Palau- The Last Post, I Promise!

A blog that I really enjoy reading is Everyday Musings. I enjoy it because it's about food, travel, the South. The author also is something I am not (at least not in my blogging style), succinct. She posts lovely pictures and allows the pictures to pretty much speak for themselves. My style is more to paint the picture with words (many, many words) and any actual pictures I have are just icing.

I have a few pictures from Palau that I haven't shown yet, I am going to let them speak (mostly) for themselves.

1.  Welcome to Palau!

2.  Dive boat  

3.  Sailing with the dolphins

4.  I got us home safely in spite of driving on the wrong side of the car

5. & 6. The Jail

7.  Baby sea turtle at the rescue center

8. One of these is not like the others

9. Jefferson!  

10.  Floating with the jellyfish 

11.  Three cheers to a great trip!

Palau, Days 3 and 4

OK, so I totally realize I have now procrastinated spread the telling the tale of my epic adventure a little longer than necessary.  Although I can blame tv, books, going to the gym (oh yes, this has become an actual regular occurrence in my life.  I too am shaking my head in disbelief) and other silly distractions.  What I've been trying to convince myself is that, as long as I hadn't finished writing about Palau some part of me was still there.  Alas, a month has gone by and reality has set in (about 3 weeks ago) that I am home and life is back to normal.  So, allow me to wrap up the rest of Palau...

Days 3 and 4 were not as magical as the second day, but still really great!  On day 3 we had a rental car.  We are pretty sure it was someone's family car that they just rented out as needed.  It was the easiest rental I've ever had, they came to the hotel, we gave them $35 cash and away we went.  We figured there wasn't a real need for securing the car with a credit card or copies of photo id, because we were on a small island with 1 road- where were we going to take it?

Since we weren't going to be in the water that day, we had no schedule to stick to.  We headed downtown in search of the Penthouse Hotel, where we had been told we could get a good meal and also great massages- both at reasonable prices.  Breakfast was ok, but the massage-WOW!!!  Each of us was escorted into a small room in the back of the hotel's beauty salon (where we were also offered facials and I was offered a pedicure after the beautician saw the bad shape my feet were in).  Luckily, we weren't there for the ambiance- my massage room was literally the size of a closet, barely enough room for the table, and also seemed to be the storage room for all the clean towels.  I figured for $25 I shouldn't expect the Mandara Spa (or even the soothing sounds of piped in rain forest music), I just hoped that I'd get a massage that was at least on par with the massages I used to get at the massage school in Denton (shout out to KJ).  Other than the accommodations (and truth be told I found some kind of strange comfort in hearing the salon sounds in the background, they somehow helped me relax, like the part of my brain I really can't ever turn off, and get so caught up trying to turn it off I can never really relax, the day to day noises in the salon gave that part of my brain something to focus on), it was one of the best massages I've ever had.  I spent much of the rest of that day walking around Palau in a post-massage fog.

After the massages, we went shopping and did some sight seeing.  We visited the Belau National Museum and looked at Palauan artifacts.  They also have a Bai, meeting house, on site.

The chair in the back is a real artifact, and yes that is me, and not Rosanne Roseannadanna, with humidity induced mushroom hair peeking out of the house.

In addition to the museum, we also went to jail, twice.  No, we did not get thrown in jail for trying to smuggle in three boxes of wine or for attempting to steal our rental car or anything scandalous at all.  We went there to buy storyboards.  There are many Palauan legends and the inmates carve them into wooden boards of different shapes and sizes.  They are quite intricate and although I didn't purchase a wooden one because I couldn't find my favorite story, I purchased one (not at the jail) made of colorful ceramic tiles.  Back to jail...  it's nice to walk into a jail of your own free will, knowing (hoping, praying) that you will shortly walk out.  Security here seemed, well, let's just say three women walked in carrying quite a bit of cash, we were asked to wait while they secured the shopping room, we were quickly escorted to the shopping room, left to shop and three women walked out with a little less cash (thanks to our purchases) and unscathed, except for our sense of smell, which was a little bit overwhelmed.  I never felt unsafe, but I never felt really protected either.  After a hard day of playing tourist, we retreated to the hotel pool- bliss!! We chilled out until it was time to go back to Kramer's for dinner, upon our entrance we were greeted with, "The Ladies are back!"  And had another great meal.

