Road Tripping

       If this were paper it would be super shaky right now, but thanks to the convenience of technology you get to read something smooth and spell checked. Also, I'm not sure how I would get you my paper copy so let's just give technology a collective, "Huzzah!"  I am writing this from the bus as we travel to Washington DC. The we in the previous sentence is my son and the rest of his 6th grade class, several parents, their teacher, and a few others. We arrived at the school at 4:00 am and left by 4:25 after taking attendance and picking up sack lunches for today's drive. Our first sight-seeing activity of today is to visit the Air and Space Museum in Langley, VA. 
       It is currently 6:50. From the time we left until 8:00 am the teacher has asked us to observe a quiet time for those who want to sleep. This is a great idea because it is hard getting up super early and sleep makes the drive pass quickly . . . unless you're like me and can't sleep on a bus. So far I've listened to some of Sarah Vowell's Lafayette in the Somewhat United States and watched the sunrise. Shockingly, as I write this I'm not feeling nauseous. Motion sickness has plagued me since I was a child. When I was little, I so wanted to read in the car. All of the sudden I would be making retching noises and my mom would be scrambling to find some kind of receptacle for the partially digested remains of my travel snacks and/or last fast food meal. Every time, without fail, she would be yelling, "Have you been reading? Have you?" At this point, I would be holding my hand over my mouth trying to hold "it" in and violently shaking my head. She would ask again but this time it was no longer a question, "You have been reading, haven't you?" Again, I would protest my innocence all while in great need of that bag. Usually, I was lying. Sorry, mom. I was board. I can't help but read when there's something in front of me. Needless to say, she tried her best to find other activities that entertained me while keeping me away from reading and she was good at it.
       Taking road trips to visit family all over the United States was a staple of my childhood. Because TVs, VHS, and DVD players in vehicles preceded my time, my mom had to find other ways to occupy me. First, I had my cassette player with all my Patch the Pirate, Disney, and Sesame Street sing-a-long tapes. (Oh yeah!) She also had travel bingo and fun car games for me to play PLUS we would play the alphabet game and search for letters of the alphabet on signs to pass the time. Do you know how to play the alphabet game? It goes like this: The first person says, "My name is A___ and I'm going to A____ with a load of a_____." The next person takes the letter B and so on until you go through the entire alphabet. I don't know how many rounds of that game my poor parents went through before tiring of it, but I just loved it. Our other drive staple was playing the license plate game. Everyone works together and we search to find as many state license plates from beginning to end of trip. 
       At the time, I would have loved the opportunity to watch a movie to pass the time. The drive to Chicago, which we did often, would have been a two movie trip. But looking back on my road trip experiences, I'm so thankful we didn't have that technology. True, I was often board. During that time I would use my imagination, interact with my family, and observe the scenery around me. I would look at houses and wonder about the people living in them. It made me notice the world around me. 
       On this trip, Mrs. Black has requested that students refrain from using technology so they can focus on interacting with each other and absorb the trip. I love this policy and recommend it for school trips. Embracing my mom's mad road-trip skills, I've brought a big poster sized list of the states to check off for the license plate game, Mad Libs, card games, travel bingo, and a weaving project. Mrs. Black also provided a packet of activities for each student. Logan looked at it with vague indifference, but, of course, I squealed, "Competitive travel bingo! Yes!" There may have been some odd stares from parents around me. Get used to it, y'all. I'm easily excited. (If you are interested in these kinds of games, she told me she found them at Mom's Minivan.)
       I'm so thankful for the opportunity to travel with my son and his class. I know we will have a fantastic time visiting the nation's capital, but will also I cherish the time spent building friendships and making memories too. So for now, I'm going to sign off of my computer and get to some good, old-fashioned road tripping fun. If you would like to follow our journey you can follow my story on Instagram @edy2207.