by "Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
Published 06/09/2017 at 10:20
by "Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
Published 06/09/2017 at 10:20
Tags: Road Trip
STARS: 6
I wrote recently about a family vacation I was taking. Myself, my wife, and two sons (ages 6 and 4) were driving cross country from Tampa to Tucson. The trip out there was great, and the boys behaved very well and dealt with long periods in the car just fine. The return trip was a bit more of an adventure. We drove straight through with minimal stops. Google maps puts the journey at approximately 29 hours. We did it in 31 hours. As best I can recall, this is the story of those 31 hours. Times are approximate. Enjoy!
Friday, 6/2/2017, 7:00 pm PST, Tucson, AZ: We have just filled up with gas, filled up a cooler with bottled water and ice and we are ready to hit the road. My wife has requested to take the first driving shift.
7:10 pm: The boys ask for their LeapPads. We oblige as we know they will not be able to play with them long before darkness completely sets in. A discussion immediately ensues about who will get to play which game.
8:00 pm: Darkness has set in and I ask the boys to turn off
their games and attempt to get some sleep.
8:35 pm: We cross into New Mexico. Arizona does not follow
Daylight Savings Time, so we have lost our first hour of the return trip. It is
now 9:35 pm MST. The elder son is asleep. The younger son is understandably
having a hard time getting comfortable in his car seat. This was a bit of a
struggle on the way out, too. The last hour he was looking at my wife as I
drove and screaming “when will we be there?!”
10:00 pm, MST: The younger son is kicking the driver’s seat.
The problem seems to be he can’t get his legs comfortable. I crawl from the
passenger’s seat to the extremely narrow space between the boy’s car seats. I
wedge myself in there to try and calm him down. I end up holding his legs for
him while he falls asleep. I contemplate what would happen if my wife made a
panic stop. I don’t like any of the outcomes.
10:30 pm: I take my son’s blanket and wrap his legs in the
position I was holding them in. I crawl back to the front seat, recline it a
little bit and attempt to get some sleep myself.
11:50 pm: We cross into the state of Texas. There are over
880 miles of I-10 through Texas. This will be home for quite some time.
Saturday, 6/3/2017, 12:20 am: We make our first gas stop on
the east side of El Paso. Both boys ask to use the bathroom. A guy on a sport
bike needlessly revs his engine after he fills up with gas. Two guys on cruiser
bikes pull in and rev their engines, too. I’m thankful the boys were already
awake.
4:30 am, CST: We are in Fort Stockton, TX and have been in
the central time zone for some time. I tried sleeping a lot during this stint
as my wife continued to drive. I maybe got an hour or two. I have also had to
go to the back seat again to try and help our younger son get comfortable. We
are making our second fuel stop and a driver change. I fill up a travel mug with ice and Mountain Dew, my road trip drink of choice.
5:30 am: I-10 through west Texas is extremely lonely. The
only good thing is the speed limit is 80 mph. For major portions of this
stretch, our vehicle is the only one that can be seen. There aren’t even many
truckers.
5:45 am: Possibly somewhere between Sheffield and Sonora, I
spot an object ahead in the left lane. I am cruising alone in the right,
traveling at exactly 80 mph. As I get closer, it becomes quite clear what the
object is. It is a deer, standing in the left lane, frozen in his journey from
the south side of I-10 to the north side. I slow, and move a bit onto the shoulder.
He keeps staring westbound as I pass him. I contemplate what would have
happened if he had made any moves. I don’t like any of the outcomes.
7:15 am: We are in Junction, TX and stop at a gas station
with a McDonald’s attached. It’s probably not a good idea, but I get a Sausage,
Egg, and Cheese McGriddle and a hashbrown. We make our third fuel stop at the
same time. I share the deer story with my wife. I inform her that nothing “wakes
you the fuck up” quite like having a close encounter with a deer.
7:20 am: Back on the road, we have been watching the
navigation display for entertainment. When we first started, it said we should
arrive shortly after 3:00 am Sunday morning. We think this would be great. It
has hovered around 2:50 to 3:10 the entire journey so far. We have debated
stopping somewhere Saturday night and finishing the drive Sunday morning. We
decide to re-evaluate this evening.
9:10 am: We are driving through downtown San Antonio. We are
well over halfway through Texas, but still have over 300 miles to go before we
reach Louisiana.
11:30 am: We are in Katy, TX on the west side of Houston. We
fill up with gas and switch drivers. We are approximately at the halfway point
based on mileage. It is starting to seem like we will skip stopping for the
night.
12:30 pm: On the east side of Houston it begins to rain.
There is rain in the forecast along I-10 all through the Gulf Coast, some of it
heavy.
1:54 pm: We enter Louisiana. I say goodbye to Texas by
mumbling something along the lines of “good fucking riddance”.
3:00 pm: It is our younger son’s birthday (turning 4). Sadly, we are on
the road and not able to throw him a party on his actual birthday. We celebrate
by having some double chocolate chip cookies. I give each of the boys half a
cookie.
3:01:00 pm: My oldest son has a bit of a look in his eyes. I contemplate what this means. I don’t like any of the outcomes.
3:01:10 pm: My oldest son throws up. In the car. All over
himself, his car seat, his LeapPad, and some bags below his feet.
3:01:15 pm: I am in disbelief. My wife begins to pull onto
the shoulder. It is pouring down rain. I get out, and grab some of our last
remaining napkins to attempt to clean him up. I question literally every life decision
that has put me in this position.
3:02 pm: I am now taking tissue paper from my other son’s
gift bag to attempt to clean up the mess. I realize this is worthless and tell
my wife to start driving and get off at the next exit.
3:05 pm: We stop in Crowley, LA at the nearest gas station.
