Colorado Trip, Day 1

An account of what it's like to get ready with Robert and Zoe.

3:00p Start packing the kids clothes
3:15p Zoe starts helping by excitedly changing outfits 4 times.
3:30p Zoe settles on 3 long sleeve shirts, a skirt, jeans, long pants and a backpack
4:00p Zoe falls asleep sitting up

5:00p Robert starts asking, "Is it time to go yet?"
5:15p Robert asks, "Is it time to go yet?"
5:23p Robert asks, "Is it time to go yet?"
5:47p Robert asks, "Is it time to go yet?" (I'll save you the suspense, this goes on for the next 3 hours.)
8:00p Kids are in car
8:30p We finally pull out of driveway
8:45p We realize there is no CD's in the car. And no way to play the iPod, or Pandora. Then we find Mike's Lady Gaga CD. Clearly not enough to get us through 60 hours.
8:47 I realize we have no maps, only GPS and iPhones. Jeff thinks this is sufficient. I believe his exact words were, "*Bleep*ing NASA doesn't have this much technology. We'll be fine."
9:20p Robert is asleep
10:18p I almost doze off
10:23p  Zoe does not dose. She says- I have to pee. I started peeing. Tell daddy to pull over.
10:24p Jeff greatly exceeds the speed limit in the search for the potty.
10:28p Attack of the grasshoppers at the Chevron Station. Zoe refuses to leave gas station due to swarms of bugs flying.
12:32a Half asleep, I cannot ignore the constant beeping of the GPS. I wake up to find us in the middle of Dallas, on the wrong road heading wrong direction.
5:54a We are sitting in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel waiting for it to open.

Colorado Trip 2012 Stats

Summary of the Colorado trip 2012

2 adults, 2 children

3210 miles
67 hours, 20 minutes of actual car time
18.2 mpg

7 nosebleeds, causing 3 extra loads of laundry
4 roadside potty breaks for Zoe (2 for Jeff)
Number of times we were within 10 miles of running out of gas? At least 3.
4 bottles of 5 Hour Energy
2 Redbull
1.5 gallons of fountain coke
4 hotel stays with 4 DIY waffles made (only 2 of which were totally consumed)
0 times camping, despite carting around a full tent and camping gear
1 Redbox video rented at a random gas station
2 days. The number of days leftover cheese pizza can sit in the back of the car and have kids still eat it.

Hours before planning for next trip began? -2, as in 2 hours before we have even arrived in Houston, when Erica hears Jeff on the phone doing pre-planning.