Road Trip Continued

Between Moab and Ogden, we had a five hour drive. We'll stop a lot, we thought. It'll be fine. And we did. We stopped at a gas station. We stopped at the grocery store twenty minutes later. And then we stopped at a rest area a half hour after that. 

"We're never going to get there," Fraser said at the rest area.

We'll make it," I said. "It'll be fine. He'll sleep after this."

After twenty minutes of screaming and asking to get out, yes, Jacob slept. For twenty minutes. And then he was ready again to get out. Excellent. 

After a quick lunch at Arby's where we discovered that Jacob loves roast beef sandwiches, we were on the road again, trying to cover some distance. I tried to distract him the best I could. The same toys you've seen for the past four days don't have the same appeal and after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar so many times I had it memorized, he was getting antsy. 

What set him off was ridiculous by grown up standards but, he is not a grown up. I ate a piece of cheese. He wanted some. I offered it to him. He said no. I finished it. He had a fit. He had a fit for fifty minutes. Screaming, yelling, crying... a good ol' fashioned fit. We tried earplugs which did help a little. We tried music and singing which didn't help at all. The kid is stubborn. He has stamina. Fraser couldn't get out to the car fast enough when we reached Ogden. 

We were done. All of us. Worst day in the car of the entire trip. 

At the hotel, Jacob and I went to the pool while Fraser watched a little football back in the room. Even then, Jacob fell apart at almost everything. Fraser couldn't pick up my suitcase without hearing, "Mama, Mama!" We couldn't change a diaper without a fit. Finally, after a huge meal of trout, green beans and carrots, he was ready for bed. Thank god for the end of the day. 

 
Fraser and I hung out outside, and he told me he didn't want anymore kids. Not after today. I told him these were unusual circumstances. But he had been scarred. The stress of listening to Jacob scream for such a long time was too much for this day. I hoped time and a better second half of our trip would help.

The next morning felt better. We were all in better moods. We had some breakfast, Jacob put on his "deodorant" with his toothbrush, we packed the car and were off. 

Up to Salmon, ID. Another long drive. Not much else to do but continue on. We had to make it all the way to Portland eventually. During our lunch break, Fraser did go into a Walmart to check out the travel DVD players. Eighty bucks. Not that desperate yet. He also looked at the Benedryl option that so many people suggest but decided against that also. 
We made it all the way up to Pocatello without many issues. He took a thirty minute nap and woke up crying again, but we pulled off, gave him a while to get back on track and then continued. 

We took 26 to 93 on up which takes you across long stretches of nothing before you hit the small town of Mackay. We got out in a parking lot and ran up and down a handicap ramp for awhile, went to the bathroom a couple times. The things you do to give your toddler a break without taking so long that you don't make it to you destination until 7 at night. 
This is where things like hay bales, or as Jacob says, "A males", got really interesting. We looked for them out Daddy's side of the car. We looked for them out Jacob's side of the car. They were the coolest things we had ever seen. 
"Jacob! Hay bales, coming up out your side," I said. "Wow, look how many there are. Cool!"
"More," Jacob said. "Daddy."
"Oh yea, I bet we'll see more out Daddy's side soon. Let's keep looking."
Between hay bales, giant irrigation sprinklers, horses and cows, we spent the next couple of hours. Rock canyons and rivers, also super cool. Towards the last 45 minutes he wanted out. Those hay bales got even more exciting. 
"Whoa!! Jacob, hay bales!" 
"Horses, neigh, neigh!"
"Oh, cows! What does a cow say?"
"Mooooo."
You can only tell a kid 'we're almost there' for so long but finally, we made it down my friend Rick's gravel driveway, our axle and oil pan gently scraping the ground. 

 We said hi to their horses and mules who came to greet us and then began jumping on their huge trampoline. Jacob was in hysterics. Couldn't keep himself up half the time but thought the entire experience was great. Rick and Audrey got home soon after. Audrey was showing Jacob how to jump. She also showed him her cool fire pit where there was much digging to be done. Right up his alley.

It's so helpful to have friends who have a child when you have a child. There are toys, there's another child, there are snacks. Life is so much easier for me in these places. 

Even with only a thirty minute nap in the car, Jacob was distracted and lit up. He found Audrey's place kitchen, her stick horse and Cinderella shoes. All very fun.

Bath time around 8, an hour and a half later than usual. But a big tub, tea party toys and a friend - who can resist! He passed out at 8:45. We told Rick that he'd be up between 5 and 6am. That's what he does when we're all together in a room; he knows we're there and starts waking up earlier and earlier. It wasn't until 7:45 that he even stirred the next morning.

Road Trip

Taking a road trip sounded like a good idea, a throwback to my younger days when it was just me and my cat traveling around the West. Taking a road trip with a toddler was a whole different experience. 

Overall, I'd give Jacob an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the best. It was mainly the 50 minute scream session we endured between Moab and Ogden, UT on the 5th day of our trip. After that, Fraser told me he didn't want anymore children. But really, for a child who is almost two, he did great. He read books, coloured with those fantastic markers that only draw on their own special paper; he played with little trucks and trains, beads, played his kazoo for us, fed his baby doll bits of bagel. Some toys took his attention longer than others but every minute helped us get further on our journey.


We left Boulder, CO and headed to Glenwood Springs. The hot spring pools the next morning were a big hit, and we hoped to tire out the boy so he'd sleep in the car. This is not is forte and this trip did nothing to improve that. You'd think being on the road for ten days would help a kid learn to sleep better in the car. Not so much. Twenty minutes. Like clockwork. So, from Glenwood Springs to Telluride, we stopped several times, sang a lot of Wheels on the Bus and looked at the changing aspen. Even through the occasional bouts of screaming I could enjoy the beauty of autumn in Colorado. The aspen were starting their shift from green to brilliant gold, shining on the hillsides as if lit from within. I've lived in Colorado for 7 1/2 years, and it still makes me stop what I'm doing to stare.

Telluride was an interesting visit. We were feeling very displaced having just left our home and having only our carload of possessions with us. Movers had taken all our other things on to Portland. It was great to see some old friends and familiar faces. And the visit also reminded me of why I didn't chose to go back and live there when I was younger and had that chance. It's a great town: beautiful, friendly, fun. And small. That has benefits and drawbacks. It was nice to visit. I will visit again in the future. There is a magic to that place like no other I've experienced. And it was nice to feel that I'd made a good choice all those years ago when I went to Boulder instead.

So we went on to Moab. It was hard leaving Colorado. It seemed somehow more final as we left, stopping at the state line to take pictures and say a little goodbye. Sure, we can always come back. But there's no way of knowing where life will take us here in Portland, how long it could be or if we ever really will make it back. We love Colorado: snow, mountains, sunshine. Very hard to say goodbye to paradise. 














The drive through the desert was hot, red and expansive. Beautiful in a stark way, daring you to let go of everything you know and just trust your heart, the only thing you can hear in the silence of that vast space.

From Moab to Ogden was also our first long day. Five hours total in the car. And with only an early twenty minute nap, there was bound to be a breakdown.