Road Trip U.S.A.

As part of my move back to D.C., I needed to get my car out of San Francisco and to the East Coast. Amalia’s fiancé, Gordon Stott, has been using the car since November 2007 and has taken outstanding care of it (minus two small fender benders!), but in recent months it’s been “acting up,” which is a nice way of saying it hasn’t been starting. He’s replaced the battery and had it in the shop three times, but they haven’t been able to figure out any mechanical problems. Since it’s been acting a little dicey, I opted to forego the more convenient, but more expensive, option of putting the car on a trailer and instead decided to drive the car across the country myself. Now that I’ve made it to Pittsburgh (my home away from home…or is Arlington my home away from home?!?), I can look back at the 2,981 mile trek and proudly say “I did it!”

Day One was last Friday, November 20, when I pulled out of Redwood City, CA at 4:33 a.m. I woke up at the crack of dawn and decided to hit the road. I made my way through Sacramento, CA; Reno and Elko, NV; and Toole and Salt Lake City, UT before I hit Cody and Julianna Johnson’s home in Park City. The drive was exactly 11 hours and I made it with the knowledge that I never need to live in Battle Mountain or Wennemucka, Nevada.I spent three great days visiting with Cody, Julianna and their son, Louie. I was only supposed to be there on Saturday and Sunday, but an 8-inch snow storm came through and made a Monday trip through Wyoming impossible, so I gained an extra day in Park City, which was a nice treat for me. I love visiting their home and spending time with them – they just might be my very favorite couple! Julianna and I spent Saturday shopping through Thanksgiving Point, Midway and Park City, and I purchased a fun photograph of the U.S. that I’ll hang in my new home (getting it into my car was like playing a game of automotive Jujitsu, but we got it in!).I also had a fun dinner on Saturday night with Cherstyn, Karen, April, Julianna and Jill, five close friends and some of my favorite women. We spent three hours at my favorite restaurant, The Dodo, laughing and giggling.

Day Two was on Tuesday, November 24, when I caravanned to Denver with Cody and Julianna. After a very late start – we didn’t leave Park City until after 11:30a.m. – we made it to Ft. Collins by 6pm and I had my first Cracker Barrel dining experience. The whole drive home was 9 ½ hours (that's 2+ hours more than necessary), but it was worth it to do with friends. It was so nice to trail Cody and Juju through Wyoming, a state that gave me a few bad-luck experiences during some college-year road trips. Once you sit in front of the Little America Hotel outside of Evanston for 8 hours in a December ice-wind storm while waiting for I-80 to re-open, you’re leery of a Wyoming drive! Nevertheless, the drive went smoothly and we all made it to Littleton safely. The best news is that my little 10-year-old Saab behaved like a champ!!Day Three – After three fun days with the family over Thanksgiving, I begrudgingly pulled myself away from another pillow fight with Sawyer, persuaded him to give me my fourth hug and kiss, gave him a “honk, honk” from the street and hit the road at 8am on Saturday, November 28. My goal was to hit Des Moines and fortunately I made it in 9 hours.

Cody gave me the brilliant idea to hit a Cracker Barrel for an audio tape and after 4 hours in the car, I finally came upon one. After selecting the lamest romance novel on tape, I hit the road again and pulled off in West Des Moines, where I snuggled down in a Marriott. Thank goodness for author Nora Roberts; her lame tale of romance, intrigue and mystery got me through the plains of Nebraska and Iowa!

Day Four – I headed out of Des Moines this morning at 6:00 and made it to Pittsburgh exactly 12 hours later. The drive was surprisingly easy – thank you, again Nora Roberts – and trouble-free. The car worked perfectly, the traffic cooperated, and aside from some brief episodes of rain, the weather was a breeze. Throughout the 12-hour drive, I meandered through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio before making my final stop in Pittsburgh. I had a quick thrill as I crossed the Mississippi at 9am, just as the sun was rising. It reminded me of the story in the church fiction series, The Work and the Glory, about the early Mormon settlers who had to cross the river to make the pilgrimage to Utah. It sure is a huge river and one that I'd never want to cross on my own two legs! Again, the Saab worked perfectly throughout the day. My biggest problem was finding food other than McDonalds!! My final four hours to Virginia will be in a few days – here’s hoping my little 10-year-old car makes it to DC and continues to chug along with me for the next couple of years!

Merry Christmas!

For the second year in a row, the Shelden clan celebrated Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. Allen and Jocelyn will never make a plan for the holidays, so we grab Thanksgiving week and declare it a family holiday in which we all pile into Mom's house and complain to each other about the condition of the house and all the crap that resides within. Cheers!!