Our final day in Palau we spent doing the Rock Island Tour.  Basically, we spent all day on a boat, just the three of us and our awesome guide, Jefferson.  Going from snorkel site to snorkel site and getting a view of many of the 800+ rock islands that make up Palau.  We swam in the Milky Way, which is a cove that has a clay bottom (rather than sand).  It was quite the party as several other boats were already there.  We jumped into the water to gather some clay, which is said to have fountain of youth type qualities.  I was a ninny baby and didn't slather it all over like my fellow travelers did, they may have shed a few years, I only shed a few minutes :)

After the Milky Way, we went to a snorkel site and swam with three sea turtles.  It was pretty amazing.  Next we went to lunch, on our way we passed the beaches that were used during the filming of Survivor: Palau.  Jefferson told us to eat up and rest up because after lunch we were headed to Jellyfish Lake.

Another great lunch spot!

Shady spot on the beach

I wasn't sure why Jefferson told us we needed to rest up before Jellyfish Lake, but as soon as I stepped off the dock and saw the climb that was ahead of me, I figured it out.  Basically, we had to hike up a cliff (I may be exaggerating here, all I know it was really steep) through the jungle, avoiding wild chickens, while wearing dive booties and carrying snorkel gear- a good time for Princess Grace.  I thought, well at least once I'm up, I can get in the water and then just worry about getting down after my swim.  WRONG!!  We had to climb up, I guess basically to get on the island, and then down to get into the lake.  I was never so happy to see a calm body of jellyfish infested saltwater in my life.  I was pooped and didn't want to have to exert much energy after climbing Mt. Everest.  Then I looked at the lake and realized how large it was.  And I felt my legs and they were so, so tired.  And then Jefferson, my knight in shining armor showed up with a life jacket that I used like a raft and hopped on into that water and floated face down in a lake of jellyfish.  What?  In a lake full of jellyfish??  No worries, they don't sting.  Thanks to evolution, their need to sting has gone away.  When we first arrived, we had the lake pretty much to ourselves we floated out to the middle, noticing an occasional jelly here and there.

Some were big, some were small.  The further out we floated, the more jellies we encountered.  I would find myself completely surrounded and need to back out a little and then I would float back in.

It was mesmerizing and ethereal.  Somehow, although they pulsated with an electric vibe it was soothing.  Being in a lake, in the middle of an island, in the middle of an ocean surrounded by millions of harmless floating globs of goo, hearing sounds one could find on a nature cd was surreal and peaceful.  Until the Japanese tourists showed up, and I felt like I was back in Guam and was expecting to see Lam Lam buses pulled up outside (I forgot we had taken a boat to get there, but there were about 7 large boats docked when we got back to our boat). 

We made a few more snorkel stops that afternoon, one of which was Clam City,  a former giant clam farm.

This was one of the smaller clams that was left behind.

Once we were finished snorkeling, Jefferson took us through the islands.  We had seen this arch several times on our trip, this time he got really close so we could get some good pictures.

After the arch, Jefferson stepped on the gas and we cruised on back home.  As a parting gift, we got this...

A rainbow! Bidding us a fond farewell.

Of course, our trip wouldn't be complete without a final beer that turned into several final beers at Sam's and one appetizer that turned into two that turned into dinner.  We made it back to the hotel in time to hop into the pool for one last dip.  Our ONLY complaint about our trip was that the pool closed at 7.

I was sad when midnight arrived and we had to head to the airport (our plane left at some ridiculously late/early time think 2ish, I have blocked the exact time from memory).  I was ready to get back home to see Don and Price, but I knew I would miss Palau.

