Top 10 Things I Learned On This Trip

I'm not sure why it's taken me more than two weeks to post this list - I've been compiling them on scrap pieces of paper since the day we left. Might have something to do with 1500 lb. of laundry, a house to maintain, trying to lose the baby weight, keeping up some semblance of a social life....oh, and three kids. Enough of my bitching. Without further ado, I give you the Top 10 (or more) things I learned on this road trip.

1. On the New Jersey Turnpike, I noted 2 rest stops named after people who had a huge influence in shaping America: Walt Whitman and Clara Barton. Are you kidding me?! An effing rest stop?! I wonder if Clara Barton, while establishing the Red Cross, hoped and prayed that she would have her very own rest stop? Or what Walt Whitman, Father of American poetry would think knowing that his timeless poetry had won him a rest stop in Cherry Hill? People stop at rest stops to rest, use the toilets, eat, (hopefully) wash their hands...essentially, nothing earth-shattering. The exact opposite of what these fine citizens accomplished in their lifetimes. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and guess what? A glorified outhouse by any other name still smells like shit...so let's not try to dress them up by naming them after American heroes.

2. Ounce for ounce, prunes have more antioxidants than blueberries.

3. It is posible to get lost on a straight-lined, 26-mile beach.

4. "Topsail" Beach is not pronounced like it's written. It's pronounced like "Lypsyl"...Topsyl. By incorrectly pronouncing it, I might as well have been wearing an "I'm a Tourist!" t-shirt with my camera strapped around my neck.

5. Same-sex siblings who are close in age MUST have the exact same toys (they can be in different colours, though), in order to avoid World War III.

6. Starbucks is brilliant. "Grande" and "Venti" mean the same thing in ANY language/country...no guess work!

7. Listening to our GPS trying to pronounce French words (like the name of streets, or the word "Autoroute") is frigging hilarious!

8. Henry went from being the laid-back one, to being the squeakiest wheel.

9. SNL skit idea centred around GPS units: Not a computerized system, an actual human being! They'd be attached to the inside windshield or console of your car, giving you directions. Failing to note new routes, recalculating, or just plain getting mad at you when you miss a turn.

10. Some US states have indicated their tourism websites on their licence plates instead of clever sayings like, "Live Free or Die" or "Show Me State"or even "Great Faces. Great Places." I love that the tourism sites are prominent on the plates: travel2sc.com and visitPA.com! So smart!

11. Despite any complaints throughout the trip, I am still overwhelmingly, head-over-heels in love with my husband and my three sons. I didn't really learn that, though...it's never changed :)

As I close out another road trip chapter, I'd like to propose a toast (which is a direct rip-off from Jay-Z). "May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows."

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight!

Day 13

The last day of this road trip was met with a lot of excitement. The boys knew something was up - they got in the car with (little to no) issues, and were happy with essentially no breakfast, 1 lb. of goldfish, apple juice, and shortbread cookies. When we would mention that we were on our way home, Angus would talk about the train table, his bed, while Henry was screaming, "Yeah!" and throwing both hands in the air.

I drove the last leg of our trip. Have you ever seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off (my second favourite movie of all-time)? If no, I'm officially e-slapping you...now go. If yes, you know the scene where the principal, Mr. Ed Rooney, is running through the corridor of his school, but when he would get to an open door of a classroom, he would immediately start walking, and then resume his sprinting as soon as he was out of sight? Well, that's what my driving was like today. I was going 1##/h (edited for CAS purposes), and then as soon as I would see that sign that said "U-Turns prohibited except for authorized vehicles", I would slow to the speed limit. Side story: When I was younger, I seem to remember traveling to Montreal with my grandparents and Mum...a lot. My grandfather (R.I.P. Papi) would always be driving, and on more than one occasion, was pulled over for speeding. Before the cop made it to our window, Papi would always tell me to stick my head out of the driver's side window and say "Hi!" and keep smiling while the police officer was talking (they were the only times I was allowed to interrupt my grandfather in mid-conversation). I don't remember him getting a ticket. I was trying to proactively plan to pinch all the boys if I got pulled over, so that they cop would come by and hear a van full of boys crying and let me go. I never had to dip in to my bag of tricks, thankfully.

