The Holiday Trip -- Part 1 of however many parts I write

My dad, Grandpa John, called to ask if we could gather in Orlando, Florida, for a family get-together over Christmas. My family has three residential nodes for gathering: Austin, here, where there's not a lot of attractions; suburban Connecticut, where the grands and two of my sibs live, and which suffers from severe winter in the wintertime; or Orlando, where my older sister Sandy lives with her three kids, and which is famous for having things to do all year long. Easy choice.

Grandpa John offered to pay airfare and such, which was generous and appealing -- but after some consideration and planning on our end, we asked that he just cover the cost of a rental car. Our reasoning, airfare wouldn't be cheap, flying is a huge hassle, and we'd still need a rental once in Orlando. I didn't mind the thought of a 1200 mile drive (each way), and driving would allow us to stop in Mississippi at my sister-in-law Jenny's, where we're always welcome. This way, driving, had several advantages, and was probably cheaper. The deal was struck, and I made arrangements to rent an SUV from National starting on Friday, December 18.

The one fly in our ointment -- Val couldn't get the entire time off from work, and taking off only part of the time didn't help matters. She insisted we go, me taking the kids, and she would stay home and get some projects done.


Day 1 -- Friday, December 18.

Picked up the SUV at the airport, a 2010 Dodge Nitro. Roomy, which was good, as we were bringing gifts as well as personal supplies.

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing our duffel bags and getting other stuff organized for the trip, along with me wrapping gifts. I had planned on finishing up at a given time in the evening and then packing up the remaining presents, wrapping paper, and tape and such and finishing on the road, but Val had a clearer head about such matters and sat down beside me. We wrapped in tandem, and though the hours got late, we did finish. Two large storage tubs, procured at Target for just this purpose, were filled to the brims with cautiously stowed gifts, and sealed.


Day 2 -- Saturday, December 19.

I awoke early, and began packing the Dodge. The back seat split into a two-thirds/one-third configuration; I folded down the smaller half, and began loading. The large tubs went in first. Eventually everything was packed, Carson's booster seat positioned in the back seat.

Parallel to all this was preparing Val's Christmas treasures without her catching on; while she works on Saturdays, she was staying home for a few hours to see us off. A vague plan to hide gifts around the house and leave pre-dated clues to find them was scrapped. Instead, I gathered the kids and piled them high with presents. We marched through the house, found Mommy, serenaded her with a round of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", and foisted the hoard upon her. Delighted, we pointed out some gifts that would be useful to open and use while we were gone (movie tickets, dinner certificates), but she insisted that everything be piled by our tiny tree, and that she would wait until we returned to enjoy her spoils. (And mostly, that's what happened.)

Val began loading the kids into the Dodge, and I took the opportunity to hang her stocking, fully loaded, by the chimney with care.

Finally ready, we bade our good-byes to Val -- mommy, dear wife, best friend -- and she left for work as we headed out on our much longer road. It was just a bit after 10:00 am, which for this bunch is practically a record.

We made one, planned stop, at the Berdoll Pecan Farm east of Austin. We loaded up with nuts and a pecan pie -- the good type, pecans all the way through -- as a gift for our night's host, my sister-in-law Jenny and her husband, Dickie Joe. Our destination: Mississippi, just outside of Gulfport.

The drive is just short of 600 miles, and I know I can do it in one day and have several times before. It is, however, one very long day, what with lunch and dinner stops, breaks for stretching, and the dread factor of driving through Houston (though this was greatly mitigated by it being a Saturday -- there was some construction delays, but no genuine traffic crush). Austin to the state line, the town of Orange, is about half the drive, followed by all of Louisiana and a short jump through Mississippi. It was, as all the best drives are, uneventful. We arrived late, around 9:00 pm, and were welcomed. The kids played for a bit, but I got them to bed soon, and we all dropped off for some much-needed rest.

End of part 1, as I must go put Carson to bed.