La vie. Ca C'est bon!

Yes, it is good.

Saturday started with the Oconee County swim meet, bringing this great season swimming with the FAST Sharks to a close. All three kids swam great – each placing in the top 5 in all their individual events. Immediately (and I mean immediately) following the last event, Mikaela, Nathan and Garrett dried off, changed clothes and jumped in the car that was already pointed west.

Seven hours later we pulled in to Memphis for a quick overnight visit with our friend Steve H. and dinner of fabulous jambalaya. I hope he wasn’t planning for leftovers (there weren’t any). Culinary lesson learned: add Velveeta cheese for a creamy, tasty base. It was a short visit, but a reminder how much friends matter in our lives.

Sunday was a long drive day – Memphis to Amarillo (11 hours of driving). The highlight of the day was the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Although the actions of McVeigh/Nichols were wicked and dishonorable, the memorial is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. It sounds trite, but the memorial brings out the best in people, from an event that demonstrated the worst in some. Go online, learn about it and then make a trip to OKC. You won’t regret it.

This morning (wow, only Monday), we headed west from Amarillo and stopped to see the Cadillac Ranch – March’s tribute to the best in American automobiles. An artistic icon, these cars, planted hood down in the middle of the field, draw visitors from near and far, armed like us with spray paint to add out graffiti to the previous layers.

From Amarillo, we stopped in Adrian, TX to visit the Midpoint of Route 66. If you leave Chicago and drive 1,139 west on route 66, you’ll be in the middle of Adrian, with only 1,139 miles to Los Angeles. The highlight may have been lunch with Fran who owns the Midpoint café, but is the persona behind the character Flo in Pixar’s “Cars.” She’s a sweetheart and makes a good burger. While you’re there, ask to look at Flo’s pages – Cars coloring book pages from children who stop in – preserved for the next generation. Some kids from Georgia added their masterpieces.

Our journey continued to Albuquerque. It was a trip down memory lane for me (Dale); traveling the path we took each summer while in college to attend conferences at Glorieta retreat center outside Santa Fe. We arrived late afternoon and headed over to Old Town for shopping and dinner. Following dinner, we headed over to Sandia Peak Tramway – the longest tram (2.7 miles) in the world and cruised up to the top. In addition to great views, we watched the sun set on the trip down. What a way to end the day.

And we were thinking that the vacation really started after Albuquerque. Ha.

La vie. Ca C’est bon. Yes, it is.

It's a big country!!!

And a great one. We've driven over 1300 miles since we left Athens Staurday afternoon and it's been a great drive. We're leaving Amarillo this morning and headed to Albuquerque. We'll update later today.

What can possibly go wrong?

Of course, you know the answer. Everything!

It seems like such has been the case this week. As if we weren't busy enough, the shower handle needed tightening, and then the door knob. Then the garbage disposal went on the blink (don't worry, Darcy fixed it!). Finally, we made it to Friday night and time to start packing the car, when wouldn't you know it, the latch on the brand new car top carrier broke. So, we were faced with either stopping on our way through Atlanta tomorrow to get a replacement or get er done tonight. So, I schlept over to REI, arriving 2 minutes before closing, traded out the broken one for a new one (and made them stay open late so I could get a National Parks pass).

Now we're home, kids are packed and in bed (resting up for the County swim meet tomorrow morning), Darcy and I are almost finished and it's only 11:30. Gonna be an easy night by "night before vacation" standards. Can't wait until tomorrow. As soon as the last swimmer touches the wall, we're yanking them out of the pool, throwing them into the car, and hammering our way to Memphis (violent family that we are).

Let the journey begin!

Preparation

In a little over a week, we will launch the Gauthreaux 2009 Summer Adventure. With a trek that will take us west to California, north to Montana and east to Ohio before returning to Georgia, we are excited and anxious. Six national parks, some campgrounds, a few badly needed hotel beds and reconnecting with family and friends, it will be a trip of a lifetime (Does anyone have a season pass to Wallyworld that we can borrow?).

We have a week left to finish packing and then slimming down the packing for 20+ days in the car. The only thing we can't bring along is all our friends, so hopefully, you'll follow along via this blog.