Monday I woke up at 3:15am due to some mild acid reflux. It was enough to wake me up and be painful and make my lungs not feel great, but not bad enough to be super painful or really do a number on my lungs, which has happened in the past. It gave me half an hour to fully wake up before getting up to take Sunshine to the airport, so at least I didn’t inadvertently oversleep. After seeing her successfully through the security line, I went home and went back to bed, though it took awhile to get back to sleep since my throat still hurt.
Max woke up as Sunshine and I were going downstairs and she came down with us and climbed into her travel crate, letting us know she was ready to go and didn’t want to be left behind. She was not happy when I drove away without her. Though all our stuff was still in the kitchen since I purposefully didn’t load the car Sunday night so that the stuff would be in the house, hopefully reassuring Max.
River came in at 7, panicked that we’d overslept and Sunshine had missed her flight. I ended up leaving the boys home with Max since I wasn’t gone that long and I really didn’t want to wake them up and get them dressed at 3:45am. I didn’t decide that for sure till the last minute though, so I hadn’t warned River that it was a possibility.
After sleeping for a couple hours, I got up and loaded the car and did all the last minute pre-trip stuff before showering quickly and heading out.
Max didn’t really like being in the travel crate at the back of the car, so on our first rest stop about two hours in I moved her to the seat behind the front passenger seat and moved Ocean to the back row in her place. She was much happier and quieter, and honestly, not having the boys next to each other was a good move, as well.
Monday we did about 8.5 hours of driving, but took about 11 hours total. I tried to stop for about half an hour every two hours or so. I was more tired than I’d like, especially since I’ve felt better on at least one of our previous convention road trips, but since I only got about 5 hours of disrupted sleep, I did pretty well.
Tuesday I got a decent night’s sleep time-wise but I woke up several times: noises, different surroundings, the boys woke up before me, etc, so it wasn’t quite as restful as I’d have liked.
We got an earlier start than anticipated because of the time zone change late Monday. The boys were still on Eastern time, despite us being in Central now. We spent about 11 hours total on the road Tuesday as well, from start to finish. It was tiring, but I rotated between an audiobook for the boys (the Penderwick series), podcasts, and my loud, upbeat playlist, which helped keep my brain from zoning out as easily as if I was only listening to one thing. Music hasn’t been doable for me in the past, but as long as it’s got a decently fast beat and was played loud, it was ok. Ocean would rather listen to music than podcasts or audiobooks, so he appreciated the music addition. River wanted to listen to the audiobooks, so he liked that aspect.
Wednesday we had a shorter day of driving of about 8 hours total, which put us in Colorado around 3:30 MST. Despite the shorter day, I struggled a lot more because I was so tired. Not enough sleep, lots of driving- more than I’ve done in years, and more carbs than I should really be eating, all contributed to the tired.
We stopped in and visited with my parents and brother for a couple hours and let Max run around in their fully fenced in back yard with their dog, then we went to Jeremy’s parents’ house to sleep. I was sooo super tired.
Thursday morning the boys and Max went on a walk with my dad on some acreage nearby where he goes to thin trees and chop firewood.
Afterwards I ran a couple errands (mostly re-stocking the cooler for the trip home, since Thursday was the only day I’d have time to do this), then got pedicures with one of my sisters, my brother, and his new wife. It was only the second time I’ve gotten a pedicure, and they’re not my favorite thing (I like my toenails cut a very specific way, and it is not how the nail places do it), but it was a chance to sit and talk with them (and my first time meeting my brother’s wife), so it was worth it to join them.
Friday we had breakfast with part of the group, then went on a hike with some of my siblings at a local state park that I actually have never managed to visit, despite it being not far from where our parents live.
The evening wedding was dog friendly, so we brought Max, who had a great time and behaved herself well. There were 4 or 5 dogs, total I think, and they all got along well.
Saturday we were up early to load the car and get on the road, then we stopped by Buckley AFB to look for Space Force insignia for my BIL. It was super frustrating since the gate the GPS directed me to was closed and I had to drive 15 minutes around to the other side of the base to the one open gate, despite driving right past the BX and its closed gate. I only found half the items he needed, so his uniform will still be incomplete. But so will everyone else in the Space Force, so they can’t get too upset with him.
We drove all day, though the time change was not in our favor this time. It was about 11 hours start to finish and we stopped about every two hours, but I kept the stops shorter so we wouldn’t arrive at the motel too late. It was exhausting. The motel we stayed at that night was the grossest of the four we stayed at this trip. All the surfaces felt grubby, sticky, and dirty and there were mystery stains on the hall carpets. Oddly, it had a fancy chandelier in the two story foyer.
The two motels we stayed at on our way to Colorado were fairly empty, with only a few other patrons. This one was full up and we almost had to settle for a room with a broken door that had to be opened by a staff member every time we wanted in(!!). but there was a room that someone else had checked into, then left without using, so we took that one. The beds hadn’t been slept in, so I was willing to deal with the grossness (I’m guessing the previous patrons weren’t). I think a lot of the place was given over to weekly and monthly stays, which is just such a depressing thought. It was also the noisiest night of the trip. We could hear people across the hall, next to us, and above us. Also dogs barking, which of course set Max off. Luckily she calmed down and didn’t bark all night. The hazards of staying at cheap, pet-friendly motels.
Sunday was another 11+ hours day. The last time zone change happened not long before we got to our motel, so at least we didn’t have to deal with it on Monday as well. This motel was the only one of the four with outdoor entrances, which allowed us to park right outside the door, but also allowed Max to shove her face under the curtain and growl at something out there. I kept looking, but couldn’t see anything, so I had to bring in her travel crate and have her sleep in that, which kept her calm and quiet.
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One of the guys at Jeremy’s training tested positive earlier in the week. He wasn’t feeling good, but rather than taking a test and sitting things out, he went to the class, then tested. 🤦♀️ Nobody else seems to be sick, which is good, since Jeremy and several others were in close contact with him. They’ve been keeping a close eye on how they feel and testing themselves, but so far, so good.
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We had a text group for the parents of the kids at SeaBase, and here’s some of the pictures they shared: two of the bays they visited in St Thomas and the boat they were on for the week.
Weekly Mileage
| Thursday | 1.75 | 1.0 hours | |
| Friday | 2.00 | 5.5 hours | |
| total | 3.75 miles | 6.5 hours | |
2022 totals
| 58.0 outside hours |
| 58.75 miles |
