I'm looking forward to the vacation itself, but the car trip . . . not so much. We did purchase a new DVD player after the last one passed away. So, a few dozen viewings of "The Little Mermaid" should keep the wee one moderately entertained on the trip. (As an aside, has anyone ever noticed that Ariel is only 16 when she gets married? It always surprises me that no one ever raised a ruckus over that, since ruckuses have been raised over far lesser things.) I wish we'd had a DVD player when I was a kid. Instead, you had no choice but to sit in the back of your mom's Monte Carlo and punch your sister (and, once got so mad that you pulled out a chunk of her hair and hid it under the seat, but . . . you didn't hear that from me).
Aside from the challenge of keeping a small child occupied for 16 hours, my other concern is with food. The rest stops along the way all seem to feature the same restaurants. ("Another TCBY and a Cinnabon? No way! What are the odds?") I'm packing some snacks from home in hopes that I'll be able to resist the "I'm on vacation and therefore can eat myself into a stupor" trap. However, I do need to indulge in a few of the items that I can get in the DC area (where I grew up):
- Entenmann's Chocolate Chip Cookies (I can get the doughnuts where I live, but not the other stuff for some reason)
- Utz's Barbecue Chips
- A chocolate chip cookie from Larry's Cookies
- Pizza from Bugsy's in Old Town Alexandria
As you can see, I'm pretty much a health nut. However, I am determined not to gain more than a pound or two on vacation. I can pack on five pounds in a weekend if I set my mind to it, so gaining only a pound or two over ten days is no small feat.
So, I'll see you on the flip side! Oh, and don't rob my house while I'm on vacation - my neighbor and her huge, vicious (probably rabid) dog are watching it for us while we're gone.