Road Trip... Part Two

So, the adventure continues… We made it to our hotel, just over halfway between my house and my mom’s house, nearly 10 hours into Day One of our road trip.  We got mostly settled then headed to a local diner for dinner.  The diner had just changed ownership or management or something a few hours before we arrived, which apparently meant that it had a whole new menu.  Unfortunately for us and every other diner that night we got copies of the old menu to order from.  I’ve never heard “I’m sorry, we’re not serving that anymore” so many times in my life.  Regardless, we did end up eating, and it was food, so I guess I can’t complain too loudly.  After dinner the girl and I went for a swim in the hotel pool (which I had confirmed was in working order before booking the reservation on-line).  Then it was bedtime, which was a challenge with a two year old sleeping in a room with three adults.  It took until nearly midnight to even get her into the bed we were sharing, but that was followed by an epic toss-and-turn session which included having her feet in my face and on my pillow a number of times.  Then there was the temperature issue… too hot, too cold, too hot… each time having to get up to “fix” the thermostat thingy.  On a positive note, the little man only got me up once in the night.  Of course, it was right in the middle of the longest stretch of sleep I had all night, but whatever.
The morning was a new beginning, with both kids sleeping a little in the car.  Then, well, all got turned upside down.  The girl was happily playing in her car seat when all of a sudden she turns to me, panicked and says, “Mommy, my tummy hurts!”  As I ask her whether she’s hungry or wants a drink of water, she begins to cough and I know what’s coming.  “She’s throwing up!” I yell and begin frantically looking for something to “catch”.  Enough details.  We had to pull over and clean up both her and the carseat (luckily everything was contained to the car seat, but I’m still trying to get the smell to completely disappear).  Once everything was cleaned up, though, aside from the smell, the rest of the trip was uneventful.
We spent the next few days at my mom’s.  She lives in a fifth wheel (aka great big camper) which doesn’t leave much room for 3 adults, a toddler and a newborn so the girl and I slept in a tent.  She was so excited the first night that she shouted, “We’re sleeping in a tent!” at the top of her lungs the second she was all tucked in.  Oddly enough, after the weather reports said it was going to be clear and hot all week, we, instead, got thunder and lightning storms with typhoon style rain.  Imagine my concern every day as I watched the clouds roll in and the rain begin to fall, then my pleasant surprise as, every evening, the clouds disappeared and it warmed up just in time to go to bed.  It was always a little touch and go, and there was a back up plan, but it was fun and so sweet to wake up each morning to the beautiful sleeping face of my little girl.  We never got even a little damp (my step-dad really knows how to put up a good tent!) and add to it, one morning the girl’s first words were “Mommy, you’re the best friend I ever had.  We’re going to be friends for ever and ever.”  It was all definitely worth the risk of a wet night’s sleep.  So, here I am now, sitting at my cousins kitchen table, waiting to feed the little man for the last time before going to bed.  I’m glad to say, in a few weeks time, we will be flying home.  I’ve had enough adventure for a while