Monday, July 9, 2007

Whoever said it's the journey, not the destination...

...clearly has never been lost in Hollister, CA during the motorcycle rally.

Not that we wouldn't have LOVED to get out of the car and look at the bikes and chat with everyone - we would have!


But we'd already been in the car for a day and a half.

That beginning of the road trip excitement had worn off, and now it was just hot and Grandma and Grandpa were only six hours away if we could only figure a way out of this mess!

We figured it out, eventually, but not before I got to take a lot of pictures of sky (for you, D!),



and the one blessing in all of it was that JH FINALLY took a nap.

He'd been up late for over a week, and was so excited to be heading to G&G's, which really is like Disneyland compared to the bootcamp that is home, that he had become like a parody of a whiny child in the backseat, repeating "how long until we get to Grandma's?!".

Before Hollister, we did manage to have our lunch at Casa de Fruta, which has been our stopping place for years. It's an amazing little oasis that grows every time we go.


It was first a stop for fruit, then lunch, and then when Joe-Henry came along, the playground and a train ride, but now they've added a carousel.


We managed it all in an hour, and asked what the traffic problem was (the bike rally in Hollister) that had kept us at 10 mph for the last hour. Even with this information, we managed to go further into the belly of the beast and get ourselves incredibly frustrated for a good couple hours. Luckily, Joe-Henry managed to stay pretty calm through all of it.

But we eventually found our way to the 101, and later to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and the hugs and kisses haven't stopped since.

We traveled to LA to see Joe-Henry's doctors, and some dear friends, and this morning, we managed a trip to the ER, but that's a post for a later day. Tomorrow, Charley and I will head to San Francicso for a little R&R, then home for a little more. Joe-Henry will be here for an extra 4 days, the longest I've ever been away from him, being loved to bits and pieces by his amazing Grandparents. I hope he still will want to come home. Because as much as I look forward to the alone time (and OH! I look forward to that time), I know I am going to feel like I'm missing a limb the entire time. But watching him with his Grandma last night snuggled up watching Winnie the Pooh and laughing so hard, I was so glad he'd have that time with them alone. Time to get spoiled rotten, and hugged and kissed until he squirms.

5 comments:

suttonhoo said...

yay! blueskies! and you're gonna laugh, but I *have* been lost in Hollister during a bike rally -- my sister used to live there (poor dear), and together we marvel at those hip tees that the cool kids are wearing emblazoned with "Hollister".

nobody should brag about a place like that.

sorry. apologies. it has its charms.

(she doesn't live there anymore.)

and casa de fruta! yay yay yay.

looks like so much fun -- excepting the ER piece -- glad everything's okay -- have fun in SF!

suttonhoo said...

p.s. here's what's breaking my heart -- you were in the WBME's neighborhood -- you coulda stopped by. :)

anniemcq said...

NOOOO! Were we really in his neighborhood? I totally WOULD have stopped by!


And yeah, I've seen so many of those tees, and I want to go up and shake 'em, and say "have you ever BEEN to Hollister?"

Donna said...

Getting to appreciate a little life without them makes me a lot more accepting of the daily grind. I'm about to push the one local set of grandparents for another long weekend away (haven't had one in 3 years!). Should be more appealing to them without the diapers and sippy cups, right?

Enjoy the time alone knowing that JH is having a blast.

Lolabola* said...

I love that carousel photo