Thursday, June 21, 2007

Have car, will travel

At first I was supposed to go out to L.A. on business…

Then that changed to Boston on business…

Then that got cancelled altogether and now I’m going to Norman, Oklahoma…

From LA to Boston to Norman… that’s a rather strange progression isn’t it?

One of my cousins got married recently and they are having a reception on Saturday. And seeing as how this is one of only two cousins on my Mom’s side, Honey Mustard, The Peanut Butter, The Jelly and I – along with my parents, my brother and his fiancée – are making the trek down.

Twelve hours in a car with two 5-year olds…

Oh. My. God.

Sure, we’ll have the dual DVD player… and The PB & The J will have their Gameboys (which, quite frankly, they don’t really like)… and they’ll have enough books that they would be able to take over for the Library of Congress… and coloring books. But even with all those diversions, it’s still going to be a bumpy ride so to speak.

Why? Well, save for a short portion through the Ozarks, the states of Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma are pretty damn flat…

For those of you in New York or Virginia or California or Florida who have never driven through those states, it looks something like this:




Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the idea.

So… I’ll be back Tuesday with tales to regale about a trip that, while shorter than last year’s jaunt to Washington DC, will surely be…

Be…

...

... well... how about we just say ‘interesting’ at this point at leave it at that?

Oh... and a prize to whomever can accurately guess what the total expenditure of gas on this trip will be while driving a Ford Explorer.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

$5 billion?

Darren said...

We were just out driving today and Clare mentioned the hills. I told her that some people don't have hills and she didn't believe me. Thanks for the picture as proof.

I'd guess about $250-300 for the gas. Do I need to be more specific?

Anonymous said...

Actually, Kemp, I should've said good luck on that trip. I'm going up to Toronto on July 4th and driving back that weekend with my sister, my niece, and my nephew. I'm a little scared of driving back with two kids ages 4 and 2 for six to seven hours. I drove once with my niece when she was just a couple of months old, and she was fine until she screamed the entire last half-hour of the trip. Although, the scariest part? My sister for that long. Could be rough! At least, like your kids, the children will have entertainment.

Anonymous said...

Eek.

Rather you than me.

Anonymous said...

I say $350.

And that is my final answer.

Anonymous said...

oh good luck. we just made a very similar trip (but with much more scenery) with two 4 3/4 year-olds. we also have a ford explorer so i can guess with fairly good accuracy (not that others can't...). so i'll guess $420. (hehe. 420.)

hope it all goes/went smoothly.

Devra said...

I guess it is too late to mention that driving thru the Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska or Missouri is a recipe for instant insanity.

Devra said...

oops I left out them most important thing! DURING THE DAY. If you drive thru any of those states DURING THE DAY, you will risk yawning until your jaw aches or you will go insane.