I go inside and buy a roll of paper towels, some baby wipes and ask for “a few
plastic bags.” The next 15-20 minutes is spent dealing with the aftermath. My
wife grabs some clothes and takes him inside to change and clean up. I use a
combination of paper towels and baby wipes to clean everything up. Affected
items include his car seat, his LeapPad, his headphones, the outside of a
travel bag, the outside of a bag of popcorn and a bit of the floor mat. I am
proud that I feel I have “saved the LeapPad”. A bag of white cheddar popcorn is the only victim as I wish to take no chances.
3:25 pm: My youngest son takes all of this in stride. He
finished his half of the cookie while watching me clean up vomit. He remarks
that his brother “doesn’t feel good.”
3:35 pm: In what may very well have been a tear-inducing
moment for my wife and I, the son who has vomited types out “I am so sorry”
on his LeapPad. My wife and I assure him that these things happen and tell him
we truly believe he is a great child who is very caring, as is evident by the
fact he typed that out.
5:00 pm: We need gas and food. We stop in Denham Springs, LA.
The Shell station there is out of gas. We get back on the interstate and stop
at the next exit. We stop at Chik-Fil-A for food. There is a nearby Shell
station. It is closed. There is another one on the other side of the
interstate. They too are out of gas. We stop across the street at a Pilot. We
switch drivers. We know there is no way we are getting home at 3:00 am, but we
refuse to stop for the night.
5:00 pm to Sunday, 6/4/2017, 4:40 am EST: The
rest of the drive is mostly uneventful. I drive from Denham Springs to
Tallahassee, FL where we stop for gas for the final time. My wife drives the
rest of the way home. She hits a traffic cone on I-75. When she washes her car
two days later, it buffs out. We completed 2046 miles at a bit less than 31
hours, for an overall average speed of approximately 66 mph. Everyone sleeps
until 10:30 Sunday morning.
"facw" (facw)
06/09/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 2
I crawl from the passenger’s seat to the extremely narrow space between the boy’s car seats.
This is why you need a Previa. Lots of room to move from row to row (plus a third row to stash kids who can’t keep their feet tucked away. Just don’t contemplate those offset crashes...
"vondon302" (vondon302)
06/09/2017 at 10:37, STARS: 0
That reads like a war journal.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
06/09/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 0
Shit, Idk how you survived driving that long haha. I can’t even imagine doing that without children to deal with. Driving more than 6-8 hours on the interstate is unpleasant. 8-12 is downright torture. Anything more than like 12-16 is just not worth it. I suppose more so its the sleep factor. I would just fall asleep at the wheel at that point.
"Lokiparts" (lokiparts)
06/09/2017 at 10:41, STARS: 0
As someone getting ready to head out on a road trip this weekend with three kids (2,6,9) this is just the thing I needed to read today...
But to be fair this isn’t my first rodeo either. I am highly optimistic that it should be fairly uneventful. But kids barfing in the car is definitely every parent’s fear.
"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
06/09/2017 at 10:52, STARS: 0
Gas stations out of gas? I’ve literally never run into that, is that a thing?
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:00, STARS: 1
The day after we got home, I informed my wife that I would like to stop overnight on our next road trip. I get tunnel vision driving overnight like that. And even though we both seemed okay, there are definitely some times when the late hours get to you.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:03, STARS: 1
Given that you have 3 kids, I’m guessing you have a bigger car than we do (we took my wife’s CX-5). The vomit was definitely the worst fear realized. At least if they tell you there is a restroom emergency, you probably have time to get to the shoulder and stop. There was nothing to do in this instant as there was essentially no warning.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:03, STARS: 1
My wife mentioned if we make road trips “a thing”, she would consider a minivan for her next vehicle.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 0
It was a thing in Louisiana last week. At one of the stations, the tanker was there filling up and was done when we pulled out of the station across the street. I’ve never seen gas stations completely out of gas in a non-disaster situation. We live on the Gulf Coast of Florida, so there have been times I’ve seen empty gas stations when a major hurricane was nearby.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:06, STARS: 1
I certainly did some battle with vomit that day. The baby wipes apparently worked. My wife has not complained about any lingering smell in her car.
"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
06/09/2017 at 11:07, STARS: 0
Yea, I can understand being out of gas because of some extreme circumstance, but to just be out of gas on some regular day seems so dumb.
"facw" (facw)
06/09/2017 at 11:08, STARS: 1
And what would be better than a mid-engined RWD one (that may also be a 20-year-old deathtrap)
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 11:09, STARS: 0
That’s the part that wouldn’t be an easy sell. She’d probably want something “modern” and “safe”.
"facw" (facw)
06/09/2017 at 11:11, STARS: 1
Picky picky...
"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
06/09/2017 at 12:00, STARS: 0
Eww. Why go to Florida in the summer when it’s worst?
"Lokiparts" (lokiparts)
06/09/2017 at 12:07, STARS: 0
We have a Tahoe... but the catch is that all three kids (two in large car seats) are going to be riding in the second row bench seat to free up the back for cargo. Tahoe’s are one of those vehicles that may look big and roomy from the outside but actually have surprisingly little interior space. Shoot with the third row seats installed you can barely get a folded up stroller between the back seat and the hatch. But we have it setup with our oldest behind the driver so I don’t expect any seat kicking... all bets are off with the other two.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
06/09/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 0
Oh man that shit is scary! It starts out feeling like its mind over matter and you think you can push through it. And then everything starts going faster or slower, you see things that arent there, you get paranoid, and just bad things happen. I’ve done a full day open to close of skiing (after two previous days of the same) and then had to drive 6 hours home. It was quite trippy during that last hour!
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
06/09/2017 at 13:05, STARS: 1
We live in Florida, haha. This was the return trip after a week in Arizona.