The Road From Grumpy

We officially begin our 2012 Summer season by driving 280 miles to take four girls to camp – Kiah and Anna for three months, Amy and Lani for three weeks. 

I’m grumpy because the girls are messy, don’t like to clean, and wait until the last minute to pack.

I’m grumpy because only half my to-do list got done.

Truth be known, I’m probably most grumpy because even though the girls drive me crazy some days, I’m going to miss them.  

We drive Grandma’s car because it has things our van doesn’t – like better gas mileage, automatic windows, a working horn, cassette player, and cruise control.

Unfortunately Grandma’s trunk is smaller than our van’s storage area. I suggest packing light.

My blood pressure spikes as the girls traipse out of the house with a motley assortment of suitcases, duffel bags, Rubbermaid totes, backpacks, purses, pillows, sleeping bags, and blankets and I wonder what part about packing light they didn’t understand.

After Keith stuffs the trunk full, Kiah brings out a bag of groceries, a huge purse, and an Espresso machine!?!? She offers to hold extra stuff on her lap. I grumble that I don’t want her stuff on my half of the front seat.

I begrudgingly bring the Tracfone Keith bought me. I know I’m seriously behind the times, but I don’t want a cell phone. I don’t like being tracked down. I usually function fine without one.

We leave an hour late. Eight minutes down the road Anna discovers she forgot her wallet and drivers license. We drive back home, get the wallet, and continue our journey.

Anna drives for an hour. I ride in back, rather than sit up front with Kiah’s stuff. We change places at the Hayward Bakery.

I didn’t buy gas before leaving, because Ashland usually has the highest prices. Today Hayward’s gas is ten cents higher. I eye the fuel gauge and hope we have enough gas to reach Rice Lake. 

 
We listen to four Adventures in Odyssey cassettes I bought at Goodwill last week. No matter how old the kids are, they still love Odyssey tapes.

Amy chooses accent and gender for a borrowed GPS. Kiah quickly tires of the voice and mutes it.

I have Amy find Taco Bells with the GPS since the online Taco Bell locator is useless. My sense of fairness takes over and I can’t in good conscience automatically decree that we eat at Taco Bell. 

Anna wins my “Guess the Number” contest and chooses Subway. Pity the poor sandwich artists who wait on our indecisive bunch. I console myself, knowing I can stop at Taco Bell on the way home.

The gas gauge dips perilously close to empty. I take the nearest exit, praying for a gas station. I try not to panic but there's not a gas station in sight. Amy checks the muted GPS and finds one three miles further south. Gas is five cents cheaper than Ashland and I fill the tank.

Western Wisconsin is beautiful. (Eastern Wisconsin might be too but I haven’t been there so can’t vouch for it’s beauty.) I am soothed by bright blue sky and hillsides covered in vibrant spring green. When I swerve, Kiah, the front seat hog, says to watch the road and not the scenery.

 

We stop at La Crosse's mall and I am irritated by larger than life Victoria’s Secret window displays (don’t get me started) and traumatized by swimsuit shopping for Amy and Lani. Gone are the days of ordering sensible, modest, inexpensive suits off Ebay. Hello to hours spent combing through swimsuit displays, praying for one modest, inexpensive suit that pleases both parent and teenaged child. We find one that is 4/5ths suitable, but we're out of time so we take it.

When it's time to go, my cell phone tracks down missing family members. Kiah bought shoes, and since the trunk is stuffed, she sweet talks Lani into holding a big orange Nike shoe box on her lap for the last hour of the trip.

I call Keith who has tracked our whereabouts by debit card purchases appearing on our online bank statement. He says, “I see you’ve been to the Hayward bakery, Subway, Sears, and bought gas.”  If he wasn’t my husband, that would be creepy.

We arrive at camp and I am overjoyed to see my boy. My heart swells when he walks over and says, “Hi Ma!” and gives me a big hug. We haven't seen him since Christmas. I’m glad he enjoys his job and it’s fun seeing him grow up, but we miss him. A lot.

It’s good to see Rachel and her family and friends who have gathered to celebrate her college graduation from UW-La Crosse.

We eat Mexican food, which makes up for missing Taco Bell. The weather is wonderful and we eat on picnic benches in their front yard. Camp is peaceful, green, and pretty.

Me, Kiah, and Anna

My Boy

Rachel and her cousin

Amy and friend

We recruit Rachel’s brother and friends to play six games of volleyball. 

The games get competitive.  

Andrew and Rachel

Kiah is intense and sometimes hogs the ball

so it’s nice that she’s on the other team. 

Rachel, Kiah, and Anna

I’m glad to be on Andrew’s team since it hurts to receive his hard serves and spikes. It's fun that we enjoy playing volleyball together. 

Lani, Anna, and Kiah

We stay up late either talking, watching TV basketball, or playing games. I enjoy talking to Rachel’s aunt, until we notice that it’s 1:00 am, and everyone else has gone to bed. We’re the last ones up.

I left Ashland this morning grumpy and stressed, and now squeeze into bed besides a sleeping Kiah who is taking more than her share of the bed, happy and thankful for a food, family, and fun-filled day.