I knew when I left for Palau that I needed a break.  I needed to remember what it felt like to be Terrell, unencumbered for just a few days.  I know I don't have a miserable life and compared to so many, it's a pretty easy life.  But it's so nice to get away from all of the stresses in that life and pour something back into your soul.  I came back home feeling like I could be a better wife and mom.  I felt the same way I used to when visiting my little island off the coast of Alabama, and I needed that.  And, it reminded me how good God is in so many ways.  Unexpected ways...  Remember when I first got to Guam and I wanted to go to the Mom and Me exercise class and I just couldn't do it?  I was too scared and too lost and too busy crying in parking lots?  Well, you know that travel companion that I didn't know before I went to Palau, she actually teaches that class, and I've been going.  And it's been good for me and for Price.  Who would've thought I would have to travel so far to get somewhere so close?

A Truly Magical Day

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you are being rewarded for something you did, but you don't know what you could have done to deserve such an incredible day?  Or in my case, a day where you are just reminded on a minute by minute basis how great and amazing God is and how perfect (even with all of our human imperfections) He made our world?  The second day of our trip was one of those days for me.  It was truly perfect and will go down in my history as one of my favorite days ever.

It started out pretty normal for a day in Palau.  We woke up early, sat out on the balcony reading magazines, headed over to Sam's, grabbed a bite to eat, got on the boat with about 8 other divers (when I say "other divers" I don't mean to give you the impression that I actually dove.  I didn't.  I don't.  I won't - too many rules. It's just shorter to type dive than snorkel, which is what I did- snorkel.  Everyone on the boat, except for me and one of the gals I went to Palau with, did dive. Deep. With tanks and computers and instructions and too much stuff for me to keep track of.  I like jumping in the water with a mask, fins and a snorkel.  I like being able to pop my head up out of the water whenever I want to.  And mostly, I like having the ability to summon the captain to get my ass out of the water at the first sight of sharks.  But I'll get to that in a minute).

Our boat with 8 divers, 2 snorkelers (of which I was one) 2 dive guides, a captain and a mate took off around 9.  They said we would have a calm ride, which was good because I hadn't been on a boat in a while, and although I have always had pretty good sea legs, the last time I went on a long boat ride in the middle of the ocean, I made plenty of fish food while hanging my green head over the side of the boat.  But true to their word, the water was like glass and our boat skimmed over the water, which was a constantly changing kaleidescope of blues and greens.  And so clear, you could see the coral formations below.  They took us to our first dive spot, Turtle Cove.  Our guide told us that we should just jump off the boat and go with the flow (it was a theme for the whole trip I tell ya), let the current pull us to the end of the wall.  He said we'd see lots of fish, that was an understatement.

At certain points of my snorkel adventure I felt like I was in a scene from Finding Nemo or Shark Tale.  There were so many fish riding in on the current due to the tide change, I just kept pointing because they kept coming.  Schools and schools of them.  All different types, so many different colors (the underwater pics in this post were taken by my fellow snorkeler, with her super cool snorkel mask cam, the pictures are great, but even they don't quite capture the magnitude of what we saw.

The guide also told us we should see a turtle or two. I was hoping with a name like Turtle Cove it wouldn't disappoint.  It didn't.  I figured, my whole trip had been made, swimming with a sea turtle.

He also mentioned we might see some sharks, I hoped not.  He was right, we saw this one first, my first official shark spotting...

A harmless nurse shark.  Had no clue we were even there, I liked it that way.

We continued to float along, in awe of the fish and the coral.  The sun streaming through the water changed the color of everything.  We saw more and more and fish.  The current started to pick up as we got to the end of the wall, so waved the boat over, hopped back aboard and they took us back to the start of our swim, let us jump back in and see it again.

