Packing and planning

Hey, it's spring break! And we're getting ready for our epic trip to Arizona (and New Mexico and Utah and of course Colorado). It is going to be a true Four Corners trip, except that I don't think we're going to the actual Four Corners site. Teen B said he wanted to go (we've been there once before), but he changed his mind when he heard that it would add significant mileage to the trip.

Rocket Boy arrived last night around 11 pm -- he'd been driving all day, did some of Missouri, all of Kansas, and of course the Colorado leg, all in one day. I think he's too old to push himself like that, but he made it, driving this enormous rented minivan which I am now afraid to drive, but I'll do it. I can probably manage it for highway driving. It's a Chrysler Pacifica and it's about 40 feet long. It has three rows of seats, plus a cargo area behind the third row. It probably gets terrible gas mileage. Oh well, this trip is going to cost a lot of money, there's no way around that.

We finally made hotel reservations for four of the five nights we're going to be gone. Rocket Boy was all for winging it, but I wore him down. He simply could not understand that it's hard to find what we need (and you have to grab it when you find it): a room or suite with three beds or two beds and a sofabed, or possibly two small rooms with two beds each (so we can divide up and each take a twin). He still thinks the kids are about eight years old and able to share beds with us. I remember those days, but they're over.

• Monday night we'll be in a Best Western in the Albuquerque area (two beds and a sofabed).
• Tuesday and Wednesday night we'll be in a Best Western in the Tucson area (two beds and a sofabed).
• Thursday night we're staying in a historic (1899) hotel in northern Arizona -- Rocket Boy hates to stay in cookie cutter hotels, so he found this one (two beds and a trundle bed) and I said OK. Of course it doesn't have a pool, or a free breakfast, or even a parking lot, and our rooms are over a bar, which stays open until midnight. It's OK -- it will be an experience, and "experiences" are what we're going for on this trip.
• Friday night we're leaving open. I think we're going to be near Monticello, Utah that night, and TripAdvisor warned me that hotels in that area are filling up, so we may have to sleep in the car. But hey, that would be an experience too.
• Saturday night we are SUPPOSED to be back in Boulder. We'll see. If we sleep in the car Friday night, we may have some trouble driving 417 miles on Saturday.
  
• Sunday we return the rental car to the airport.
  
• Monday the kids go back to school.
• And on Tuesday, Rocket Boy flies back to St. Louis.
   

My to-do list is in good shape, which is why I'm taking a little break to write a blog post. The main thing I still need to do is pack, which I'll stop and work on in a few minutes. I've made a packing list, and I've done a lot of laundry in the last couple of days. (Just now I took a break and packed the twins' suitcases.) The cat sitters came and got the key, and I still need to do a few cat things: clean the litter boxes once more, set out the dishes and food and instructions (already printed out). 

There's always something that goes wrong before a trip. I think Rocket Boy's car disaster was probably the main problem -- so far -- but a smaller problem has been swim suits. Both boys have outgrown their suits, so we went to Target yesterday to get new ones, but we couldn't find the men's swimwear section and there was no one to ask and the kids kept bugging me to leave (Teen A in particular always seems to want to leave a store as soon as he gets there). There was one size M men's trunks mixed in with the kids' suits, and it was a good color (i.e., black), so we bought that for Teen A, and then I also bought a size XL kids' suit for Teen B, even though it looked small. He tried it on when we got home and of course it was too small.

So today I went BACK to Target, returned the too small suit, hunted all over the men's department, finally asked a clerk and she directed me to the swim trunks, and I picked out two possible pairs for Teen B. Took them home, he thought the size S (which fit perfectly) was too small, but he liked the size M (much too large and baggy), so we're keeping that one. 

I decided I can return the other suit to Target in April. It will be fine.

So that's about it. I thought about calling my credit card company and telling them about the trip, but then I figured they already know, what with all the hotel reservations I've put on the card. I got $300 in cash at the ATM -- figure $50/day for snacks and whatnot. I'll charge all our dinners. We are going to be paying for this trip for months and months.

***

What else? It was an OK week. I made a giant to-do list and worked along on it peacefully each day. On Tuesday I saw the orthodontist and got bright green bands on my braces, but unfortunately that included another horrible "chain" on the lower teeth. I couldn't sleep without painkillers for a couple of nights, but I'm better now. Still, I'm going to aim for mostly soft food on the trip.

Teen B and I went to see "Mary Poppins" at the kids' school Thursday night. It was an amazingly professional production, but so long -- three hours, on a school night. I yawned through the last hour, even though I was enjoying it. I was amused by the biographies of the cast and crew: out of 40-some kids, I counted 8 who used they/them pronouns. I'm glad we live in a place where kids are free to explore themselves that way. And I always compare it to my own high school experience: how many kids would have used they/them pronouns back then if they could? if it were even a thing?

"Mary Poppins" seemed to me like a very prim, old-fashioned show for the high school to put on, especially with everything that's been going on this year: the suicides, the fake shootings, and most recently the fires and explosions caused by propane tanks in the homeless encampment down the street from the school. Putting on "Mary Poppins" reminded me of when my high school put on "Bells Are Ringing" as the spring musical. So wholesome! So completely unlike modern life! But I guess that's true about most musicals. 

After the third explosion & fire, the city finally told the homeless people they had to go -- no more encampments so close to a school. I don't know where they went, but they're gone, for now.

***

Rocket Boy and I have already had several fights (mostly about hotel choices). I've put my head in my hands and said "No, no, no," and I've laughed hysterically at something he did or said. It is very nice to have him home. The cats don't think so -- last night Baby Kitty tried so hard to sleep next to me, but there simply wasn't room on the bed. I don't know where he and Sillers spent the night. Well, for five nights they'll have the bed to themselves.