So in a few days, after Slim gets off school for summer vacation, we’re going on The Great American Family Road Trip.
Problem is…hubby is keeping it a secret. He won’t give me any particulars other than the length of time we’ll be gone and what I generally need to pack (shorts and teeshirts). Which, given that packing list, could be just about anywhere really.
If you ASK Hubbything where we’re going, he’ll tell you Wyoming but I’m kinda thinking that’s not exactly the truth. He keeps dropping odd little hints that make me think that either California or Florida are the ultimate destination, but I can’t say for sure which. Right now, based on the fact that he told me he downloaded Katy Perry’s “California Girls” <i>for me</i> (or so he said), I’m leaning towards California.
But I won’t find out till we get there I guess.:dubious:
DH just called on his lunch break to let me know that I need to be absolutely without a doubt ready to go by 3:30 pm next Thursday. According to him, we’re going to try and make at least 500 miles that afternoon/evening. He said splitting the driving into two days appealed to him more than trying to cram it all into one day (which I totally do not blame him for at all, since I’m not going to be doing any of the driving).
I’m wondering if we might be headed for Disneyland also. We’ve taken 5 trips so far (4 pre-Slim, one when Slim was 4ish) to WDW in Florida, but we’ve never been to California before. Well, not TOGETHER anyway. He’s been to California (San Francisco and Anaheim) before, when he was a teenager. I haven’t, though.
I can get behind all of those possible destinations, except Guatemala on account of none of us have passports.
I’m really hoping it’s not a “StayCation” (because Texas is HUGE and you can drive 500 miles and still not get out of this damn state LOL)–we’ve done that the last couple of years in a row. Last year we did Sea World (which Slim loved) and the year before that we took him to the Johnson Space Center in Houston (which I loved).
Although he’s alluded to both camping AND skiing, I’m betting it’s neither of these. We don’t own camping gear because neither Husbandthing or I are big on sleeping on the ground. We’ve never BEEN skiing, because we’re both Southern to our toenails and the mere thought of snow makes me want to curl up and die. Plus, I’m kind of a clumsy ox and if you strap two skinny planks of wood to my feet and put two long sticks in my hand, I’m betting that sooner or later I’m going to sprain/break something. Plus you kind of have to be athletic to ski and athletic I am NOT.
To me, that’s not planning. That’s flying by the ass of your pants. And I hate that.
I admit, I can be a bit of a plan-o-holic. I enjoy doing research and figuring out where we’re going to go, what we’re going to do, etc. Planning way in advance is also helpful where Slim is concerned, because he has Asperger’s and I know what his triggers are. If I can plan ahead of time, then I’m not going to be flying blind and I’ll know what sort of places/activities will or won’t set off his triggers.
For example, without fail, a large noisy crowd tends to set him off and he goes into meltdown mode EXCEPT when we’re at a theme park (oddly enough). If I knew ahead of time we were going to X place, I could figure out what nearby attractions are more suited to his needs/interests.
Possibly, although that would be at the tail end of our vacation since we’re planning to be gone just 12-13 days. Still…that would be aaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome. Slim is a HUGE fan of “CARS”* and would get such a kick out of it.
*and by “fan”, I mean “totally obsessed”. He can tell you the name of just about every character, major or minor, and has around 50 different matchbox sized versions of various characters lined up on his windowsill in his room.
Husbandman told me last night that we’re going to Florida. He won’t specify whether we’re going to Orlando or Tampa/St. Pete’s but we’re def going to Florida! I swear, there are no lengths this man of mine won’t go to to pull a joke on me. He had me really believing we were going to Wyoming, though I’m not entirely sure why. We don’t have family there and there is NOTHING there that is interesting enough to make me want to drive halfway across the country to go see it.
Did he have some reason for keeping you in the dark, especially if you like the planning and the research? Is there anything to be gained by keeping this a secret? The cat will be out of the bag as soon as you hit the freeway and turn either eastbound or westbound, and then you’re in the car for two days. Kind anti-climactic.
Husbandman has a history of pulling elaborate pranks on me, so this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. You’d think after all this time, I’d be used to his behavior.
You aren’t going to Florida. He is just saying that to throw you off. You were correct in the California guess but that is just part of it. First you are driving to Chicago and then west to copy the exact itinerary the Griswold family took in National Lampoon’s Vacation. The other piece of great news is that you are getting a new station wagon just before you leave.
I’m probably the only person on the planet who would be enthusiastic about that, particularly if the new Family Truckster was in forest green (I need a new car anyway…the Lovechild is on her last legs poor dear…:().
Cheese–that’d be kind of hard to do without digging Grandma (or rather, Mamaw as we called her) up. She died several years ago.
D/a–right-o! Will do! Will it be a lime , kelly , grass , sage, forest,blue-green, 100 Acres Trees, Christopher Robin’s English Meadow or Friendly Frog green?
You’d think that being a native Texan, I’d own either a cowboy hat, boots or both but I don’t. 
