Frozy Toes

We just had a great Easter weekend in Tahoe with my sister and her family. So many things went right. Yes, I said so many things went right.

I think that's how travel is for most people. They just pack their bags and get into the car, or get on the plane, then they check in or knock on the door and then they put down their bags and they enjoy their vacation.

I'm not about to complain about going to Tahoe, don't worry. I already now how lucky we are to have a home there filled with supportive and loving family.. who let us stay there for free (or maybe for a case of Two Buck Chuck). It's just that travel is so difficult sometimes that it makes us want to go back home, lock the doors and have groceries delivered.

Lucy and I went up on Thursday night, so we would be there in time for me to sing with my sister at the Good Friday Tenebrae service. I think it's the first time I've made it in time to practice and be able to sing with her at church. I love singing with her, so it was very special for me.

Lucy and I had such a nice drive. We stopped and ate inside In N Out burger, something she always wants to do and never gets to, since it is often easier for our family to keep driving while I feed kids in the back. She had great table manners and we really enjoyed each other's company. We talked for most of the car ride up.

Descartes brought Jake up after school on Friday, and despite a very big storm, made it in time to put sleepy Jake with the babysitter and still get a chance to go for a drink at a new-ish wine bar.

Saturday we took the kids sledding. Jake didn't last in the sled even to get across the expanse of flat between the car and the hill. The powder was deep, and when he dove off of the sled we were pulling we let him stay there, playing in the snow. I stayed with him for a bit, then Descartes while the other one of us helped Jaster and Demanda with the sledding. Then I heard Descartes holler for me.

Jake lost a shoe. Lost a shoe? Lost a shoe. And of course this was the one time we had left the house without an extra pair of shoes for him. His snow boots had already been left at home, home 4 hours away, so we were pushing it with his tennis shoes. And it's not like Jake is going to tell us where he lost the shoe. Descartes carried him back to the car so Jake could heat up his frozy toes.

It was fine. Jake and I played in the car while the little kids finished sledding, and because they are little and every hill is a mountain, it wasn't too long before the whole gang was back to the car.

I'm not sure I've mentioned it yet, but we are headed on a cross-country trip this summer. We will be flying to the East coast, where we will meet Oma and Papa and their RV (which they will have driven across the country). I am going to the BlogHer '10 conference in New York that first weekend, then Descartes, and the kids, and the grandparents will pick me up at a train station in a state I've never been to (Pennsylvania?) with the RV with a car in tow. I will be detailing the trip later, but basically we spend a few days with my in-laws then drive the rest of the trip across the country with our little precious children, blisfully taking in National Parks and quiet streams and fabulous diners etc.

Except I just started to worry a little bit. The shoe thing got me thinking. I know if we forget anything we are probably going to be able to afford to buy it along the way, and there is an entire RV for Jack to hang out in if we lose a shoe, but what else will happen? I'm starting to get little butterflies about the whole thing. Detailed checklists will begin shortly.

*****

We will probably be blogging (Descartes is going to go all "bloggity blog!") the entire trip, and we will complete some of the same route that Descartes took with his family more than 20 years ago. It should be neat to take photos and take notes of the same places so many years later.

AdventureVan

We had a big weekend after a sort of harried week, running around trying to prepare for this big weekend. We called banks, moved money around, photocopied and faxed papers and made a zillion phone calls. We oiled, smogged and waxed and wiped, then packed and drove to Tahoe, and everything went exactly as it should.

Our family loves a good adventure. We plan well, and try to account for most contingencies, but the story is always better when things go wrong, as long as those things do not interrupt sleep or safety. In an effort to thwart those particular types of problems, and with great hope that we will be able to have Jake and Lucy experience as much of this country (continent?) as we can help them experience, in spite, and a bit because of disability, Descartes researched, and we just bought this weekend...

AdventureVanthis really is a photo of our van with Lake Tahoe in the background.

Sorry that this "MonsterVan", as little Hawk called it, has only this small picture to post so far. I have yet to photograph the entire thing myself. This van will allow us to go camping with Jake and know that he will be safe at night, locked in tucked away and cozy. It has 4-wheel drive, so we can set up camp in locations that are more off the beaten path, which generally means farther away from other people and their cars. We can keep Jake safe in the woods, near bodies of water, cliffs and rocks, but it is nearly impossible to protect him from careless drivers in campgrounds, or the evil scowls from neighboring campers when he is hooting and hollering with happiness.

AdventureVan is gigantic, seats 12, has a pop up top to provide a sleeping area, and provides our family with the comfort of being able to carry everything we need.

Descartes spent a lot of time researching these types of vans. He actually told me he started to look when Jake was only 3 or 4, after he realized that our family's camping experience would probably need to look a bit different than what camping looked like when he was a child. The first thing we had to do was trade our beloved LandCruiser, but I know it was time to let it go (notice the mileage on the odometer over there). We took some great trips in that car, and it was the first major purchase Descartes and made together after we were married. I stepped outside the house just as the new owner of the Cruiser was starting the engine, and I was suprised to have my eyes well up. I know it's going to a good home, a Daddy and his two beautiful girls. We all ended-up with what we needed.

As soon as the papers were all signed and keys traded, we put in all of the car seats, noting how easily they all fit across the bench seats. We put Wolf, Hawk and Lucy across the back, Jake had his own row and Jaster and Demanda sat in the front bench. We enjoyed lunch at one of our favorite Mexican food places, Taqueria Jalisco, where the seating is easy and the customer service is kind and the food is delicious. Then we made Descartes drive us all around and all the way to Red Lake
Jaster and Descartes did a happy dance on the banks after they discovered that the lake is indeed frozen over, and already shows signs of ice fishing, with 3 or 4 holes drilled already. I smiled happily because the children were all asleep (except Jake of course). A happy, driving, napping van. Descartes guided our crew back to South Lake through a snowstorm.

Our first big trip will probably be to the Grand Canyon, but we will put the van to good use before then. I'm hoping for a grownups only trip to the wine country. It needs to be vacuumed and spit shined a bit, but it is so cool and the kids love it, and my husband is happy. The kind of happy that I haven't seen sustained in a while, and it looks good on him.

We made a good choice.