As soon as we each crossed the threshold into our home, we were all smiling. The boys rediscovered their toys, our kitchen and garage were cleaned (thank you Dave & Marlene!!), and a wave of exhaustion washed over each of us. We were all in bed by 8:00...except for Oliver, who decided that last night he was going to party like it was 1999.

Anyhoo, this brings us to the end of this road trip. Thank you so much for following the blog. A lot of you gave great feedback, and it was nice to hear! In keeping with the last trip's entry style, I will be posting one more entry for this blog entitled, "Top 10 Things I learned on this Road Trip". It might only be 8 things, or maybe 15. In closing, thank you again...hopefully next time you'll join us, or who knows; maybe we'll be road-tripping en route to visiting you! Until then, happy (s)miles!

Day 12

There's nothing like crossing the border back into your home country...even if it's only been a short amount of time that you've been away. After getting our Starbucks in NY (from a most jubilant staff that were commenting on the capture/death of Bin Laden), we headed home. I handed over the 5 passports to the border guard, and after a few questions, she said, "Welcome back!" and we were on our way. A good day...Henry didn't nap much, which really added a je ne sais quoi to today's travels. We stopped in Montreal to say hello to Ryan's grandmother (she hadn't yet met Oliver), had an early lunch, and got the boys out of there before they completely ransacked her place.

Today was voting day. I voted before we left, but I was thinking about the Bloc Quebecois while I was driving. No, I didn't vote for them, but driving through Quebec, I finally got to see some Bloc electoral signs. I cannot believe there is actually a Bloc party. I mean, there's no representation anywhere else in the country except for Quebec (I think). Basically, everyone in Quebec would have to vote Bloc in order for anything major to happen, correct (read: this will never happen)? What a colossal waste of time.

The other two boys slept and I drove this leg from Montreal to Edmunston. We are not ashamed to admit that we used the McDonald's Playland area to let the boys run around, came to the hotel (the new Best Western which is quite nice!), and made it to our room, all three boys and our stuff in (get this) ONE TRIP! A huge feat. Everyone (but me, obv.) is asleep. Henry in playpen (Ryan and I no longer feel bad about this. In fact, we're quite jealous. He's had his own bed this entire time. Lucky duck). Oliver (aka Snorts the Baby) beside me in bed #1, nightstand, Ryan and Angus (Snorts the Little Boy) in bed #2. No doubt everyone's dreaming of their own space/toys/beds which is just a hop, skip and a jump away!

TODAY'S GRADE: A (also in anticipation of our return home tomorrow!)

Day 11

Another early morning...yawn. Who am I kidding?! Every morning is an early morning. If we didn't have kids, we'd likely be waking at the same time. Beautiful Baltimore on a crisp Sunday morning and complimentary Starbucks in hand. Bliss! Boys are secured in their seats, Ryan's driving, and what's this? Oliver has granted me permission, by way of not crying, to sit in the front passenger seat! My 'hall pass' lasted approximately 51 minutes, and then I was called back. Today's drive wasn't so efficient. No one was on the same schedule today (but not for lack of trying). I was hungry. We stopped. Oliver was hungry and needed a diaper change. We stopped. Angus needed to pee (with our insistence). We stopped. Henry needed everything under the sun. We stopped. At our first stop at a local coffee shop, I was getting the boys buckled in to the van and a woman walked up and said, "I saw your licence plate...Nova Scotia, right?" I said yes, and she held out a nickel. "I found this when I was walking, and didn't know what to do with it. It's a Canadian nickel. You go on and take that back to Canada with you!" I thanked her, and turned back to the boys. Wow. That really just happened.

We also watched the Curious George 2 movie three times. So as I'm writing this, I'm desperately trying to remember other parts of the drive, but all I can come up with is the Man in the Yellow Hat screaming, "GEORGE!"

