The drive from Beacon to Colorado took us from Sunday evening to Tuesday evening. Things started out well, with the trip broken up into various activities like “listening time,” in which the kids listen to a story on tape or I read aloud, or “quiet time,” in which the children entertain themselves sans electronics, or “watching time,” in which I put on the longest movie I can find. It ended at a skanky Super 8 off the highway. We got the last room, the “jacuzzi” room, which was a tiny room with a king sized bed, and a giant bathtub right next to the bed. I couldn’t help but imagine what had gone on in that tub and who had done the going on, so we skipped trying it out. Corn. We made a stop in Springfield to stay with Steve’s very nice aunt and uncle and hit the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library while we were there. These folks in Springfield LOVE their Abe Lincoln. This museum was pretty amazing, actually, and I’d highly recommend if you are ever passing through. All sorts of life sized, creepily realistic scenes, including a slave auction block that made me cry it was so intense. They did a nice job of giving a complex perspective on Lincoln and of the times he was governing. Lots of flashy lights and movies helped, too. Corn. On Tuesday we were re-routed far north of our intended route west by the crazy overflowing Missouri River. After an hour in country road blackness we emerged outside of Omaha in what appeared to be Las Vegas at about 12:30 a.m. My poor, wrecked children, who had not had a good nights sleep in about 6 days and got only about 6 hours that night, woke in the morning for a dip in the jacuzzi and as much sweet, free breakfast as they could cram in their bellies. More corn. The push to Colorado on Wednesday was, well, it was not pretty. It was an orgy of sleep-deprivation, car-weariness, depressing food, marital strife and bad parenting. It ended with me covered in Esme’s pee as we rolled up to my in-law’s place with my pantsless daughter dashing past everyone to get to the bathroom. Xanax.

The drive from Beacon to Colorado took us from Sunday evening to Tuesday evening. Things started out well, with the trip broken up into various activities like “listening time,” in which the kids listen to a story on tape or I read aloud, or “quiet time,” in which the children entertain themselves sans electronics, or “watching time,” in which I put on the longest movie I can find. It ended at a skanky Super 8 off the highway. We got the last room, the “jacuzzi” room, which was a tiny room with a king sized bed, and a giant bathtub right next to the bed. I couldn’t help but imagine what had gone on in that tub and who had done the going on, so we skipped trying it out.

Corn.

We made a stop in Springfield to stay with Steve’s very nice aunt and uncle and hit the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library while we were there. These folks in Springfield LOVE their Abe Lincoln. This museum was pretty amazing, actually, and I’d highly recommend if you are ever passing through. All sorts of life sized, creepily realistic scenes, including a slave auction block that made me cry it was so intense. They did a nice job of giving a complex perspective on Lincoln and of the times he was governing. Lots of flashy lights and movies helped, too.

Corn.

On Tuesday we were re-routed far north of our intended route west by the crazy overflowing Missouri River. After an hour in country road blackness we emerged outside of Omaha in what appeared to be Las Vegas at about 12:30 a.m. My poor, wrecked children, who had not had a good nights sleep in about 6 days and got only about 6 hours that night, woke in the morning for a dip in the jacuzzi and as much sweet, free breakfast as they could cram in their bellies.

More corn.

The push to Colorado on Wednesday was, well, it was not pretty. It was an orgy of sleep-deprivation, car-weariness, depressing food, marital strife and bad parenting. It ended with me covered in Esme’s pee as we rolled up to my in-law’s place with my pantsless daughter dashing past everyone to get to the bathroom.

Xanax.