I really wanted to go and see my sister in Chicago, but we made that trek last year and the thought of repeating that drive made my stomach hurt. Oklahoma with its tiny towns and tiny speed limits: gut clench. Missouri with its up and down and up and down hills: stabbing pain. Southern Illinois with its never-ever ending farmland: curled on floor in fetal position. Chicago was out. I briefly considered Nashville as well, but again, I have made that drive so many times I felt the ennui of it before I even mapquested it to be sure of the mileage. Ugh, that section of TN between Memphis and Nashville where if you miss Jackson, you are doomed to eat at Loretta Lynn's Kountry Kitchen. I think I am still digesting breakfast there from the last time we made that mistake. No thank you.
As my mother is one of twelve children, we have relatives everywhere and I thought about who was close enough, liked us enough and was an easy enough drive away for me. Taos, New Mexico quickly won out and I am now looking forward to a road trip! One long day drive for a normal person or a two day easy drive for me and we will be there. We will have a scenic stop in Lubbock, TX. This is exciting because none of us have ever been there. The next day we will hit Taos and I can smell that cool mountain air already!! It was 49 there at night this week! 49! That is February weather for us and the kids are gleeful as they think about packing jeans and a sweatshirt. Kids, heck, I am gleeful thinking about packing jeans and a sweatshirt! We will hike, we will take a chair lift up the mountain, we will be tourists and we will get to visit our amazing aunt and cousin.
We are a little crunched for time and will only be there a long weekend, but it will be worth it. Also on the way home we are planning a stop in Roswell, because we are so close we just have to. Sadly for me, Laura Ingalls Wilder never lived in New Mexico so there is no LIW homestead to visit, however, there is a BILLY THE KID museum! I am trying to decide if this museum is worth the hour of road time out of our way. It is, right? It's Billy the Kid! I apologize because I am sure he really was a murderer and all around horrible person, but I read a very fictionalized account of his life as a young teen and have a fangirl sort of fixation on him. That and I believe the movie Young Guns is more documentary than fiction. I made the kids watch Young Guns in preparation for the museum stop but they were not impressed. They also did not like the Goonies, so I do not look to them for movie reviews. Their brains aren't even fully developed yet, so really, what do they know? SG just read this over my shoulder and proclaimed me to be rude. Again, what does she know? I am sure it is not worth the hour of extra drive time, but I feel it necessary as a mom and historian to make the stop. Plus I will get to make them listen to the two Billy the Kid songs I have again and again and that will be a lot of fun for me.
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| Zoom. Or, as we are in a Prius, whirrrrrrrrr. |
I find that I am as excited as the kids now to get on the road and have this adventure. I know that the miles might drag and there will be goldfish on the floor of my car from now until forever. I know we will push it a little too far and have to stop in places to use the bathroom out of desperation and then worry about our health for the next ten miles. It will all be worth it because we will laugh, we will sing out loud and off-key and we will see and experience new things. Also, my kids will tell you, road trip mom is fun mom. I can't wait to see their faces as they see western mountains for the first time and I can't wait to hug my aunt and my cousin. I guess sometimes the things that you think you can't stand to do again turn out to be the things you really need to do.
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