By this point the current had really picked up, I was really thankful to be wearing my snorkel vest (aka life preserver). Even though I'm a pretty strong swimmer, I liked having the extra flotation just in case.  The only kicking we had to do was to slow us down.  It was amazing to me how even though we were floating over the same area we had just come from, it had changed.  There were new fish, we saw different corals.

And Nemo, a Clownfish, popped out of an anemone to say hi!

We even saw a reef shark. He was far away, far enough that I didn't feel like I was on the menu.

With the current, came all kinds of plankton and the water started to get murky, so we had the boat come get us and a few minutes later the divers surfaced.  And we headed off to lunch.  Our guide told us that since the tides were going out, the captain was taking us to a special place for lunch.  They took us to Now You See It, Now You Don't Island.    Basically, this island (large sandbar in the middle of the ocean) only appears at very low tide.  We were so blessed to be close by at low tide to get to have the experience to eat here.  They literally anchored the boat to the island (which got bigger and bigger while we were there).

And we got to have lunch in one of the most gorgeous, unique places in the world.  It existed only for us and only for a short time.  It was amazing and I felt like all the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.  I just had a turkey sandwich for lunch, but thanks to the view and the company (and being starving from all the ocean exploring I had just done), it was the best turkey sandwich I have ever eaten.

After our lunch break, we went to our next dive site, New Drop Off.  While the guide was going over all the instructions for the divers, they had to clip into the wall (yet another reason I am not meant to be a diver), I heard the following phrases, "don't stay on top, don't splash, sharks."  Since I'm not a diver and I only had "to go with the flow," and what he was telling them didn't pertain to me, I was only half listening to what he was telling them, and made his words into this, "don't splash on top of the water or the sharks will eat you."  But I figured, it probably wasn't dangerous since they were letting us in the water, surely there was nothing to worry about, we probably wouldn't see any sharks. Someone (knowledgeably) forgot to tell me that was the whole reason we were there.

So in my complete ignorance and still in a state of sunburned bliss from lunch, I jumped into the beautiful water.  We floated along for, what seemed like no more than 1 second, when I saw a black tipped fin.... reef shark.  Swimming quick and  to my eyes (that were wide as saucers) close by (cue the duh-da, duh-da)...

However, in retrospect compared to THE NEXT one we saw, that one was like a mile away.

Or maybe it was the same one, circling back to see if the large thing in a bright orange vest, splashing on top of the water would make a good meal.  My heart was thumping as my brain was trying to convince my fight or flight response to calm down because SURELY the shark would eat the fish that separated the two of us before coming after me.

And there was another one (and this picture may or may not have been edited just a little to make you really scared like I was to give you a sense of how close the sharks were to me.

At this point, I checked in with my snorkel buddy and we decided to go on just a little more. And we did, and then I saw this...

But there were more than the two we captured on film, and I decided I had had enough.  I was no longer enjoying my time in the water.  I felt like I was shark bait (the barracuda that came over to say hi weren't helping either).  I had a sense that with many sharks circling like that, they were surely having a conversation about how to round me up as a main course.  So, we gave our boat the thumbs up and they quickly came and pulled me out of the shark infested waters.  Because I spent good money on this trip am brave, I jumped right back in a few minutes later, this time with the rationalization (from my snorkel buddy) that the divers would be down there now and surely the sharks would eat them before us.  Once the divers surfaced, I was happy to find out that I was not exaggerating the number of sharks we saw, they counted at least 11. But I did hear the guide wrong, he said not to splash because the sharks are shy and will swim away... oh well, I guess I wasn't on the menu after all.

While the divers were getting back on the boat, we spotted a couple of dolphin jumping.  They started getting closer to the boat, so we all jumped back into the water in hopes of swimming with them. Our guide told us they'd rather play with the boat than with us, so we got back on the boat and suddenly we were surrounded.  Where ever you looked there was a pod of dolphins, literally hundreds of them.  There were two other boats nearby and the dolphins put on quite a show for all of us.  They were flipping out of the water and racing the boats.  Our wonderful captain did four passes with the dolphins escorting us through the water, we were all mesmerized- a boat full of adults and we were all standing and clapping and cheering them on.  It was such a simple thing, but it felt like they were experiencing joy and passing it on to us.  It was the perfect way to end such a wonderful day.

