Triumphant Travelers

We hit the road shortly before 9:30, off like a herd of turtles. Turns out it was exactly the right time to depart, based on Greta's schedule. She enjoyed some cheerios for the first 15 minutes of the drive, and by minute 24, was in the Land of Nod. She slept for a glorious 98 minutes, and awoke quite happy (although she did appear a bit surprised to find that she was still in a moving vehicle). All was well (thank goodness for Gerber "Puffs") until we were literally two miles from our planned rest stop in Pine Grove. But a two minute meltdown is minor in the scheme of what I thought would be an 8+ hour day.

At Pine Grove, we enjoyed cheeseburgers, french fries, and milk at the McDonald's Play Place. Greta is too little to crawl through the contraption, but she enjoyed watching the other screeching children hustle over and around her. I let her play with the dirty Lego table and wall puzzles, making sure we scrubbed up as soon as she was done (before her fingers could find their way into her mouth, where she seems to like the feel of her new teeth).

She didn't protest at all when I strapped her back into the car seat, played nicely for about 40 minutes, and then started to fuss. No toy or book seemed to appease her. Then I remembered the bag of goldfish crackers and all was right with the world. Another nap, this time 50 minutes, waking briefly at Binghamton to cry for two minutes before dozing off again (I think she just wanted to roll over and couldn't). I am so glad she fell asleep because we sat in traffic for 25 minutes crawling two miles until we passed some kind of accident.

She woke up when we were just 30 minutes from Grandma's. Again, a rather confused look, but I quickly replaced that with a smile by giving her a blueberry muffin. We arrived safe and sound at 4:30. After getting the lay of the land at Grandma's, we helped shuck corn for dinner. Mom had just put the chicken in the oven when I went outside to unload the car. I smelled smoke, but thought someone was burning their dinner. Then I heard Mom yell "The utility pole is on fire!" I turned around, and saw the smoke and flames shooting up the pole just across the street. Fortunately, Greta still had her fire chief hat in the car, so she was the first on the scene. She enjoyed watching the police cars and fire trucks, although I think she was disappointed they didn't seek her assistance.

After all the excitement was over, we realized that Grandma and Grandpa had lost electricity, cable, and phone service. No chicken and corn for dinner! So it was off to Tulley's, where Greta enjoyed tilapia, fettucine, fresh tomatoes, garlic bread, and mashed potatoes (I tried to make up for McD's). We got home at 7:30, and following bath and books, she was asleep at 8:15.

I have some good pics to post, but I'm not ambitious enough to figure out how to hook up our camera to the computer. Might get around to it tomorrow, or you might have to wait until Rob gets here on Wednesday night!