Driving

According to googlemaps.com, I have driven 2972 miles in a total of approximately 49 hours of driving. Janae drove some of that distance, as did my brother Paul, but I drove the majority of it. It was long.

The funny thing about freeways is that they always put them out of the way. They try to avoid most towns and geographical features in order to move traffic from point A to point B as directly as possible, with little disturbance to the surrounding human population. Unless they send the freeway through a large city, which is the other setting for a freeway. Because those two scenarios are the most common, driving long distances is either very boring or very slow. There are few entertainment options in the car, but those few can last for long periods of time. Talking is one of these activities. When you don't have any distractions, it's surprising how long you can talk to someone. Of course it helps if the other person is interesting to talk to, but I find that driving allows the mind to wander and conversation comes easily. Talking is the best remedy for sleepiness, which tends to strike after 9 or 10 hours of driving. My sister chided me for driving the stretch from Philadelphia to Atlanta in the middle of the night, because drowsy driving is so dangerous. It was indeed a very foolish thing to do. But only partly because I was so tired. The main reason I regret doing it is that my plan didn't work at all.

I originally decided to drive that stretch at night so that my 14-month-old daughter would sleep for most of the drive. That plan seemed to be working initially, but after 3 hours of sleep, our dog Austin began barking at a gas station and woke her up. After that, a violent thunderstorm kept her up and she started crying. The storm finally became so hard that visibility was dangerously low, so we pulled off the freeway and found a hotel room, hoping to get some sleep until the storm passed. Sadly for us, Danielle did not want to sleep. She wanted to rampage around the hotel room, eating Kleenexes and attacking Janae, who was trying to sleep. I passed the time watching Deal or No Deal and preventing Danielle from ruining things or harming herself.

Aside from pinching yourself to stay awake, listening to music or screaming babies, listening to audiobooks is a good option. Paul and I listened to Bringing Down the House, the book that the movie 21 was based on. It was interesting. It made me feel the need to gamble. Mainly, it was just an unbelievable story. I thought it ran a bit long, and could have done without some of the graphic descriptions of scenes with strippers, but overall I enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed the use of my cruise control. There's nothing better. I have a habit of leaving my knees poking out sideways when I drive, especially my right knee when I press on the gas. After long enough, this leads to pain in my hips. This part makes me sound really old, but you notice this kind of thing when you drive for long enough. Lumbar support becomes important, and if your legs aren't positioned well, you'll get aches and pains when you stop. Drinking caffeinated beverages helps to keep you alert, but dring too much and you might have to stop before you've run out of gas, which slows you down. The best way is to sit with decent posture, keep the cruise control 15-20 mph above the speed limit, bring a snack that involves chewing, and drink a mixture of water and mountain dew. Then sit back, bring in what sights your peripherals pick up, and listen to whatever entertainment you've chosen. And if you don't want that entertainment to be the screaming of a child, a Disney DVD works well. Danielle watched the whole movie The Sword in the Stone, enjoying particularly well the preview for 101 Dalmatians. She spoke to that one.

I'm glad we've made it. We're in Washington and ready to relax for a while. At least until September, when we go back and I need to pick up the dog I left in Atlanta.