Palau, The First Full Day (updated with new pics)

Picture Courtesy of http://www.cieer.org/efloras/images/1019491-Travel_Picture-Palau.jpg

Someone in the airport (which was very small and open aired, no A/C, and floors painted red to hide betelnut spit) overheard us discussing the fact that we were cheap savvy travelers and not willing to pay the high price for the hotel shuttle and therefore were in search of a cheaper alternative a more authentic mode of transportation, something that would add a little bit of local flavor to our trip from the airport to our hotel.  That someone said, "You need taxi?  Follow me."  He beckoned to another man and said, "Go with him."  And we did, although flashbacks of the tour Don and I took in a scary taxi on our honeymoon in St. Lucia came flashing back.  I felt better when I saw our luggage being loaded into the hotel's van while we waited for our driver to arrive with his car.  All of a sudden an older (let's say early 90s), kind of beat up looking equivalent to a Corolla rolled by and we jokingly said, "wouldn't that be funny if that was our taxi?"  As the words floated in the air, out popped the driver to grab our remaining bags and inform us that yes, he was in fact our driver.  We got in the car and noticed that the steering wheel was on the "wrong" side of the car even though we were driving on the "right" side of the road.  Because it was dark out, I didn't notice that cardboard was duct taped over half of the windshield, but since our driver, Terry, was part of the police force I guess it was street legal.  Terry dropped us off at our hotel and charged us quite a bit less than the hotel would have.

From the minute we stepped into the hotel (Palau Royal Resort, offers GREAT military discounts), I was impressed.  There were a number of staff members to greet us upon arrival, from the time we arrived until we left, if we ever showed up with a bag or package someone met us and whisked it upstairs to our room (I really enjoy not having to carry things on my vacation). the lobby was open aired and surrounded by water.  We were shown to our room and although it was dark, we could tell that we had a nice view of the pool and the pond near the lobby.  We did a little exploring around the hotel, bought some bottled water since we couldn't drink the water and called it a night.  We settled down to sleep in our hard, single Japanese beds, but I don't mind a firm mattress and the bed seemed wider than the twin bed I had in college, and I had NO problem falling asleep.

We woke up the next morning and realized this was our view...

this pic came from a website, but I can't remember which one :(

this is the saltwater pond that surrounded the lobby

The harbor, the pool and the saltwater pond that surrounded the lobby.  And then we noticed the sea turtles, rays, sea cucumbers and other animals swimming around the pond.  It was so relaxing to sit on our balcony and watch them swim around without a care in the world.  Truly an amazing way to wake up each morning.

two of the turtles at feeding time

Another un-Terrell like thing about this trip was I made no plans (except to go), I had no agenda, and was totally willing to let the others be the tour guides.  The three of us decided early on, like as the plane was somewhere over the Pacific, that this trip was to be relaxing and we could do or not do what ever we wanted.  And I decided to embrace that, let them make the plans and then I would decide if I wanted to partake or not.  It wasn't even hard for me to be this way.  I think I was so thankful to only have to worry about myself, my well-being that I easily just went with the flow.  This trip taught me that as long as you don't drown in the tide, going with the flow can sometimes, actually, be a good way to do things...

