Till Tuesday

Tuesday was when I was going to post again, but I am one of those annoying people who always arrives early. Invite me to a party at your own peril.

The cold/allergy attack coughing all day and night thingie seems to have deserted me for now. My youngest daughter is starting to get sick at this point. We never used to get sick this often. I am beginning to feel like we are the unhealthiest family on the planet.

I promised my oldest that we would let her finish high school. That is two years away. As soon as the diploma is in her hot little hands, we may be leaving the area and moving somewhere else - like inside a plastic bubble.
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We took a drive on Saturday with no specific destination in mind. I asked my husband if we could drive down Hwy 49, as I never had been there.

It was a pretty drive with winding roads, lots of trees and a big river. Then we took Hwy 89 (or 88, I forget.) towards Jackson.

We passed through many of those little towns that make me say, "Oh, I want to live here."

For me, those are the towns that are pint-sized with one main street. The houses are usually New England style with beautifully manicured lawns. and you can see the locals congregating to gossip.

We could never afford to live in one of those Mayberry-type towns without winning the lottery or putting the kids up for adoption. But still, I have the fantasy every time I see one.

My husband turned on the radio and I half-listened to a commercial. A man's voice was sternly announcing that drunk voting was a crime, just like drunk driving.

Drunk voting, huh? Actually that sounds like fun to me.

Usually I go in sober and vote for the candidate that sucks the least. But if I went in drunk, I could spin in my booth with my eyes closed and put my finger on the card. Then I could vote for the politician whose name my finger hit - kind of like pin the tail on the donkey. (or elephant)

In fact, the only reason I vote is so I don't have to hear annoying people say, "You have no right to complain if you don't vote."

I vote solely so I can complain.

But back to the radio commercial. Drunk BOATING - it was drunk boating. OHHHHH - Now it made sense.

We kept driving towards the mountains. Our van has a gauge that shows the outside temperature. It gradually went from 64 degrees to 30 degrees.

The day went from sunny to gray. Patches of snow were on the ground. We stopped to use the restrooms. People in coats were staring at us like we were crazy in our t-shirts.

We were almost two hours into the drive. The kids had gotten impatient a good forty-five minutes ago. It was going to be quicker to continue going the way we were than to turn around.

We continued climbing the mountain. We saw a massive lake that was mostly frozen over. It began snowing!

We had to eventually pass a freaked out lady on the road. I looked at her as we drove by. She was hunching over the steering wheel with a terrified look.

Is there some law regarding women that says if you pass fifty, you have to drive around like a semi is going to hurtle across your path at any minute? I see so many women clenching that wheel with their teeth gritted while they go ten miles below the speed limit. What gives?

We braved on and ended up in South Lake Tahoe. For the last forty minutes, my bladder had been so full, I had been wishing to find the perfect clump of trees, a clump large enough to hide my butt while I squatted. Only we were in an avalanche area, so my husband couldn't have pulled over even if I would have peed by the road.

Lake Tahoe was amazingly quiet. My husband asked if I wanted to stay in a motel or head home.

I told him I had to pee RIGHT NOW and I wanted a motel thank you very much. Plus, the kids and I were road-tripped out.

Tomorrow I'll finish this story. It has gone on long enough, much like our road trip.