Day Two--The Journey Continues

Desperate Prayer of the Day by Doug: Please make this Route 395, even if it wasn’t before!

--10:40am. We were traveling through our old haunts in Maryland where we lived with our two little ones from 1971-1974. We kept exclaiming over highway signs that announced Silver Springs, Andrews Air Force Base, Beltsville, New Carrollton and Annapolis. We felt young again. It felt good.

--11:00am We saw the top of the capitol building! It still evokes pride and awe in us.

--Doug had been surprised when the GPS had insisted on going through Washington, DC, but so far (in spite of his declarations of disagreement), it had not steered us wrong. But through Washington, DC?! And, then, right in the middle of a dubious part of town, the TomTom went to sleep! That’s right—it closed its weary eyes, gave a soft snore, and the screen went dark. I repeat--right in the middle of a dubious part of Washington, DC.

Obviously the GPS needed to be recharged. There was a McDonald’s on the corner, so we fought our way through DC traffic and pulled into the parking lot. No one in the entire restaurant spoke English, so no one could tell me if they had Wi-Fi. Since I saw no sign advertising this service, we decided to use the bathroom and leave. That is, until we learned that they charged to use the bathroom; there was no way we were going to pay cash for that privilege!

Grumpy now (for more reason than one), we tightened our seat belts and pulled out into the unknown. I have to say that my husband is amazing. By instinct and vague memories of years past, he was able to navigate through the streets of DC. Eventually he breathed the Please make this Route 395, even if it wasn’t before prayer and we were on the highway. By 11:30 we crossed the border into Virginia, and I must say, a Welcome to Virginia sign has never looked sweeter.

Day Two

Saturday, February 26

Quote of the day: “Every so often I need OUT; something will throw me into total disproportion, and I have to get away from everybody—away from all these people I love most in the world—in order to regain a sense of proportion.” A Circle of Quiet, Madeleine L’Engle

--We woke up early, packed the car and were on the road at 6:50, earlier than we had announced the evening before. We were heading to Todd’s to get the insurance card for our car, when he called to say that he was at that very moment in Ehret’s driveway with the insurance card in hand! [Now, that sounds like a Gilmore girl scenario.]
--We met him at McDonald's near his house and he patiently taught me how to text and how to answer text messages. [Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?]
--We were on the road again (Why does that phrase sound vaguely familiar?) at 8:10.

We’re off the to see the Wizard! The wonderful Wizard of Oz!

--And then started the love/hate relationship with the TomTom. First of all were the bongs that went off every time Doug exceeded the speed limit (you can just imagine how well that went over), and then there were the fairly frequent times when Doug disagreed with the directions the woman was giving him. (Once again, you can just imagine that whole verbal scenario.)
--I, on the other hand, was caught up in a lovely world created by Madeleine L’Engle. Doug kept talking to me, but I was completely oblivious. I finally had a decision to make: should I be a good wife, put the book away, and be involved with an on-going conversation with my husband? Or, should I remain immersed in A Circle of Quiet and completely ignore every wild animal—dead or alive—that my husband pointed out to me along the road? I agonized for a bit, and finally made my choice.

But, I’m not going to tell you which choice I made. I'll leave that up to you to decide.

A Week of Perfection--April 2009

Thriller!

One of the highlights of our vacation was the performance of Michael Jackson's Thriller by some of my children and grandchildren. We went out to dinner one evening and when we returned to our car, we discovered this wide-open space in the parking lot. For us, a wide-open space screams for a performance! We cranked up the music on the CD player in our car and this was the result!

2009 Hillfamily Vacation

The one thing that is certain about our annual family vacation is that nothing is certain! Expect the unexpected might be an appropriate phrase to describe our ever-changing expeditions. This year we decided to venture into the world of tent camping. With 19 of us--ranging in age from 11 months to, well, my age--we had one small RV, one truck tent, two large tents and two small tents.

The highlights of this year consisted of water skiing, tubing, sumptuous meals prepared by each family, singing around the campfire on a dark windy evening, and an energetic rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Things were pretty calm and orderly until Sunday night, when the unexpected made its appearance. None of us were prepared for the deluge during this last night. Shortly after we had said goodnight and wrapped ourselves in our sleeping bags, we were awakened by a flash of lightning and an explosion of thunder. Then the rain started. When I say rain, I don't mean gentle falling rain, I mean torrential rain. I mean a raging storm. I'm talking about ferocious, unending volleys of thunder that we could feel in our guts. And there we were, all 19 of us in our little tent homes, being battered by the wind and rain.

I am happy to report that we all survived this unexpected deluge, and the next day was full of sunshine and clean, fresh breezes. Though nothing is certain on our family vacations, one thing I now know is certain: the next time I go tent camping, I will take an umbrella!