Musings at Altitude

We left the house this morning just before 8:00.  The van was completely filled with presents.  In fact, we took all but one passenger seat out of the van, and the rest was completely filled.  We covered everything with blankets to at least provide some form of operational security, but I’d certainly target it if I were looking for one to break into!

Just before 10:00 this morning, the banter inside the van went like this:

14 Year Old – “We’ve been on the road for just about 2 hours now.”

Dad – “You’re a frickin’ genius.”

Mom – Smacks Dad.

Daughter – “You’re just jealous because you can’t wear a bikini.”

Mom – “You want me to smack him again?”

Daughter – “Yes!”

Mom – Smacks Dad again.

If this were an isolated incident, it would be cute.  But dialogue like this continued throughout the 12 hour drive, and even continued into the hotel as we got some food before settling into the room for the night.  That makes it more hysterical than cute, and very typical of what happens in our family.  It’s also typically followed by a few minutes of debate on whether our 14 year old was adopted or not.  I know for a fact she wasn’t, but sometimes I wonder if she didn’t spend nearly enough time in the birth canal being physically shaped and mentally pressured.  I was there when she shot out of the canal with no time for them to even prep my wife for the delivery.  Without being tightly squeezed in the canal, I think she missed a critical step in her mental development and thus comes the incredible statements of obvious genius and the even more incredible confidence in pushing back on her Dad.

The good thing is that the longest leg is behind us.  The bad thing is that we still have 10 more hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow. 

I can’t wait to hear what profound words of wisdom she has for me during this next leg of the drive!

PS.  When we got to Dallas, I went to the check in area of the hotel and asked if they had any rooms.  Fortunately, at this Westin hotel they did.  As I patiently waited for the room rate, the very kind gentleman checking me in said, “I can’t find my rates sheet, so how much do you want to pay?”  I quickly popped back, “39.95!”  He laughed and said he couldn’t match that rate but would put me up for $119 per night.  I was ecstatic!  I expected to pay quite a bit more.  I then asked, “what time does your bar close?”  He said, “11:00 pm, but there aren’t many people in the bar tonight, so they may close earlier.”  I said, “We’ll make it before they close”, and he said, “I’ll drop the room rate to $109 per night.”  I was even more ecstatic!  Nothing like getting a 5 Star hotel for $109 per night!