out there to buy it, and the next day looking for the images. She leaves for the weekend to visit friends. I figure out how to invert the images (well, actually, I spend an hour trying unsuccessfully to do it myself, them ask my son, and he tells me how to do it in 5 seconds.), and then print them on the special paper. I am beyond proud of myself. YD returns home and tells me, good try, but she doesn't like that image. More hrs looking for images. I find one, I run it by her first before printing. She likes it. She leaves again to visit more friends. I print it out. She returns. Good try, she tells me, but it's too small. I am almost out of paper. I don't think I budgeted for this.
She tells me she has a good idea for our shirts, and describes it. It is good. Better than what I have come up with, which is zilch. Since crafty is not a word I would use to describe either of us, she tells me we need a special kind of paper that you can print things on from your computer printer, and then transfer them by ironing to a t-shirt. She tells me the images we need. Then she goes back down to the sofa and the TV.
I spend the next few hrs finding local stores that carry the paper, then driving out there to buy it, and the next day looking for the images. She leaves for the weekend to visit friends. I figure out how to invert the images (well, actually, I spend an hour trying unsuccessfully to do it myself, them ask my son, and he tells me how to do it in 5 seconds.), and then print them on the special paper. I am beyond proud of myself. YD returns home and tells me, good try, but she doesn't like that image. More hrs looking for images. I find one, I run it by her first before printing. She likes it. She leaves again to visit more friends. I print it out. She returns. Good try, she tells me, but it's too small. I am almost out of paper. I don't think I budgeted for this.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A planning maniac
OK, that's what I've turned into. Now that I've started making some reservations out of necessity, I started thinking, well if I'm worried about not being able to stay where I want to stay, what if I can't do what I want to do or eat where I want to eat once I get there? And went the next step, making activity, and yes, even restaurant reservations. Like I have clue where, never mind when, I'm going to want to eat dinner once I arrive in Yellowstone Park. But, on the website, and on their phone message, they warn you, we book 12 months in advance! I'm less than 2 weeks away from my vacation. I'd better get on the ball! And so I did. I fell for it. No way I'll be able to tell if all this advance planning was a good thing or not until we actually get there and see if we feel like taking the 4 hr horseback ride to the bottom of Bryce Canyon the day we arrive (vs the day we leave, my 2 choices) which I have pre-booked and prepaid, for, or whether we'll want to eat at 8:15PM at the Old Faithful Dining room on the day I reserved. Or, even more likely, will I even remember what days and times I made all of these reservations for, or what day it actually is while I'm on my adventure. I have trouble just keeping track of what day it is during the summer when my usual routine is a bit different, I can't even imagine having a clue when on the road.
Planning sucks. Or does it?
Planning sucks. Or does it?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Still planning...way more than expected
OK, for a trip that was supposed to be a spontaneous get-up-and-go, I am buried beneath paper and email reservations, confirmations, blah, blah, blah. I am overwhelmed. This was supposed to be easy, Just hop in the car and drive, stopping only where and where we felt we wanted to.
The reservation cascade started with the change of plans from driving from home, to flying to our first destination. Flying necessistates airline reservations, reservations #1. Then we would also need to rent a car, reservation #2. It also gave us a definite date that we would be somewhere (Minneapolis, starting our trip at the Mall of America), so might as well reserve a hotel there, reservation #3. Then, we of course had to get our tickets to the Price is Right in advance, reservation #4. Since that now also gave us an exact date when we needed to be LA, might as well make our reservations there, reservation #5.
Having gone that far, I started thinking, well, perhaps I should reserve as much as I can in the places that we have designated as "must see." Nothing would be worse than driving to Yellowstone only to discover that the closest hotel is an hr or more drive away. I know how crowded the National Parks are in the summer, and I'm guessing it could be hard to get a hotel room close by at the last minute. I also remember when we traveled to LA and Londono a couple of years ago, and there were a bunch of things that we couldn't do and wished we had thought to book them in advance. So, trying to learn from past mistakes, there went reservation #'s 6-6,583.
The question is, is what we're giving up in spontaneity worth what we're gaining in being assured of seeing/doing that things that we had in mind to see/do? I'm wondering if it's really possible to just do the get-up-and-go vacation, during busy season, and really get to do/see every thing you wanted to. I mean, I already discovered, much to YD's relief, that the mule rides to the bottom of the Grand Canyon book 1 year in advance (I did however book a ride on horseback to the bottom of Bryce Canyon. Stay tuned for how fear-of-heights YD fares on that excursion!).
Well, I must go sort through my reservations. Later
The reservation cascade started with the change of plans from driving from home, to flying to our first destination. Flying necessistates airline reservations, reservations #1. Then we would also need to rent a car, reservation #2. It also gave us a definite date that we would be somewhere (Minneapolis, starting our trip at the Mall of America), so might as well reserve a hotel there, reservation #3. Then, we of course had to get our tickets to the Price is Right in advance, reservation #4. Since that now also gave us an exact date when we needed to be LA, might as well make our reservations there, reservation #5.
Having gone that far, I started thinking, well, perhaps I should reserve as much as I can in the places that we have designated as "must see." Nothing would be worse than driving to Yellowstone only to discover that the closest hotel is an hr or more drive away. I know how crowded the National Parks are in the summer, and I'm guessing it could be hard to get a hotel room close by at the last minute. I also remember when we traveled to LA and Londono a couple of years ago, and there were a bunch of things that we couldn't do and wished we had thought to book them in advance. So, trying to learn from past mistakes, there went reservation #'s 6-6,583.
The question is, is what we're giving up in spontaneity worth what we're gaining in being assured of seeing/doing that things that we had in mind to see/do? I'm wondering if it's really possible to just do the get-up-and-go vacation, during busy season, and really get to do/see every thing you wanted to. I mean, I already discovered, much to YD's relief, that the mule rides to the bottom of the Grand Canyon book 1 year in advance (I did however book a ride on horseback to the bottom of Bryce Canyon. Stay tuned for how fear-of-heights YD fares on that excursion!).
Well, I must go sort through my reservations. Later
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