Notice: I was experiencing spotty
wifi while traveling, so I haven't able to keep you all updated! Also, I admit, once home, I found it soo difficult to get up and just finish this monster of a post! Sorry guys!
Anyways, here is the adventure, as written while in the moment. :)
Road Trip
Adventures!
Friday marked the start of the
road trip home! If
I failed to mention earlier, my grandparents live in Florida for half the year
and the Arizona mountains for the other half. They are the definition of
snowbirds and flee the gorgeous mountains as soon as winter weather begins to
set in! Anyhow, my mom and I flew to Florida to enjoy a vacation and also to
drive my grandparents and their many things back to Arizona, which is where we
live. Oh, let me tell you, traveling cross-country with your family is quite
the trip! Anyhow, I figured I'll break this down for you so you don't have to
sit through any tiresome reading you don't feel like doing. I'll be mentioning:
a) must-haves for a road trip
b) the don'ts for a road trip
c) a couple good stories
and, the best part
d) places we stopped for
fun (and you should, too!)
Alright, let's do this!
a) The
road trip from Florida to Arizona took four
days. Four. Freaking. Days. In order to survive being on the road for
four days (especially if you are with your family instead of your friends), you
must have the right essentials to keep yourself from tipping over into the
realm of immeasurable boredom. (Trust me, I didn't have the right things for
the last day of driving, and my friends suffered from a large amount of ugly
selfies spamming their snapchats.) So, in order to keep your sanity, I would
highly suggest
having something to occupy your
attention. Books, movies, music, drawing equipment, whatever is your
thing, have it on hand! Make sure you'll have enough to keep you busy for the
whole day. I say this because I mowed through three books in a row and found
myself helpless after that.
Second, have some good
snacks on hand! If you are the kind of person who keeps eating and
eating out of boredom until the bag is empty, buy small portions that will tide
you over yet keep the guilt away.
Third, have a bag
full of clothes and essentials for hotel stays on the way. Keep them
nearby or in an easily accessible place so you don’t have to unload the entire
trunk just to get to your contact solution. The last thing I highly suggest
having on hand for a long car trip
for all of you
ladies out there is
HAIRTIES. I don’t
know about you, but having my hair in my face 24/7 drives me insane! Especially
when you fall asleep and it’s everywhere. So, guys, if you’ve got long hair,
have something to tie it out of your face with. Anyhow, on to the next thing!
b) Okay, after going over all of the things that make a road trip with the
family more pleasant, here are the things that make a road trip with the family
UNpleasant. A.k.a.,
the don’ts of a family road trip.
1) forgetting headphones/not having music downloaded.
When your grandpa and mom are driving and sitting shotgun, you will be stuck
listening to a horrifying mashup of old, old country and random 80’s-sounding
music. Spare yourself and download a good playlist to listen to on your phone!
Also, make sure you have a car charger with you so that if your phone dies,
there is hope to revive it before stopping at the hotel for the night.
2) having too much of the same food in the cooler.
My grandparents believe that waste is a horrible thing, and, though they may be
correct, they believe the solution to this is bringing all of their leftover
fridge food along with them. Which means having sandwiches every single day. I
for one believe that variety is the spice of life, and if you are in a
different state with different food and want to try something different or
you’re simply in the mood to eat something besides bread, you should maybe stop
and try to find a restaurant or café. So, guys, don’t bring too much food in
the cooler, or you’ll be obligated to eat it!
All of it.
