We began the morning super-early thanks to the bright morning sun in our east window, and were on the road from Castle Rock, CO by 6:30 AM. I was glad I'd awoken earlier than I'd set my alarm, since I knew we had a super-long day of driving ahead.
The only picture I took this time around was of Pike's Peak, a little closer than the others I'd taken with the prairie-dog hole in the foreground.
We didn't get to look at it long, however, because we zipped on through Colorado and into Raton, New Mexico. We stopped briefly in Raton searching for a souvenir shop that had something Martha could purchase from New Mexico, but it was still early and we didn't find anything open yet. We plunged on ahead, hoping perhaps to snag something in Clayton.
By Raton, Martha was complaining of a stomachache, so I sent her in to use the restroom.
By Des Moines (yes, there is a Des Moines, New Mexico), she had that all-too-familiar panicky sound in her voice. "Mom, my stomach hurts really bad!"
"Grab a sack!" I shouted, and she proceeded to empty her aching stomach into it. I pulled immediately over at a small gas station there in Des Moines and opened all the doors and windows to ventilate (since Alice and I were already practically heaving, ourselves). Thank you LORD, she got it all into the bag and was able to put it all conveniently into a trash can. I made her work out as much as she could before getting back into the van. I always carry a bottle of Febreze or some other high-potency freshener, so I used copious amounts of it and let the van air out.
When I was satisfied that she really was finished, we got back in and went on our merry way as if nothing at all had happened. This could have been MUCH worse, I agree, and I am grateful that it wasn't. I may have been a Mom for thirteen years, but it doesn't mean I deal well with puke of any kind. At this point, my own puke-reflex is so easily triggered from years of having to make myself throw up, it wouldn't have been an easy thing. It's weird; when they were babies, it didn't really bother me. Poop, puke, pee... meh. No big deal. But somewhere along the way, probably once they were solidly potty-trained and I no longer had to deal with their bodily functions directly, I made the transition.
I was amazed that I didn't seem to have a single bit of trouble feeling sleepy or woozy, particularly during the long hours of flatness that is the panhandle of Texas. I half expected to be nearly crazy with delirium during that. I think that I can solidly thank the StoryNory Podcast for a large part of my being able to stay awake and alert. Listening to Natasha's delightful storytelling... well, it kept me going. The girls (even 13-year-old Martha who's usually too sophisticated for such fare) loved it too.
We arrived at home shortly after 8 PM Central Time, which meant we had been on the road for twelve and a half hours today. My hiney is feelin' it, too.
The rest of the gang decided to continue driving through the night, since they had replacement drivers and such, so I expect to have the rest of the photographs posted sometime tomorrow. I have heard from a great many of you who've enjoyed the roadblogging adventures of our clan, and I'm gratified that you like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment