trick the youg-uns! oh deer (12 deers of Christmas)

yesterday was my first official full day of vacation. it kinda' started before that, as i got cards in the mail and a goodie packaged from the team at the home office in dallas. YUMMERS! fun tradition. i explained to suzanne that while it did not arrive in the prettiest of fashion (i think the only intact piece was the lemon bar), it made me feel like i had more...by the piece-count...and it really didn't matter, as the taste was not hampered! also packed in there was a sampling of chex-type-mix-ish, and a home-crocheted (that is not crotch-eted, it's crochet-ed...) dish scrubber from one of my colleagues-so thoughtful! let's just say it was a great effort to make holiday cleanup more festive! trick the young-uns, that's what i always say! (disclaimer: never said that before in my life, but i kinda' like it and you should expect to hear me saying it more often...if i can work it into a professional development, it's on! challenge accepted...surely there's a powerpoint slide for that...no? hold my rootbeer).

oh what fun it is to scrub!

yes, so that was the beginnings of fun, then after shea's atlanta/memphis fiasco flight, we went for one last beach hurrah, and seafood at the ole salty dog! good times!

 then it was home to finish packing. it had to be an early night because traveling mornings start early: 5:30 alarm!

the original plan was to stop in chatanooga and stay at a hotel, using points from southwest. well, their i-hotel voucher system is not top-notch in my book. i had a devil-of-a-time trying to get it booked, but i did find a baymont inn and suites that looked nice, pet-friendly, near the hwy, at the base of lookout mountain...sweet! i didn't have the actual voucher printed out, but i had the confirmation number and screen shots of the reservation, place, address, etc. put the address in my google maps and we were off!

i'd packed the car mostly the night before, so i put the boys' harnesses on, and of course they were thinking long walk, so i took them on a faux-sunrise walk...halfway down the block and turned around to take them back and get them in the car...trick the young-uns, that's what i always say! anyhoo, it worked. fueled up, and off to the races by 7. unfortunately not early enough to avoid the traffic melt-down in tampa near i-4...hot mess. of course it didn't help that it was a foggy morning- patchy, but heavy in areas. 

once we started getting close to chattanooga (around 6:30-ish), i began looking forward to chilling out with the boys and enjoying some quality hotel time. (is that even a thing?) it was dark, the fog continued up through georgia and into tennessee, and it was misting almost the entire trip- in spurts.

it was just kinda' meh all day.

this wouldn't bother so much, but any time i stopped for a bathroom break, i figured i should let the boys out to stretch as well- it was wet everywhere, so their little paws got wet, and since their bellies are so close to the ground, they were in need of drying off after every outing. eesh. and chaco hadn't drank all day-he doesn't when we travel, so i figured they were ready. upon nearly arriving, there was a huge traffic back-up, so google took us in a round-about way to the address she was given. when we arrived, there was no baymont inn. i was slightly mystified...so i pulled into an auto-store parking lot and began looking; this is what i found:

HMM... permanently closed caught my eye...

at that point, i wasn't sure exactly what the plan was to be, so i got on the i-hotels website, where i'd booked the reservation, and sent them a message-letting them know that the baymont inn i'd booked at was closed. there was a number to call, but it is in the UK, and has different time, etc...so message was the option. at that point, i just asked them if they could reissue another voucher. and, being short on patience and thrifty, i had zero desire to find another place to stay that was pet friendly, and have to shell out a bunch of money, when i was expecting to not have that expense.

 so i took the boys to wendys, peed, got a baconator jr. meal and a frosty (because how can you not)...then took the boys under the awning of the ace hardware store next door to 'walk'...finally bruno relieved himself near a bale of hay, and chaco then decided it was ok as well (number 1, if we're all on the same page as far as potty-ratings go, no pick-up necessary). then we went back to the car, i dried them off and sat them in the trunk, while i rearranged their travel space. if we were going to shoot for the moon and keep going, i was not going to make them stay in their kennels. so i removed to door from the bigger kennel and faced it to the middle, collapsed chaco's kennel and folded it up, pulled out the dog blankets and dog bed, and they had a little doggie motel in the back seat. i plugged in mom and dad's address and we were on the road again!