We stopped driving when we got to Plattsburgh, NY. For some reason, I remember my aunt (my Mum's oldest sister) going to Plattsburgh quite often. It may not be an accurate memory...I'll have to ask her next time I see her. There really is not much there that I saw. However, the history of the place is remarkable. The Battle of Plattsburgh (during the War of 1812, occurring just after dawn on September 11, 1814) was interesting in that the Americans won which denied the British troops any territorial gain of the US. There, I just made your day more worthwhile. You're welcome.

The hotel where we stayed was under renovations, however, one of the completed phases included a new indoor pool, 2 water slides, and splash pad! Henry was acting like a cuckoo bird, so I we got changed and I took him to the pool (Angus was sleeping). He had a blast! He was zipping around the kiddy pool, going down the little water slide, running through the sprinklers, and standing under automatic buckets that dumped water on not-so-innocent bystanders. I got a glimpse of years to come when he pointed to the seating area and yelled, "YOU GO!" Thanks, buddy. Te amo tambien.

TODAY'S GRADE: B+

Day 10

After some frantic early-morning packing and cleaning, we left our beloved vacation home rental and headed north. The most memorable part of the drive was the National Mall. The Mall is lined with a number of museums, contains two entrances for underground museums, and the Department of Agriculture. Visitors can see everything from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument to the White House; it's truly an awesome experience (even though we drove it). We continued on to Baltimore, MD where we parked our bones for the night. After Henry and Angus ran from one end of he hotel room to the other (like 67 times), they went to bed. Oliver is now battling a full-fledged cold so sleeping with him is like sleeping with a barnyard pig with a deviated septum. Poor little guy...I packed everything from the boys' puffers, to tylenol, benadryl, you name it - but not the snot sucker device. He'll just have to suffer. Oh wait, it's me who's not sleeping. Sigh. It'll be interesting to see how everyone adjusts to their own rooms when we get home. I think there will be some withdrawl, and we'll all wind up on an air mattress in the living room. So far, the drive home has been pretty good. We're starting to feel like seasoned veterans!

Day 9

Success! We found quite a few shark teeth on the beach today. As you can see from the picture, they're black...just like Mr. Grouch said. It's crazy to think that these teeth were around thousands of years ago! A tooth become a fossil when it is buried in sediment (or other material) soon after being lost from a shark's mouth. In general it takes approximately 10,000 years for a tooth to become a true fossil.

Last night, we witnessed an awesome storm. The lightning show was a non-stop 3 or 4 hour spectacle. Ryan was like a kid on Christmas morning. He'd run back inside after each lightning strike and ask excitedly if I'd seen it. So cute...

The boys are all doing well. Both of them are so much more comfortable with the beach and the ocean water than they were just a few days ago. It bodes well for us and summer trips to Martinique and/or Clam Harbour beach this year! We were outside for most of the day, trying to take everything in one last time.

We're now starting to think about leaving and heading back home. Sad stuff...but that's the definitive sign of a good vacation. We'll try and pack up tonight, and hit the road tomorrow morning. Our goal will be Fredericksburg, VA, but really, there's no schedule. We'll be home at some point!

TODAY'S GRADE: A

Day 8

This morning we toured around for a few hours to nearby Surf City. It's also right on the water, just about 10 minutes from where we are. Apparently there's some good fishing, surfing and windsurfing there. The town seemed so much more crowded than where we're staying (North Topsail Beach). As a 'fyi', those are 2 of the 3 towns on the 26-mile long barrier island. Surf City is nice, but when we come back, it'll be to TI for sure.

Other than that, we just really took it easy today (as opposed to the other gruelling days spent on the beach and in the ocean). Angus had some sort of a stomach bug that lasted all of 3 minutes. I thought he was trying to be dramatic by gagging and holding his hand over his mouth when I told him to eat his dinner. Apparently not.

Royal wedding tomorrow! I do believe I am the only one in my various circles of friends who are into it.

TODAY'S GRADE: B