Anyway, bright and early Thursday morning we walked across the street to Sam's Tours (which would become our home away from home away from home).

the harbor at Sam's

the "interior" at Sam's

I have never, in my life seen a more efficient, more customer oriented, more happy to be there business in my life.  I cannot recommend them enough!  Within minutes of arriving with no notice of us showing up, they had us booked on snorkel/dive trips, arranged a rental car, and made us feel welcome.  After giving it some thought, I decided I really wasn't up for being on a boat all day and I just really needed, wanted, craved some time alone.  So, I went back to the hotel and plopped my butt in a chair by the pool and sat there.  All day.  For almost 8 straight hours...  At first, when the realization struck that I was all alone, in a foreign country, where no one knew me or who I was traveling with I had a little bit of an anxiety attack.  How was I ever going to spend 8 hours all alone?  The next thing I knew, it was almost time for the girls to be back from their dive, and I needed to head upstairs to change and meet them.  I literally sat and read, and when I got tired, I took little cat naps.  The cabana boys kept bringing me fresh towels and chair cushions (my day was only interrupted by little rain showers).  By the time we were supposed to meet up, I already felt like a new woman.  No one had asked me to do anything all day, and as much as I love Price and Don, I didn't have to give anything to them.  I just got to be.

That night, we went to dinner at Kramer's.

Impossible to not be charmed by a place with menus woven out of palm fronds

The food was great, but we got there at 5 and the kitchen didn't open until 6:30.  By the time our food arrived, we were feeling happy and HUNGRY!!

This was our view (and my beer) while waiting for dinner, so nothing to complain about!

Of course, I spent the entire trip trying to bat down my internal Charlotte York McDougal Goldenblatt (had to throw in the SATC reference) and convince myself to eat food that may or may not have come into contact with the water we weren't supposed to drink- being married to a public health guy can have it's disadvantages. My hunger always won out though and this was just the first of several good meals to come.

*So, I took a camera without a memory card on this vacation- dumb!!!  But I was able to take a view pis that were stored on my camera's internal memory and I was able to download them tonight.  I apologize if you're re-reading this post, but hopefully the new pics of things I ACTUALLY took pictures of myself make it worth it.

Texas

November 3- November 14, 2008

Price, Bea and I FINALLY arrived in Mansfield.  Price got to meet his Granddad for the first time and they hit it off immediately!  We spent two great weeks with Bea and Don.  Bea and I played tennis several times (it was great playing for the first time in over a year).  Two of my oldest and dearest friends, Kristen and Jennifer, came to meet Price.  It was wonderful spending time with them and catching up.  Jennifer and I stayed up late into the night talking.  Price also met his uncle Danny for the first time too.  The only sad part was Don wasn't there to be part of the introductions and get togethers.  Price also started cooing while we were in Mansfield.  It was a bittersweet time because it was new for him and it was hysterical listening to him discover his voice, and I wanted to pick up the phone and share it with Don, but I couldn't- so I did the next best thing and called my mom.

November 14 - December 25, 2008

My mom flew up to Dallas and drove to Houston with Price and me.  We stayed in Houston for about 6 weeks, excluding our Thanksgiving trip to Louisiana (I think I'll put that in it's own post). We had a good drive down, Price slept the entire way except for the last 20 minutes of the drive. He screamed for that whole portion of the trip.  We would have made it without the meltdown if we had enough toll money to get home, but we didn't so we stopped to see my brother, Trey (who met Price for the first time through the car window).  He met us outside his office and gave us money, which we didn't even end up using!

We got home and the next night Mom had Trey, Arianne, Will, and Delores over for dinner.  It was nice to see everyone, but I was so exhausted, I got sent to bed.  I think they just wanted to play with Price, but I was so tired, I was on the verge of tears- so I did as I was told and went to bed and slept for a few hours.  The next night, we went to Mr. Paul's birthday party.  It was nice to see all of the Finnegans.

Our time in Houston was weird, we struggled to find a balance of space/time/sanity.  Price and I went and visited with my dad which was nice (and I have rarely thanked God more than I id driving home from seeing him- a drive which usually takes a little over 2 hours took about 4, but Price was wonderful and slept the whole time).  I got to meet up with an old friend from high school, we went to church, we attended Mom's Christmas program and threw 3 parties in one CRAZY, hectic day.  Christmas and my birthday were difficult because Don wasn't there and he wasn't able to communicate (after months of open communication, all lines were cut of, at the worst time).  And Roger's brother-in-law passed away on Christmas eve.  So, all of our Christmas/traveling plans were changed up at the last minute- but it worked out in the end.