i'd been listening to true crime podcasts most of the way, and continued for a couple more hours before switching to music. eta: 3:30 my time. uf. i called mom to let her know about the change in plans, and told her i wasn't sure exactly when i'd arrive, because if i got tired, i planned to stop at a rest area to take a nap, so if they could leave the door unlocked and i'd just let myself in. it really was a good plan, and as i drove, i kept wondering when i was going to start getting tired...as you recall, i'd been up since 5:30, and if you know me, i'm not a late-night girl...that said, midnight rolled around, and i was still doing alright. got out of tennessee, making our way through kentucky, and i don't think i saw a single rest-stop after about 80 miles from chattanooga...then we hit illinois-which threw me for a loop, my geography hadn't prepared me. but it was only for literally 2 minutes, so we must have hit the southernmost tip of IL, and if i'd blinked, i would have missed the three signs saying leaving kentucky welcome to illinois welcome to missouri!  (6 states today, ya'all! and not the tiny delawares and new hampshires...) it was that quick and a couple of bridges! from there it was mostly back road.

google was taking us by way if poplar bluff, through "be-sure-to-get-gas-before-entering" land...because once you hit those back country roads, you may or may not see a gas station, and at 1-2 am, the likelihood of it being open is slim! as i drove through poplar bluff, i reminisced of the time trish and i drove there from k-2 for a dear friend, julia's wedding! good times! i thought about julia, as we've since lost touch-she was a great letter writer, and always included quotes. i started thinking about how to get a letter to her to see how she's doing...offer some encouragement... i realize that's so random, but so were my thoughts last night!  as i was speedster-ing junction tt, h and o, i was hyper aware, trying to be preemptive should a drunk teen or college student  be traversing these backroads; should the need arise, where would the least damage occur if i were to swerve off to avoid oncoming traffic? ...all too aware of the many losses. (sad-face-emoji)...and there to slow me down were deer. the first buck was stepping delicately onto the pavement on the other side and stepped back (it didn't help that there was still a bit of fog). all told, i would come across 12 deer. (like the 12 deer of Christmas, my true love gave to me...minus true love-and that there just made me think of the princess bride...this is getting out of control as deer in MO have nothing-nada to do with one of the greatest movies!) there were 2 singles, i'd love to have been able to hook them up, play cupid.. but one was in kentucky, the other in missouri...so distance would be a thing, and as they have hooves, communication via usps would not be an option, so i scrapped that idea...then there were about 3 couples...late night rendezvous, and the best was the group of deer (4 doesn't make a herd in my book, so i'm sticking with the lame choice: group); there were 4 of them, probably a party or a game of jenga...or perhaps planning on how to takeover the world (i'm sure gary larson, the far side comic genius would've known, but i'm not well-versed in deer behavioral analysis). 

travelling for Christmas and Thanksgiving always brings back memories of being in the backseat sleeping and waking in the dark little towns with their decorations glowing in the night, sometimes the magical flurries were floating...good memories!

only instead of snow, fog

it was a pretty awesome manger up on the hill

i still got it! (if 'it' is the stupidity that makes you go longer than you should, i don't really think that's anything to brag about, and in all fairness, i don't really want 'it')

anyhoo, i wasn't sure which side of town i'd be arriving on, but it was just in time, as the gas light came on...i should have enough fuel to last me the next few days, traipsin' about town.

today, i'm beat. my body will probably catch up by the time we leave. and i got an email message from the UK ihotel people saying: yes, we have your confirmation for comfort inn and suites, you should be set for the 19th. (it's the 20th dude. and i reserved a room at the baymont inn-ya' should've let me know that it had changed ownership since whenever you first started doing this hotel voucher business. keep up... and whatever you're smoking, just...stop).

hope everyone is having safe travels (even if it's just traveling from one room to the next)!
jrob