The trip to Colorado

You know, everyone jokes about the "Are we there yet?" inquiries while driving. You never realize exactly how true this is until you promise something to a young child that is at least a day off.

We told Andrew before we left that we were going to see snow and that we'd have to leave Texas to see it. At least every half-hour from the very start of our trip, he asked a question. On the first day he'd ask, "Are we still in Texas?" I promised him that we'd let him know as soon as we left the state. Always unsure if he missed it, he'd ask again not more than 30 minutes down the road, "Are we still in Texas?" Finally, on the second day of travel (I was beat from working so we stopped for the night in Wichita Falls), we left Texas with much fanfare. I announced the moment we crossed the state line into New Mexico and honked the horn.

Andrew announced that he liked Mexico. We told him that we were in New Mexico and he informed us that he liked both New and Old Mexico.

Once he got it through his head that we were no longer in Texas (that actually took a little while), he started asking if we were at snow with the same regularity.

"Are we at snow yet?"

"Do you see snow outside the window?"

"No."

"The we aren't at the snow, now, are we?"

This exchange occurred, in its entirety, roughly every 30 minutes. Mind you, for some odd reason that I'm sure would baffle geneticists everywhere, this child does not sleep in the car. When we're not driving, neither Liz nor I can stay awake for more than 10 minutes in a moving car. Andrew, on the other hand, will not sleep.

After getting lost around Santa Fe, NM (and getting a speeding ticket), we were finally on the last leg. We had to stop just outside of Santa Fe so that the boys could relieve themselves. It was a relatively sudden stop since Andrew told us that his tummy hurt he had to go so badly. He never mentioned it beforehand. After the bathroom break, he came back to the car and announced that his tummy no longer hurt, in fact, his tummy was excited to see snow.

We finally got there at about 9:30pm and only had time to check-in at the condo and put the boys to bed. Matthew slept almost the entire trip and was still asleep when we got there and Andrew was so tired from fighting sleep in the car that we were able to pour them both into bed that night.

What an exhausting drive, and I'm not just talking about the 14 hours on the road.

(I just now finished importing all 408 photos from the trip into my library. Some will be up tomorrow.)

(c) 2009 Scott Everett