It didn't take long for Daniel to make it known he was not happy and we had to pull off of the freeway at an off ramp which was unlit and had nothing there. I wasn't too sure about stopping there as it was a very dark night with no moon but the sky was very clear. As soon as I opened the car door to go get Daniel I looked up and saw more stars than I have seen in ages and ages. We could see the milky way and shooting stars it was incredible! I had Elijah and my mom get out so they could star gaze. Elijah had never seen that many stars. So crying baby stop number 1 turned out to be a fun stop.
So we are back on the road and again we don't get too far before crying baby makes it clear he will not be comforted without stopping the car so we pulled off at Chiriaco summit and there was a little cafe there so we decide to eat dinner. It was a cute stop. It is home to the Patton Museum, a little gift shop, decent food, and many many cute kitty cats running around. The owners must like cats or must not believe in spay and neutering. We are cat people so it was fun to see the kitties.
Back on the road and making good time. We cross the border into Arizona and the speed limit jumps up to 75 miles per hour, Woohoo! My wise mother counters this excitement at going fast by letting me know the police in Arizona are known to ticket drivers for going even two miles over the speed limit so I set the cruise control right at 75 and we make our way to our destination but not before we have to make crying baby stop number 3. He started crying int he middle of nowhere again so again I make way to an exit that has no lighting and nothing there. I get out and pull Daniel out of the car seat and decide to change his diaper on the trunk of the car before I feed him. Mom gets out and we are thinking we will be able to enjoy the spectacular stars again when we hear from behind us in some bushes this crunch crunch sound of footsteps. I squinted to try to look into the small desert bushes but it was pitch black out there. We didn't hear anything else so I continue to change the diaper and get the baby ready to eat and again "crunch" the sound of sand underfoot. It was starting to freak me out so I quickly put the bay back in his seat and get back on the freeway. Mom and I notice that at the next freeway exit are a several police cars with their lights on parked there. We don't know what was going on but I am sure that the serial killer they were searching for was actually one freeway exit back where we left him. Daniel went back to sleep so that was our last stop. I must mention that we passed by Nuclear reactor or power plant whatever you call it which was on lock down due to a terrorist threat, fun! We got into our hotel around 11pm. So neither myself nor mom was right about the time it would take to get there. 5 hours.
On the way back we traveled by day so it wasn't as scary as our serial killer stop. Crying baby stop number 1 wasn't actually due to a crying baby it was me. I was thirsty and mom wanted to go into the gift shop at the cracker barrel so we stopped there. Mom had a lovely visit there. sales people were falling all over themselves asking if she needed help. I had the opposite experience. I was carrying Daniel and trying to keep Elijah out of all the candy and toys while also ordering drinks and picking up a few things I wanted to buy. No one offered to help me even when they saw my arms full. At one point I was ordering an ice tea and a diet coke for me and mom from the front counter while Elijah was telling me he wanted an orange cream soda that they had sitting in front of the counter in a big ice bucket for people to buy. So I told Elijah he could have one and he picks one out. I turn to get my sodas and some lady that works there comes up and grabs the soda out of Elijah's hand and tells he him he has to ask his mommy for that. I was astounded. I was right next to him. What was that lady thinking? So of course Elijah starts crying and I have to console him while I juggle Daniel, the soda's, a candy Elijah picked out, and a shirt I was buying Elijah. Thanks a lot lady! So I wait in line get up to the counter plop everything down and wait for the lady to ring up everything. So she tells me total I wrangle out my money from the diaper bag while holding Daniel and pay her. She bags the stuff up but doesn't put the shirt in a bag. Turns out she didn't ring that up. What the heck? I put it right there on the counter with everything else. What makes you think I wasn't interested in purchasing it? So I have to wrangle out more money while I again balance Daniel and the bags and sodas. Not a pleasant customer service experience in my opinion.
So we did have to make several actual crying baby stops. This is one. The middle of the desert.
This is another at a rest stop.
Just another pic from the same spot. We actually had to stop several times on the way home just because Daniel didn't care for his car seat anymore and wanted to be held.
This is right over the border back into California at the Colorado river. Elijah wanted to touch the water but it was actually really hard to find a spot for him to do so.
We finally snuck into a KOA campground that had a boat launch and Elijah was able to walk down and touch the water there. Now he wants to go fishing.
That pretty much wraps up our trip. Like I said we had fun and thankfully we weren't in a hurry while driving and were able to make lots of stops with the baby.
1 comment:
Great road trip! Frequent stops are your best friends when traveling with little ones. You did good. Perhaps it was not a killer in the bushes, but secret police trying to find the terrorists. Maybe they thought you were only pretending to be changing diapers when actually you were planning your next move! Glad you made it back safe and sound!
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