The Road Trip Story

As our spring break was a few weeks ago, we took the opportunity to drive south once again to visit my family. Now that they're only six hours away we've been visiting a lot more often than when they were twenty-two (understandably). I was still content from our Christmas visit, but Joseph really wanted to go somewhere, and this was the most viable option.

Sadly, our trip had a lot more low points than I would have hoped. Thus this tale will be told in highlights and low points. (sorry its a little long.)

Highlight: We got to leave our house around 4:00 PM instead of late at night, due to Joseph having a shortened work day on Fridays.

Low Point: About 35-40 miles out, we got a flat tire on the freeway. Joshua was scared to death because he could see all the traffic coming towards him from his rear-facing car seat, and he could hear it all as Joseph opened the back to get the spare out. People were honking at us instead of helping us, and I was rather offended!

Highlight: We found a Big-O tire quickly, and as the blowout happened before six were able to get the tire repaired and to go on our way.

Low Point: About half an hour later, we had another blow out! This time it was getting dark, and we were mad! Remember these are new tires, as we just bought this vehicle two weeks earlier. It was too late for anything to be open now. A highway patrolman came and helped us, and we used his phone to call my Uncle Harvey, who lived within a half hour of the accident. These kind of situations are the only times I wish we still had a cell phone.

Highlight: So we unexpectedly spent the night at my aunt and uncle's home. Only two of their six boys still live at home, so they have plenty of room. My cousin Phil was also visiting with his wife and two kids. I hadn't seen him since they got married about four years ago, so it was nice to get reacquainted and to meet his kids... too bad they had been sick with the flu all week, and were just recovering ( insert sense of foreboding here.) Elora enjoyed playing with my Uncle's dog and cat the next morning while Joseph and Harv went to get a new tire. (It turns out the person who installed our tires 'ripped the bead' whatever that means, and this caused the blowouts. Yeah, we were mad.)

Low Point: Because of this incident, we had to use Saturday to drive the rest of the way to my parent's. This was the day I was hoping to go down to St. George and see red cliffs or something similarly spring break-y and warm, but it didn't happen. Nope, just hanging out at my parents boring house. Joseph didn't mind.. my brother has a game system (and we don't, hallelujah) , and he had a great afternoon playing it.


wait a minute...is that a leprechaun back there you ask? Why yes, yes it is. Lets just say my mom and my dad's ideas of home decor don't exactly mesh, but it makes for an interesting home:





Betcha didn't know that old bottles and marbles were treasure too, did ya? Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the swords on the wall, but I will have a later post showing some nice pics of dad's coins.

Highlight: Elora got to see grandma! And we got to play the traditional card game, plus on Sunday Elora got to see grandma lead the music at church, which is very exciting for her. Because we didn't go south, My mom and I took the kids to the park instead, and I contented myself taking pictures there. Don't let the desert-y background fool you though: we were still at a high elevation and it was still very cold!



Highlight: Monday morning we went and visited my friends Cardine and Julie at their places of work , which I had never seen. We only stopped by for a minute, but it was great to see them in person after such a long time.
Low Point:
I was very excited to go to the University and to visit the art department where I hadn't been for so long. I pictured a warm reunion, but this is the gist of the three conversations I had in the faculty offices:
Me: HI!
Them: Hello. Can I help you?
Me: Um, do you remember me? I graduated in 2000.
Them: Huh. Well, that was quite a while ago. So how have you been?
Me: Um fine. (Thinking, you still don't remember me, do you.)
Them: Well, nice seeing you again! Good luck with everything.

Very disappointing. In my mind I was a star student. Guess not so much.
The photography and the art history teachers for whom I had T.A.'d weren't there, so we couldn't chat, but maybe that was a good thing for my ego?

Highlight: However I did step into the painting class of a teacher I'd been friends with, and he knew me right away! His hair was longer and he looked more hippyish than before, but it fit him. He mentioned that he'd just shown some slides of my paintings to the class that week, and he said I was 'still famous' in the painting department. Sigh. I guess that made up for it. A little. They had a faculty art show in the local gallery too, and he invited me to go view his paintings, which I did on our way out of town Tuesday. That was nice too.

(Girl With Fantastic Hat I, Brian Hoover)

Highlight: Bowling with my brother and his girlfriend Monday night. It was nice to have a date night and to do something different for a change. My mom watched the kids. Yay!


(we're darn good, aren't' we! I got the 73 and I wasn't last place. Yippee!)

Low Point: (don't worry, I'm almost done) We left around 1:00 on Tuesday, and Joseph wasn't feeling well. He threw up before we left the house, and we stopped a few more times where he threw up in a bathroom and a gas station parking lot. (gee, I wonder where he got sick?)
When we got close to Salt Lake City, Elora started throwing up! We stopped and cleaned her up no less than four or five times, even though I gave her a bag to throw up in, it rarely made it in.


Lowest Point: The McDonalds guy. One of the times we stopped to clean up was in the industrial part of Salt Lake at a McDonalds. The bathrooms had obvious lock systems on them, but I thought I'd try it just in case it was open, as I read the notice on the door. As I was trying to open it, a man sitting nearby and reading a newspaper said, "I think you need a lock to get in there."

I realize he was just trying to be helpful, but I was stressed out and distracted ( and in my frazzled state it seemed he was insulting my intelligence) so I guess my reply came out rude...though I didn't mean it that way! I answered dryly, "Yeah, I can read that right here."
He then said in an offended voice, "Hey, I was just trying to be helpful."
I was still stressed and now felt considerably worse, so I ignored him as I walked with my filthy daughter to the front counter to get a token for the door. I came back and inserted the small coin, and of course it didn't work.
The man was apparently watching me, because in a smug tone he said, "Maybe you could read the directions on the door."
Oh burn!! I was about ready to turn around and strangle him, seriously.
I turned and said, " Look, I wasn't trying to be rude earlier, I was just saying I could read the door, okay?"
He interrupted and said, "Hey, it's just a joke, okay, I'm from the east coast."
What the heck kind of excuse was that!!! I knew a girl in college who used to say that line whenever she offended anyone , and it drove me nuts.
After we were done in the bathroom, I tried to swallow my pride as we walked past his table, and I said in the nicest voice I could muster, "Have a nice day!"
Of course he didn't look up from his paper.

I don't know why that event was such a big deal to me, but I was upset about it all the rest the way home.
Anyway, once we got home, Elora threw up in the toilet about four more times, and more the next day. They were both sick for four days or so, but Joshua and I never got it, thank goodness.

So what was supposed to be a fun relaxing weekend wasn't exactly so. It was an adventure though, that much is certain!

(sunset through tinted car windows...taken between Elora's throwing up spells.)