Last week my husband and I took the boys and our dogs to Chicago to visit his parents and extended family.
His extended family has never met our youngest child, so we knew we needed to go, but we’ve never attempted a long drive with our youngest, so I was curious to see how it would go.
Everyone looks at me funny when I tell them that we drive to Chicago in one day. Yes, I think it’s crazy too. But we’ve done it a handful of times, and we did it with our eldest boy when he was one-year-old. He has always been a patient child, so it didn’t surprise me when he traveled well. My current one-year-old, however, likes action, so I was a little worried about this trip.
I told my husband that I refused to get up before 5 a.m. the morning of the big drive. I didn’t want to feel exhausted all day, but as it turned out, neither he nor I could sleep well that night, so when he got up at 4 a.m., it didn’t take much to get me out of bed either. I was concerned about driving that distance on three hours of sleep, but I’ve learned from experience that the body can accomplish amazing things when it has to.
We had everything ready to go the night before, and most of our luggage was already in the car. But even though we got up at 4 a.m. and worked swiftly, we only left 15 minutes earlier than our planned departure time, which was 6 a.m. Why does it always take longer to get ready and packed than you think it will?
The boys delighted me by rising easily. My almost-5-year-old knew what we were doing, so he was very excited that the anticipated trip to “Babcia’s house” was finally here. My 23-month-old looked very curious and was a little spooked by going outside when it was still dark, but he took everything in stride.
So we set off down the road, and as we approached Atlanta, the question my son often asks us when we we’re going to the store or anywhere else popped up. “Are we still in Georgia?” “Yes,” I said, but this time I was able to add, “We’ll be sure to let you know when we get to a new state.”
And he was a happy little boy as he rode through five states that day. Every time we entered a new state, we would cheer, and then fifteen minutes later he would ask, “Are we still in Tennessee (or Kentucky, or Indiana)?” You just have to experience distance before you understand it.
We knew that we would have to stop many times with the boys and dogs, so we weren’t sure how long it would take to get there. We’ve made the trip in the past in 13-15 hours. This time, it took 16 long hours, but nothing bad happened.
The 23-month-old took a couple of naps on the road, and whenever he got fussy, we used our laptop to let them view a T.V. show or movie. I’m not against letting them watch T.V. on a 16-hour trip. After all, they still had 12 hours to entertain themselves and enjoy the scenery.
My sons were enamored by the lake in Chattanooga, and blown away by the big bridge we crossed in Louisville. I was good on my promise that they’d get to see corn in Indiana, but the highlight of the day was driving through miles of humongous, white windmills in Indiana that were not there on our last trip. Talk about a new spin on a monotonous landscape.
We stopped for lunch at Wendy’s where my eldest ate nothing but apples and my youngest painted the table with ketchup and 1% milk. We stopped for dinner and a walk at a shady rest area in Indiana, but with the temperature being 100+ degrees that day, the shade made us sweat.
And there was a big sign in the bathrooms saying the water was unfit for drinking or washing hands. (An inconvenience only when you have messy children.)
Despite lack of sleep, my husband was alert and drove most of the way. An uneventful day may not make the best story, but I’m grateful I don’t have anything more exciting to tell you.
I couldn’t have asked for a better ride or better traveling companions.
And when my son finally broke down and complained, “I just want to be there,” we both laughed with relief because we were less than one minute from Babcia’s house. We were exhausted, but we were happy.
Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at writetospabis@gmail.com.
