Travelouge: Day 1

I try not to be a high maintenance traveler. But, truth be told, I think I am. Particularly road trips. I don’t like them. In recent years Steve has taken the kids on road trips but I have managed to avoid them by making up convincing excuses such as being in school or writing a dissertation. Earlier in the spring, however, as Steve and Anna started talking about taking a road trip, I inserted myself into the conversation and invited myself to go along. They cheerfully and graciously welcomed me, although as the day of departure loomed closer I noticed signs of stress and am pretty sure they were meeting and exchanging feverish whispers about how awful travelling with me was going to be. I think it was the recent prescription for Valium that came in a brown unmarked box that was the real give away.

My aversion to car travel started when I was a kid.  When my family took road trips I, being the smallest, was stuck in the center of the back seat. My brother would pick on me and make me scream and then gaze innocently out the window. My mother would yell at me and my brother would act angelic until she turned around to face the front again. The cycle would repeat.

This went on for hours. Somehow my mother never seemed to catch on to what was happening and I could never seem to figure out how to make my brother scream instead. This set a tone for long car rides. I don't think I've ever fully recovered.

To be clear, no one in my current immediate family creates the same level of ruckus as my brother. But I still don’t like car travel.  Fast food grosses me out. Public restrooms are just unsettling, and truck stops are… well… let me just say when I see a bumper sticker that says, “If you are going to ride my ass at least pull my hair,” I worry for the fate of our species.
 
Nevertheless, I’ve decided to be a big girl. I’m going on a road trip.

Stop one: Omaha, Nebraska while Steve attends to business. For Anna and I this means a little bit of exploring but mostly digging into the gigantic bag of books we brought along.

And maybe a little truck stop shopping.

Next stop....Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.