3) driving for short periods of time if you have a long ways
to go. Unless you don’t have a specific destination and are just
wandering along, make sure you get in a decent amount of driving each day! We
did pretty well with this for the most part, but there were some days that we
didn’t drive much and other days where we had to compensate by driving for
hours and hours on end. Trust me, having a sore butt on these kinds of days
sucks, so just get in a good amount of driving each day if possible. These are
the most major don’ts of a road trip. Since that’s done and over, let’s get
into the good stuff: the stories.
c) Along the road trip, although there was mostly driving, hotel stays, and
sitting in one spot, there were
a couple of those
eccentric moments that become ingrained in your mind forever, as usually
happens with your family. Especially with your grandparents! Anyhow, my
mummi is a confident, headstrong woman, born a leader and still going strong. I
look up to her greatly, but sometimes these amazing qualities get the best of
her. At one of the hotels we were staying at for the night, she and Pappa
decided to head on into the elevator while Mom and I carried some of our
belongings into the hotel. I watched as the elevator doors closed with both
grandparents inside and set the heaviest items down as I pushed the up arrow,
waiting for it to illuminate with that dusty, yellow glow unique to most hotel
elevator buttons.
Eventually, the humming noise of the moving
elevator came to a halt, the doors opened with a slight “Bing!” noise, and
there came a voice I know all-too-well from within saying, “Hi, guys!” We peered
inside only to find Mummi on the elevator accompanied by strangers and with no
Pappa in sight. Trickles of laughter escaped her lips as we entered the small
space. “I got off on the wrong floor!” she explained. “I just walked straight
off and thought it was the right place!”
“Well, did Pappa just stay on the elevator or
what?” Mom questioned.
“Yes! He just waited and kept on going!” They both
doubled over, laughing until (literally) tears were falling down their cheeks,
and I joined in, glad for an escape from traveling tension. I felt curious
stares on my back as strangers wondered what crazy gene had passed through
these three generations of women. After laughing all the way to the hotel room,
Pappa felt the need to inform us of just how sure Mummi was, marching straight
onto the second floor without a second look at her surroundings, expecting
Pappa to be right behind her. Knowing my mummi, this is entirely too easy to
picture and entirely too good not to love looking back at. My precious
grandmother is definitely a keeper.
Speaking of wonderful grandparents, when we were
waiting for the ferry that we rode across the Mississippi River while in
Louisiana, we had parked our car next to another woman’s and gotten out to
check out the view. Being satisfied with how much he had seen, Pappa turned
back and went to relax in the car. Only, it wasn’t our car! I turned around and
noticed him making himself comfortable in the woman’s dark maroon car.
In a few quick strides, I made it to the front seat
door, opened it, and mentioned (as if it was something that happened all the
time), “Hey Paps, you’re sitting in the wrong car.”
He righted himself up with a startled “Oh!” and
hopped out, heading towards our white car parked right behind him. We all had a
good laugh once inside the correct car, and Mummi would continuously mention
how, see, she wasn’t the ONLY one we laughed at. I swear, if you’re low on
entertainment, spend some time with my grandparents. They are truly wonderful
people.
d) Okay, now that you’ve been given the rundown of our road trip, here’s
where all the fun is at!
These are some of the places
we stopped at on our way home.
1. The retirement home, dubbed
Le Beauvoir,
of Jefferson Davis, the only Confederate president of the U.S. I am not a die-hard
Confederate supporter by any means, but it was interesting to learn about him
and his part in the American Civil War.
2. New Orleans!! We only got to stay here for a
couple/few hours since we had limited time to spend and Pappa had to stay near
the car since walking all around would have been too hard on him, but it was
fun to see a little bit of New OAH-lins! Note: Try a beignet. You won't be
sorry!
3.
Nottingham plantation. This is a
plantation of one the incredibly wealthy families who lived in Louisiana during
the Civil War. The stories from this place are amazing! I was fascinated by all
of the history that accompanies this place. For example, the woman of the house
refused to leave when the war started. Instead, she stayed with the children at
home and manned the place. Another interesting tidbit is that one of the sons
who served for the Confederates was captured and held prisoner, faced with
doing the work of a slave. After experiencing his imprisonment, he refused to
stay at the plantation because he did not believe in keeping slaves anymore.
His name was erased from the family history by his father after that. Anyhow,
the guides who lead you through this enormous house are very informative and
are dressed in character of the times, and the tour we took was definitely
something I’ll remember.
Well, this wraps up this ginormous post, as well as all Florida and co. adventures! The next few posts will be coming to you from AZ. Until next time!
