Coming Up for Air

Okay, last Friday I said we'd be blogging regularly from the road. That was 72 hours ago. It's been a somewhat rough beginning, and I don't think I can give the full blow-by-blow. As I noted, we all had pinkeye to one degree or another when we started. Tam and I were suffereing from what we thought were bad allergies but which I now think is/are either summer colds or sinus infections. We've been feellng lousy most of the trip. In addition, an untreated hernia I've been putting off the surgery for has been giving me trouble, especially since I tried to push something for Sarah at a museum yesterday. So nobody's been feeling good, me least of all.

And that, oddly enough, is the good news. The trip down on Saturday was horrendous. We left fairly early (about 10:30, which with a seven year old is up with the chickens when you have to make sure you have everything you need). It shouldn't take more than three to, at the most, four hours to get here from home. After three hours we weren't even at Fredericksburg, 50 miles south of home. We were starting to feel like the Union Army of the Potomac, which took four years to make it the 110 miles to Richmond. I-95 was moving at a snail's pace. The radio kept saying there were no obstacles, though we later heard there'd been a bad truck accident somewhere. We bailed to US 1, the old road, but so had everyone else. Finally I decided to strike out for the territories, driving on back roads clear over to the Bristow/Nokesville area, then south, then across on Route 17. We'd hoped to get down here in time to do at least one sight before checking in. We hit the motel at 6 pm, nearly 8 hours after leaving.

Okay. Sarah loves the indoor pool at this hotel, and had a great time there. Then I fired up the laptop and checked my bank account. Instead of deducting a week's stay on my debit card (I was trying not to dip into credit but to use money set aside for the trip) I found the hotel had posted the charge twice. Long story short, I got several different explanations but not until this morning (Monday: we checked in Saturday) did I get this rectified.

So we've had money and traffic hassles, aren't feeling well, and Sarah has been pretty obstreperous for much of the trip, sassing back more than usual and arguing with everything we say. So I haven't felt much like blogging up to now. We've seen some things and had some fun, and I will post details soon.

But so far, not the relaxing escape I needed.