The Christmas Adventure: Chapter 1

The Drive Up

Mark and I had planned to drive up North for Christmas, as (most of you who have read my blog before know) we had recently (and rather quickly) moved from Michigan to Florida. We chose to drive instead of fly since our families are rather scattered across the Midwest. Mark's parents live in Illinois, mine in Iowa, my brother and sister-in-law live in Michigan and Mark's sister and her husband and son are in the process of moving from Indiana to Pennsylvania. So a drive was necessary to visit all major relatives as well as say one more good-bye to our friends in Michigan. We talked with relatives and friends and created the itinerary as follows (not necessarily to minimize driving but to maximize our ability to fit into other people's schedules): We would leave Ft. Myers on Friday the 16 th after we had finished packing the car, drive up to Bradenton, where my grandmother lives, pick up some presents from her that she did not want to take on the plane with her and switch cars (Grandma was kind enough to suggest that we drive her car) spend the night and leave early Saturday morning for Illinois. We would spend Saturday night in Illinois with Mark's parents, go to Church on Sunday morning and leave in the afternoon for Grand Rapids, Michigan. We would stay in Grand Rapids until Wednesday, when we would leave for Illinois and Mark's parents again to spend more time with them and Mark's sister, brother-in-law and nephew, who were also visiting at that time. We would stay in Illinois until Saturday morning and then drive up to Iowa and my family. On Monday afternoon we would leave Iowa and make one more pit stop in Illinois to spend the night and then FINALLY leave on Tuesday morning and drive to Florida, taking our time. There was one hitch. We had no idea what to do with our cat, Pepper.

Contrary to popular catish behavior, Pepper is very social and does not do well when left alone for more than a day. She needs people and attention. All the people we met so far were going on vacation as well and would not be able to care for our cat. So we only had two options: put her in a kennel or take her with us. In the end it was deemed best to take the cat with us. As much as Pepper detests cars (she gets car sick) she would rather drive a million miles in a car with people than spend a week and a half in a kennel by herself. Fortunately, my parents said that they would meet us on Sunday to take the cat to their house. She would have to spend a week locked in a room, as my parents have two cats of their own, but they would be able to be with her and play with her, and a room is bigger than a kennel.

We were preparing to leave by 6 pm on Friday, however, packing took us longer than we expected. We didn't leave until about 7:30 pm. After working all day and packing we were both very tired. So we stopped by a gas station. Mark picked up a Redbull and some No-Doze (which, fortunately, he did not take at the same time). By the time we reached Bradenton and had switched out the cars, Mark was wide awake and ready to keep driving. I was not. So Mark drove and I slept. I woke up a few times, once when Mark's Redbull buzz ended and he pulled into a rest stop for a nap and once to give him some No-Doze. By the time Mark was weary of driving we had nearly reached Atlanta, Georgia. It was about 6 am. We stopped for breakfast. After two cups of coffee (an astonishingly small amount for me) I was ready to drive. Poor Mark was not able to rest much, however, as I absolutely hate driving in large cities and/or through lots of traffic.

Driving brings out the worst in me. I don't think anyone could say that I have road rage, but I definitely get stressed out and rather upset. I cannot stand stupidity, and many people, while probably intelligent in their own right, are rather stupid when it comes to driving. I usually grip the wheel and wonder where the guy who just cut me off and almost hit me was looking when he decided to come over into my lane. And what is up with the moron who decides to speed up so he can jerk his car in front of you and then slows down to about 10 miles under the speed limit? Really, people!!! Go back to driver's education and pay attention this time!!! Oh, and the gas is the pedal on the RIGHT. USE IT. That's how the car goes forward.

Ahem. Needless to say, I survived Atlanta, and Mark graciously suggested that he take over while I recover from all the near death experiences we just had from people who are incapable of looking where they are going. In fact the rest of the drive was rather uneventful. The weather was nice, and the roads in good shape. Even the car sick cat did well. She threw up once and messed once in her cage. After that, she was fine and spent most of the trip on Mark's lap or laying on a pillow in the back seat. Only rarely did she alert us to her disdainful presence by meowing her discontent with us and with the world in general. Mark's parents were glad to see us and we were glad to finally, after about 17 hours in a car, take a nice warm shower and sleep in a bed, not curled up in a car seat. And we only had a six hour drive ahead of us! How lovely!