Driving to Michigan "Vacation"

Insanity is not the cause of having multiple children it is the result. As a parent of three pre-school boys I do consider myself a bit nutty, however what we attempted a couple of weeks ago bordered on insanity. Two parents, three kids, and Grandpa in a minivan for nearly 21 straight hours driving from Dallas to Detroit certainly qualifies. We departed Dallas in the evening around 8 PM Central so that we could drive through the night and make the best time possible.

Throughout my travels I have learned to pack exactly what is needed for the trip (no more and only occasionally less). My children don't know how to pack for themselves so that task fell to Mommy, who proceeded to pack half of their wardrobe. Add to this her stuff, and my dad's stuff, cooler, snacks, toys, pillows etc. and I couldn't see out the back window, we maxed out the Stow N Go, and had to jockey things around to get into and out of the car. Needless to say we were cozy.

There are two nearly equidistant routes one is more northern and goes through Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The southern route includes Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Both include Ohio. We opted for the southerly route which included getting pulled over between Little Rock and Memphis around 2AM. Now I'm sure the police officer was thinking "Texas plates, middle of Arkansas, middle of the night, can't see through the back window, they must be up to no good." Oh little did he know! What he got a taste of as he approached was Antonio sleeping, Giancarlo crying, Angelo pretend sword fighting against unseen enemies, and three adults wondering why we were being delayed. He asked where we were headed and when I said Michigan he replied factually "That's a long drive" and his lingering look subconsciously told me "You must be out of your mind!" He wasn't far off the mark, and so he let us go and we kept on rolling.

Gas and Go throughout the night, but the impediments began just north of Nashville when the children awoke. Of course we made an obligatory pit stop and Mickey D's for breakfast. No indoor play area and it was raining outside. Lovely. My children need an athletic outlet and aside from streaking between the restroom and the table they certainly didn't get the workout I had hoped for. Also both older boys had to go #2.

Armed with a pair of portable DVD players we returned to the road. Pit stop in Louisville. Antonio and Angelo go #2. Pit stop in Cincinnati boys go #2. Pit Stop south of Toledo...boys go #2. Notice a pattern? Like animals marking their collective territories my kids feel the need to christen one toilet per state minimum. What's the deal with that?

So about 5:30 PM Eastern we roll into Detroit and crash at my Grandma's house. Luckily she lives next door to a park where the kids were able to get out and run off some of their pent up energy. The trip went about as well as could be expected but we learned our lesson and on the return trip we decided to get a hotel room. After all vacation should be about relaxation.