December 25-29

Mom drove back up to Dallas with Price and me on Christmas Day.  Roger picked her up and they continued on to Tulsa for the funeral.  Price and I walked into culture shock at the in-laws.  The normally calm, quiet house which is usually a nice respite from the craziness of my family's home did not exist!  My brother and sister in law and their 3little girls were there- all were sick, Bea was sick. It was a loud, sick house and I had the Christmas blues.  We had to cut our visit short so that I could meet Mom in Tulsa and she could drive back to Ohio with us.

December 29 - 30

Other than going the wrong way on the Indian Nation Turnpike in the middle of nowhere (Oklahoma), I ended up making an illegal u-turn rather than driving 60 miles out of my way to get back on track, Price and I made it to Tulsa safe and sound.  The next day we left Tulsa and headed for home.  I was excited to be heading home because I was ready to be back in my own space and REALLY ready for Don to be home.  We got to stop and visit with another great friend who lives outside of Tulsa.  It was so wonderful to meet her newest addition and catch up in person. 

We made it back to Dayton on December 30.  Mom was to fly out early on the morning of the 31st. Of course, she missed her flight and ended up staying a few extra days. I can't say I minded :)

I have told Don's family and mine how much we appreciated all of their support while he was gone.  I really don't know what I would have done without them.

Headed South...

October 30, 2008-November 2, 2008

My mother-in-law came to Ohio to visit her newest grandchild and our newest niece, Ashtyn. Since she was coming to Ohio she volunteered to drive back to Texas with Price, Isabelle and me. It saved my life- it helped me leave Ohio about a month earlier than I had originally planned.

Price and I went to Cleveland to see Don's brother's family and pick Bea up. We drove back to Dayton, spent the night. Bea spent the next day watching Price as I spent it getting the car taken care of and loading months of stuff into every nook and cranny of the car. I wasn't sure what all I needed to take with me for the baby who was going to be changing sizes and seasons, so I took EVERYTHING, which was wayyyyy toooo much stuff. We finally left town around 5:30 pm on October 30. We drove to Bowling green, Kentucky. A trip that normally takes about 4 hours took us about 6 thanks to baby, although he was great we just couldn't get our schedules lined up!

10-31-08
We drove from Bowling Green to Memphis. We made it to town in time for Price to participate in his first Halloween trick-or-treating with his second cousins- Hudson, Catcher and Stanton. In hindsight, we probably should have skipped this ritual because Price had a major meltdown about 5 minutes after arriving and Bea and I ended up pushing the stroller and feeding him at the same time. When it was time to load the stroller back into the car, I really questioned my decision and also my ability to mother.... (but he made a cute snowman and in hindsight itwas worth it for the pictures)





11-1-08
After spending a nice relaxing morning in Memphis, had breakfast with Shauna, went to Hudson's soccer game, lunch with the entire Miller clan, we headed on to Monroe, LA. what a lllooonnngggg trip that was. Again, couldn't quite align our eating, stopping for gas schedule with Price's which added extra time and led to a few meltdowns a long the way. My reward for the trip that day was a pizza from Johnny's for dinner.

11-2-08
We woke up early and met Suzanne and Kristal for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. It was so nice to see them and catch up. They were the closest friends I had in Monroe, and it means so much to me that we stay in touch. We had a lovely breakfast. Once it was over, we had to head back to the hotel to pick up Isabelle and hit the road for our final destination!

Price was really great in the car pretty much the whole trip- because it's the way it always happens, the last day was the worst, but I think it was because he had been in the car for 3 days and like the restof us, just ready to be done. he won't remember it, but the kid ate more meals in rest areas and truck stops. He also had been through more states in the first 4 months of his life (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennesee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas) than some people ever go to their entire lives.