We had a great Christmas afternoon this year as we all watched Sawyer attack a very reasonable pile of gifts. Our instructions were to buy him gifts that "sparked the imagination." His parents bought him a policeman's uniform, complete with jacket, hat, whistle and handcuffs that he thought was perfection. Right up until the point that he opened a doctor's kit from his aunts, complete with syringe, stethascope, reflex mallet and ear scope. A policeman / doctor was born! But wait, then he opened a fireman's kit and discovered that wearing three identification badges, a policeman's hat and coat, and a fireman's belt was the way to go. Especially if you also got to carry a syringe and hammer people's knees. Now this was perfection.Oh, but then there was the 42-piece Black & Decker construction kit, with two saws, three screwdrivers, a hammer, tape measure and all sorts of other crap his aunt wouldn't know what to do with. How is one little boy supposed to be a fireman, policeman, doctor and construction worker all at the same time?? Amazingly, he figured it out and had a grand time with all of it.The monster successes of the day were delivered by Nana. The first treat was a naying, carrot-eating rocking horse that, when turned on, galloped or trotted depending on the speed of the rocking. The horse, Blaze, was a huge hit and one I know his parents can't wait to have sitting in their family room.The second treat - and one that never would have made it into a Shelden Family christmas 30 years ago! - was a full-blown John Deere tractor that Sawyer can drive. The kid hit nirvana as soon as he laid eyes on it. We took him over to the parking lot at Saint Mary's Church, where he proceeded to drive all over the lot with his dad's help. As Allen tried to teach him to push his foot down on the pedal, he kept reaching down with his hand to push his foot down. We wouldn't want our foot alone to push our foot down! We'd say "Push with your foot" and down his hand would go to push on his toes. Pretty cute. He still has some work to do with steering - every member had a near-head-on collision moment - but he took to the toy like a fish to water. Overall, a very successful Christmas celebration!

Orangeman, Fireman, Cowboy & Dr. Baker

To say that Sawyer is particular about the people around him is a bit of an understatement. His aunts' advance team (Mommy, Daddy and Nana)usually has to go into overdrive to prep him for our arrival in order to avoid a crying scene, complete with the command "Go Home!" After a quiet warm up to me on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, Sawyer came into full bloom by Thanksgiving dinner. He really discovered the "fun potential" of his "Aunt Wacky" and Aunt Susie on Friday morning when we threw him onto our King-size bed and began a pillow fight. He immediately got into it and was doubled over laughing as we hid him under pillows and taught him how to haul off and hit someone with a pillow. I'm confident his parents will appreciate that lesson in a few days! Susan got in a few zerbert tummy kisses, I managed to get a few high fives, and we all had a blast. I'm not sure why he looks so stoned in these photos - perhaps he's high on fun!Our pillow fight eventually evolved into building a house of pillows, where Sawyer "lived" with his rocking horse, Spice. The house was architecturally sound, right up until the point that a tornado blew through town (ie, his aunts waving their arms maniacally and making "whooshing" noises) and knocked down the walls. More giggles ensued, with requests for "more!"

Finally, he decided we would play a game of Orangeman (me), Cowboy/Dr. Baker (Susan) and Fireman (Sawyer). The kid has quite the imagination - my job was to grab oranges out of the tree and give them to the Fireman to chop so that the cowboy could drink the juice. In a cool twist, the orangeman was instructed to throw the oranges in the air, where the fireman chopped them so the cowboy could drink juice on the fly. When the Orangeman got injured, the Fireman asked Dr. Baker to come to the rescue. This game kept all three of us entertained (and exhausted) for an hour.We all had a great time and the photos to prove it! The best moment was when Sawyer stopped for a breather and announced he wanted "Chocolate Mocha No Whip." Uhhmmm....sounds like someone has made more than one Starbucks visit with Mommy!

Dobble Dobble Day!

Sawyer, is an expert at animal sounds. He does a great elephant, with a waving trunk, an awesome rooster (COCKA DULA DOO!!!!!!!!), and a mean lion (RRRRRooaaarrrr) with hand gestures! Today, we were treated to the sounds of a turkey - "Dooble Dobble!!"

For Thanksgiving Day, Allen, Jocelyn, Sawyer, Susan, Mom and I all gathered in Littleton and spent the day playing in the park, taking naps and watching Disney videos...and we ate a little turkey! We were all entralled by Sawyer, even if he wasn't as enthralled with his aunts! Apparently no one is as cool as Mommy, Daddy and Nana!After a solid 30-minute showing at the dinner table, Sawyer decided he was done and it was ready for story time. Aunt Wacky was on the scene!! He acquiesced to allow me to read to him, so up the stairs we climbed to read all about trucks, cars and snoring. Sawyer has a book on machines and is now aware of Ferraris and Buggatis - he kept telling Susan and I about "Booogatiii!," which is a good thing since neither of his aunts had ever heard of Buggati. There you go. He and I also read the book, The Snore that Roared, which has particularly poignancy for the Shelden Family as it's a rare member who doesn't have a roaring snore. He and I were wildly entertained - for 10 minutes - until we had to go downstairs for more turkey. My brother thanked me for the story time, telling me that he'd never heard the story carry across three bedrooms and down the stairs before! Apparently, I tell a very excited story! My response, "You're welcome!"