Adventures in Road Tripping

Wow, what an adventure that I experienced this weekend!! For some reason I was dumb/naive enough to think that it would be an extra-great idea to pack up my handsome little man and make the 4-5 hour voyage up to Chicago to visit one of my roommates from college, Michelle. Upon completion of this trip and now having reached the point of total exhaustion, I have to admit that I had no idea what I was in for.

The drive up there actually went very smoothly. We left promptly after JD's dinner at 5:30 and he was a tired, tired little boy. The problem was that mommy was also very tired, so our first order of business was a 20 oz. Mountain Dew.

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?? I knew I would need the caffeine to survive the drive... however actually obtaining a Mountain Dew would mean stopping, unstrapping JD, get both of us into the gas station, etc etc. Luckily, I was still in town at this point and Daddy met us at the gas station to say goodbye, so he was able to be on baby duty while I was on Mountain Dew duty.

Fast forward about 2 hours into the trip.... Man, oh man, did I have to pee!!! The problem was that I had a sleeping baby in the back seat and the slightest mis-step could lead to total & complete meltdown. Eventually I noticed an ominous odor eminating from the back seat and realized that we would now stop on JD's terms.

Both of us went into the McDonald's bathroom. I changed his diaper easily enough, but now was the tricky part. How in the world was I going to tinkle when I had a baby in my arms????? This was one of those "take-for-granted" moments that I never thought of ahead of time - I never thought that I would need to take extra precautions to ensure that I would be able to potty on the trip up.

But, alas, I finally wiggled out of my pants while still holding JD, since of course did not want him hanging out on the bathroom floor but let me assure you that this was (a) extremely difficult to maneuver and (b) very time consuming.

We made it back out into the restaurant finally where I gave JD his bottle, but by the end of the bottle, he stunk up his diaper again, so back to the changing table we did go. But, finally, after all of that, we made it back on the road.

Anyway, after a few more hours, a few more malfunctions with his personal DVD player, and without another sip of Mountain Dew for Mommy (out of fear I would have to brave another stop), we made it to Naperville in a cool 5 hours.

We had a GREAT time up there... the highlight of course was seeing Michelle, Ryan, Lucy & Henry, but seeing Kenny Chesney unexpectedly was a close 2nd!!! The show was amazing and I am his new #1 BIGGEST fan... not that I wasn't a fan before but I think I have found true love now. :-)

Anyway, JD was EXHAUSTED after our weekend when it came time to brave the trip home. I thought it was sure going to be smooth sailing since it was likely that JD would pass out when we left...and SURELY sleep all the way through the ride.

However, I did not count on one dumb-ass gas station lady. I stopped for gas reluctantly after I had been on the road for an hour. I swiped my debit card at the pump and quietly began to fill my tank. After all $47.51 worth of gas had filled me up, the gas station lady comes over the load speaker.

"Um, pump 7, it's prepay or debit only."

I think to myself, OK, I DID prepay WITH my debit card. What is the problem? I thought surely this broad was confused, so I considered getting back into my car. Instead, I shouted back into the vast gas station darkness, "But I did prepay."

"Pump Seven. Prepay. Cash or Debit. Only."

Ugh, irritation. I got JD out of his car seat, journeyed into the gas station, only to have the attendant tell me that she confused me with Pump 8 and that my gas was already paid for.

But, the damage was done. To make a long story short, JD pretty much screamed for a small portion of every half hour the entire journey from that point home as he fought sleep and refused to relax. So, I had to stop. Then stop again. Then stop again. Then stop again.

Ugh. All of this when mommy was again very tired plus add a hangover into the mix and you have one very nervewracking car ride for both mommy & baby.

We made it home all in one piece though at about 9:30 only to have Daddy say, "Oh, wow, I'm glad you guys are home. I'm SO TIRED."

Right.....