Lessons of traveling

We all learn lessons. Some the easy way, some the hard way. Mostly the hard way. This week I took my 4 youngest on a road trip to see the old Merrell farm in Moses Lake, Washington. It's a long drive (1,651 miles round trip) and we always have our fair share of laughing, crying, fighting and creating life-long memories. I always prepare for the worst and hope that the positives outweigh the negatives. My kids always come home dirty, sleepy and talking for days of their adventures and fun times with cousins.

This trip taught me a few things.....

1. There are some REALLY good people in the world. The man who stopped to help us with our first (yes, first) flat tire just outside of Burley, Idaho. Plenty of people passed by, I started to get out the jack and spare to do it myself when I saw a man backing up to help. I cried. Out of sheer frustration that my brand new tires had failed me, and of happiness that someone cared. He helped us on his way and he didn't even know what his service did for my faith in mankind.

The next day I had ANOTHER flat (and yes, my next post is about people that suck....i.e. tire salesman). These tires were less than 6 months old. My frustration got the best of me and I threw an adult-sized temper tantrum that included trying to smash my van with a tire jack (thank goodness my dad can still hobble fast enough to get to me before damage was done). So again, I had the help of my dad and my cousin's husband who not only took time off work, but postponed taking his sweet wife and children to the ocean until the tire was good as new. There are lots of good people who surround us, and I am glad they were there when I needed them.

2. Just as there are good people in the world, there are also some really crappy ones. Like the tire place that I called out of desperation when I had 2 bad tires and no spare. They advised me to call a tow truck and by some new ones. Ummmm, you do NOT want to say that to a stressed out, on-the-verge-of-tearing-someone-a-new-one, stuck with 4 kids and $25 in the bank woman. No sirree. How about sympathy, finding a solution, resolving to take a look when I get back in town and make sure they weren't defective? I WOULD NOT want to be that Mr. Rick when I go pay them a visit tomorrow.

Also, to the cop who pulled me over while I was lost/trying to get directions from my deaf/stroke-affected father in the front seat. No, I was not looking at how fast I was going, I was trying to figure out if I could get over in time to take the correct exit in a city known for its horrible freeway (the Tri-City area in Washington for those who have been there). And no, I DO NOT appreciate the fact that you are doing me a "favor" of writing that I was going 70MPH instead of 75MPH in your crappy city. A ticket is a ticket, and I have not had a ticket in over 10 years. I pretty much told him how I felt about his ticket and promptly rolled up the window before I cussed in front of my dad. I can't decide if I am going to roll over and pay the $113 fine, or just tell the state of Washington to shove it.

3. There is bound to be at least one sick child on every trip. Poor Jack had the worst case of the runs I have seen in all my years of being a mother. Sorry for the TMI, but the kid couldn't talk/sneeze/walk/sneeze or even breath without an "episode". I'm talking at LEAST 50 times. I would say 50 trips to the potty, but we only officially made about 4 to the potty. I finally got a towel, put a washcloth on top of that and made him sit and watch movies while changing out the soiled stuff for about 8 hours straight. It's bad to have sick kids when you are home, but 100% worse when you are in someone else's house. To make matters worse, I had a bad case of insomnia the night before and didn't sleep AT ALL, so running on no sleep didn't help. THANK GOODNESS no one else got sick, or I would have packed the car up and drove home immediately.

4. There is also bound to be plenty of accidents. Hayden's horse got spooked while he was riding bareback and luckily he got bucked close enough to a fence that he grabbed on and escaped. He also rode a motorcycle into a fence at my sister's house and broke the fence (good thing he knows to wear a helmet or I would have killed him). Payton got a giant-sized goose egg on his head from the waterslide that luckily didn't split or I would have fainted and made a huge scene. Asia skinned her knee, Jack got more splinters on his little feet than I have seen before, but they still are in there since he won't let me near them. Basically, they saw what life is like on a farm and learned to "man up" and not complain.


All in all, it was a great trip, I loved seeing aunts/uncles/cousins and their kids. My kids rode horses, played for 2 days at an amazing pond created by my uncle (complete with canoes, rope swings, 50 feet waterslides, pavillion with tables and BBQ for eating, sand volleyball, and miniature golf), caught frogs and a salamander (which is now our pet in Hayden's room), played with 9 brand new kittens, floated down the canals, helped paint a house and bale hay, had a talent show and ate good food. We came back exhausted, covered in mosquito bites, dirtier than I believed possible, and truly happy that Grandpa made us go.