Vacation - Day 1

Up a little before 6. Start grabbing miscellaneous things we've forgotten to pack (dirty clothes bag, alarm clock, hat for Matthew, etc). Steve has informed me that we will not be able to access the food that I packed (buried too deep), so I randomly start grabbing miscellaneous stuff out of the pantry (pop tarts, cereal, chips, rice krispie treats).

My dad and I eat our yogurt and fiber one (at least we started out healthy) standing around the island in the kitchen as I wonder how comfortable I'll be wedged in between 2 carseats for most of the day. I didn't even dare to go out and look at the Expedition when Steve finished loading it. We're meeting my mom (Grammy) in Oklahoma tonight, so for today, Grampaw has to ride with us. Let me just say, it is a TIGHT fit.

Get on the road at 6:55am. This is amazing. Really. With the exception of Grampaw, we're not morning people.We sing, eat, read the same 4 books many times, snooze, look at the map, and make our way north on a carefully planned out path that avoids all major cities. We are less pressed for time because we've found out that sadly, and for unknown reasons, Selenite collection has been temporarily suspended at the Great Salt Plains State Park of Oklahoma. Bummer.

Stop for picnic lunch at park in small town TX. Awesome playground. Grampaw find 23 cents and "gold" earing and imagines how much more if only he had his metal detector.

As we get into OK, we run into occasional rain and lots of lightening. At some point Steve says, maybe we should get a room at the motel with your parents tonight, instead of camping. Hallelujah chorus starts running through my head as I say, "Sure, okay with me."

By mid afternoon, all extra clothes for the kids (the ones that are easily accessible, anyway) have been used up, and Matthew (4 yrs) is wearing some of Jackson's 18 mo. shorts. Poor kid. What kind of mother does he have??

We select Burger Kind in Enid, OK for supper, mainly because of the huge climby play area. We shuffle in, use the restroom, kids start playing and make several attempts to order. After standing expectantly at the counter for more than 10 minutes without being acknowledged, my dad says, "If it was just me, I wouldn't still be standing here." At the same time, I'm thinking "I'd probably be a lot happier if I couldn't see the people who are preparing the food." Finally after being ignored several more minutes by unsightly Burger King employees, we decide to leave. This is not a popular decision with the kids, so we let them play a few more minutes before dragging them away. Normally, I'd never "play and leave" without buying something, but this place is an exception (I'd like to think). We choose Braum's next and the food tastes like heaven. I have a weird deja vu feeling about the place. Kids aren't too disappointed because we all get ice cream (remember how we started out healthy??).

Pull into Cherokee Inn around 930pm, bathe kids, power up laptop and am truely amazed that the place has wifi (also a nice *clean* mini-fridge).Everyone passes out. I'm too keyed up to sleep. Partly because of all the napping in the car, partly because I know my mom's on the road by herself for a few more hours.