This is our first serious “travel” time since my sister-in-law’s wedding in April. We had a church thing in Lebec and my father-in-law’s 60th birthday celebration is this Saturday. This means… ROAD TRIP!
We had an uneventful drive down to Lebec. It’s south of Bakersfield on I-5 and about 5 hours from where we live in northern California. I got two books read: All the Pretty Little Hearses by Mary Daheim and Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser. I find that having reading material (if I’m not driving) makes the trip go faster (a good thing because I hate road trips).
Our hotel room in Lebec was awesome. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express and had a beautiful and spacious room with a decently-sized bathroom. Considering that Daniel and I spent most of our time in there, this was definitely a good thing. Daniel loved all the drawers and having a mini-fridge to play with. He also had long corridors where he could crawl or practice walking.
Three hours of NCIS on Tuesday night = a happy Jen. Finding a marathon of NCIS on USA yesterday = ecstasy. It’s probably good that we don’t have cable at home — I think I’d be permanently attached to the recliner.
Daniel will soon have an REI wishlist for climbing things. We found out that he could climb out of his crib twice last night — once onto the desk where he was trying to have a conversation with the front desk (or ordering room service on the phone) and then onto the TV table where he was blocking the TV. His crib got moved in such a way that there was no surfaces for 5 feet in any direction.
We had an easy time driving down to Claremont. It’s strange coming back down here after living down here for a year and then moving. it’s surreal. Thankfully, we avoided rush hour getting there. I made it through most of a book and am wondering how it ends.
I’m hoping for a good party on Sunday. I’ve offered my services to my mother-in-law to take her to Trader Joe’s. My father-in-law was doing OK when we got there today and got to hang with Daniel. It should be a great gathering on Saturday though it’s going to be a long drive back that night. I need to invest in a flashlight or something so I can read on the way back.
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#6 reminds me of how much has changed where I grew up. It has been decades, but over the years the place has morphed from Mayberry to Surburbia. Less as it was, but more like someplace else was superficially changed to have a few vague similarities. All the people I knew (my parents, relatives, friends) are gone now. I have also looked at it on Bing (good aerial views) but it is just so alien. In my mind it is the same as it “always” was.
Bakersfield shout-out! (Can you believe Josh drove Bakersfield-to-Claremont and back 3-5 times per week for an entire semester? Yikes!)
You know, I’ve always like Holiday Inn. We had to drive from Minnesota to Ohio a few months ago and we always stayed there and had a decent experience. (Plus, and this is a biggie, they are one of the few hotels that serves MEAT for their free breakfast.) Safe travels on your way back!