Heading to my home town with Joe-Henry and my sister today. Charley can't make it because he has to work, but will get two glorious do-nothing quiet days in the house to play guitar and watch entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica.
I love taking the drive, and I love seeing my brother and his daughter and her sweet family.
I'll bring back lots of stories, and pictures I'm sure!
Until then: love your life, sing your song!
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Oh My.
That about sums up our weekend road trip.
Let's see what we had going on:
Good travel companions - check!
Roadside Attractions - check
Beautiful Scenery - check
Naughty Road Food - check
The destination was my home town. The place I grew up (well, as much as I did), and the place my brother still lives. My parents are buried there. It's a fairly small town, and I was eager to leave when I got out of highschool. But driving back, I felt like something inside just opened up. I soaked up the scenery. I took about 8 billion pictures of the clouds - the way they cast shadows on the hills and the water, the pictures they make in the sky. Here's just one, if you desire more of this, hop over to my flickr page, there are 7,000,000,999 more.
And being with my family, with Joe-Henry along for the ride was... I can't put it into words really. It was more emotional than I bargained for. One of my siblings didn't go, and he was so missed. It's funny to see the picture of us - who are those people? We're still "the kids"! Being with them made me wish that Joe-Henry wasn't an only child.
Luckily, he has cousins, who are older than he is, but younger than I am, doing their part to keep him supplied with fresh playmates! My niece Amber, my brother's wonderful daughter, and her brilliant and funny and beautiful baby came over, and Joe-Henry was completely smitten.
He feels the same way about my brother that I do, too. He just loves to be around him. He's mellow and funny and kind, and he makes the best spaghetti I've ever tasted (with apologies to my MIL, who runs a close second). I don't know how I managed to leave without the recipe, but I'm making it my mission for the next trip.
And there will be another trip this summer. Somehow. Because it's not just a drive, it's a roadtrip. And it's not just a place. It's home.
Let's see what we had going on:
Good travel companions - check!
Roadside Attractions - check
Beautiful Scenery - check
Naughty Road Food - check
The destination was my home town. The place I grew up (well, as much as I did), and the place my brother still lives. My parents are buried there. It's a fairly small town, and I was eager to leave when I got out of highschool. But driving back, I felt like something inside just opened up. I soaked up the scenery. I took about 8 billion pictures of the clouds - the way they cast shadows on the hills and the water, the pictures they make in the sky. Here's just one, if you desire more of this, hop over to my flickr page, there are 7,000,000,999 more.
And being with my family, with Joe-Henry along for the ride was... I can't put it into words really. It was more emotional than I bargained for. One of my siblings didn't go, and he was so missed. It's funny to see the picture of us - who are those people? We're still "the kids"! Being with them made me wish that Joe-Henry wasn't an only child.
Luckily, he has cousins, who are older than he is, but younger than I am, doing their part to keep him supplied with fresh playmates! My niece Amber, my brother's wonderful daughter, and her brilliant and funny and beautiful baby came over, and Joe-Henry was completely smitten.
He feels the same way about my brother that I do, too. He just loves to be around him. He's mellow and funny and kind, and he makes the best spaghetti I've ever tasted (with apologies to my MIL, who runs a close second). I don't know how I managed to leave without the recipe, but I'm making it my mission for the next trip.
And there will be another trip this summer. Somehow. Because it's not just a drive, it's a roadtrip. And it's not just a place. It's home.
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.
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.
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