By Johanna
Singing, laughing, and Spanish fills the car. The smell of a slow baked banana and apple perfumes it. A book lays open and an activity bag is lying on it's side. A drowsy kid is trying to sleep in a very awkward position.
Happy Memorial Day! My family just got home from Burlington, North Carolina, where my grandma lives. The visit was very short and boring, except for the video, Remember the Titans, and the 5 hour car rides there and back were actually not bad.
I was woken up at six in the morning (on a weekend!) and so I stumbled out of bed, and without any breakfast, got into the car. I made room for my head on the middle elbow rest in the back of the car, lay down, and tried to sleep for a bit. After one hour, we stopped in the Aunties Pancake House in Ruther Glen for a seven o'clock breakfast. My dad and I have been here when we were going to North Carolina for Christmas. My mom said she disapproved, but I could tell she wanted to do it. I got a pancake platter, with three giant buttermilk pancakes and some bacon, and milk, which was 2 percent, which I don't like. My mom got a waffle that she shared on fourth of it with me, and my dad got a pecan banana pancake, which my mom and I agreed was crazy. Everyone got a big scoop of... butter for the pancakes! We only used about a fourth of it, and so it was a big waste. Everything was so good. The pancakes were warm and delicious, the bacon was fatty and crisp, and the waffles were, well, like waffles! Even the syrup, even though it was fake, not real maple syrup, was good and warm. Then, when we had finished, I could hardly stand up! We got back into the car and kept going.
I read a little, a new book- The Book Thief, and then I got out the unfailing card pack of things to do on a car trip. I chose to do the "Hum a tune and make people guess what it is" card. But humming was too soft, so we whistled. It happened a lot where we knew the words and tune but not the title. Then we did "Name a place or location starting with A, and then the next person has to name a place that starts with the last letter of the word that they said". For example, my dad said Arkansas, and so I had to say something like Santiago (the capital city of Chili) or South Carolina. I said South Dakota, so my mom had to say something like Antarctica. We found out that there were a lot of places that ended in "A" or started with "A". Then I tried to nap again, and before I knew it, we were at my grandmas house!
Then on Sunday, we had to go back home. We started out at three in the afternoon, and got home at about nine. I mostly read, did an activity book, or slept. My mom and dad tried to listen to this very quick paced Spanish course CD, but they finally gave up. This time, we had already had lunch, but by the time it was seven, we were hungry again. We stopped in Fredericksburg, and the only place we found was "Carlos O'Kelys" which was a Mexican restaurant. My mom told dad to remind her to not stop in Fredericksburg again, but the food there was good. I got an enchilada, which was very yummy. Then, we got in the car and kept going. When we finally got home, I was so sleepy! I climbed into the car, put on my pj's, and went to sleep before my head touched the pillow.
Life Lesson: Car rides can be fun if you make them be fun.
I feel your pain.
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