Vacation Vignettes

Greetings from Texas. So far, we have driven more than 12-hundred miles from Atlanta to Tuscaloosa to Tyler to Dallas to Austin to San Antonio. We got an oil change just before we left. At this rate, we will need another by the time we return to Atlanta.

Let's see. Tuesday night was Atlanta. Wednesday night was Tyler. Thursday night was Dallas. Friday night was San Antonio. We've been in more beds than Paris Hilton.

Rachel has held up fairly well. Obviously, her routine has been disrupted, but days like today, when she got to hang with SpongeBob and Timmy Turner from Fairly Oddparents seems to have added some serenity to her daily life.

Of course, the fact that temperatures in San Antonio have made it feel like Hell's suburb haven't helped anyone's demeanor. Our car has become an odd amalgam of souvenirs...paper flowers from a Fiesta party, balloon monkeys from a lunch at a Mexican restaurant, gifts from generous friends I haven't seen in at least two years or longer.

We did have a tragic incident in which I rolled up the car windows and a balloon monkey's tail got caught and popped. We wanted to make him balloon crutches, but by then we had already left the restaurant.

We also have made a pilgrimmage to my favorite barbecue place and found it more than met our expectations. I thought we ordered way too much food, but surprisingly we polished it off. Rachel has developed an annoying habit of asking for another bowl of cereal at free hotel breakfasts and then telling us she is too full to eat any, but she is five, after all.

There have been moments of discipline, standoffs and tears, but all in all, seeing all these wonderful people have brought us great joy.

Two things stand out though that I must share. Thursday night, while waiting for my stepmother, sister and Rachel to meet us for dinner, my wife and I arrived first at the shopping center where we were to rendezvous. I got out of the car and directly in front of me was The Casket Store. Two doors down was a store called Boxes To Go. I turned to my wife and asked, "Shouldn't that be the same store?"

Monday morning, Rachel and I headed downstairs for breakfast. Divorce Court was on. Some woman was talking about her "baby daddy." Rachel started laughing. Before I could ask why, she explained, "Her daddy is the size of a baby!" followed by more laughter.

I can only hope she stays that innocent a while longer.