Christmas Was a Month Ago!

On Wednesday, December 21, we got in the car after work and started driving east in a bit of a snowstorm. As we drove through Colorado, the snow kept coming, and the wind was blowing pretty hard in spots. We stopped after an hour or so to eat dinner (Arby’s). The snowstorm preceded us all the way into Nebraska before it finally petered out near the eastern side of the state. I slept most of the way, so Dave soldiered through the storm mostly by himself. As usual, we took turns driving throughout the night…Dave for a long time, and then I would take a turn when he got too tired. We weren’t sure how Phoebe would do on such a long trip, but she slept through the night like she always does. What a trooper! We listened to podcasts of NPR’s Science Friday almost all the way to our first stop at Dave’s grandparents’ house in Montgomery, Michigan, near the border of both Indiana and Ohio.

The snowstorm and fairly long stops for dinner and breakfast (it only seemed fair to let Phoebe to get out of the car for at least a little while!) cost us about four hours, so we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s Hoot’s just before dinner on Thursday, December 22. Aunt Vickie lives there too, and Uncle Brian came for a visit. We hadn’t seen him in years! We had some dinner and opened a few presents before putting Phoebe in her pajamas and trying to put her to bed in her pack ‘n play. She refused to sleep anywhere but the bed, and she wanted me to lie down with her, so we began an on-the-road ritual. Once she was asleep, I was able to move her to the pack ‘n play. It wasn’t too much longer before Dave and I were ready for bed! Sleeping in the car or driving in the middle of the night wears you out.

Playing Grandma Hoot’s organ.

The next day, we had time to have some breakfast and play outside for a while. Dave and Uncle Brian drove into town while Phoebe and I went on the swings and checked out the barn cats. We had plenty of time to chat, and we managed to eat lunch before we climbed back into the car for the four-hour trip to my parents’ house in Sagamore Hills.

Stay tuned for more of our road trip!