It's theme week!

Look, another blog post about the truck!

I went for a quick road trip yesterday. I put on about 500 km to go and see my mom. I don't see her often enough, so this trip felt overdue. Now, of course I chat with her regularly by phone, so don't think that I'm the worst kid in the world or anything. But, my chaotic life and work just keeps me from visiting as often as everyone would like.

In order to take this first 'roadie' with the new truck I had to make a new playlist. Music just for this truck and for this adventure. Then, en route I bought a Dr. Pepper. For me, a road trip requires these two things for certain.

Then all I did was drive. Deep in thought, and lost in music, the time flew by. Before I knew it I was in Mom's neighborhood picking up groceries and flowers and everything necessary for a perfect visit.

On the way, I got more familiar with my truck. It has a great 3 prong outlet you can use to charge anything. I like that. It has a back window that slides down. That makes it feel almost like a sunroof. The stereo is excellent, but I already knew that.

There, in the driver's seat,  with a few hours to myself I started to feel more like "me" again. I was reminded that with a little time and fresh air, distance and perspective I'm good.

I'm a MART

We were talking about travel styles today and I am a self-described MART. That's Mother Against Road Trips.

It's true I don't enjoy road trips with my whole family. There's a couple good reasons.

First of all, we fight on who's going to drive. I have a big, spacious, gas guzzling quad cab truck. It's awsome. Like super awesome and I love it. But... I don't let anyone else drive it. So, gas mileage and the fact that I would have to do all the driving makes me reluctant to take it. But it sure would be comfortable and safe.

Then, if we took my husband's wagon, he would do all the driving. Ugh. He never stops. "Get in and shut up. We'll stop when we get there" best describes his driving style.  And since we live in the middle of nowhere road trips take at least 15 hours to get anywhere good.

My kids don't do well in confined spaces. They argue and fight and in general cause a ruckus.

I've tried road trip games, including custom bingo games. I've tried music, dvds and ipods. They work for a bit, but not long enough. They're active boys and need to run. I prefer to run them through airports on vacation, not gas stations and highway rest stops. I think it's great exercise to run from Terminal A to Terminal E in order to catch a connector flight. Keeps the heart racing and strong.

And with fly away vacations you can't just yell at everybody, toss them back in the car and drive home in a huff, cutting the trip short. Plane reservations and fees for changing flights help you resist the temptation to just throw your hands up and end the vacation.

I love my family and I love exploring new destinations. I just don't have the time, energy or interest in doing it Griswold-style like in the classic movie, "Vacation."

So I'm a MART. So what!