(no subject)
So I guess I should stop indulging the lazy and actually post about that whole "being in Texas for the better part of a month" thing.
Justin and I didn't know if we'd be able to go until a couple of days before we actually left, which stressed the CRAP out of me. I'm a planner, and having the plan be, "maybe we're going 2,000+ miles away for an undetermined amount of time! Or maybe we won't!" is just not specific enough for me. But we went. I thought for two weeks, Justin thought for three and we spent long stretches of time in hotel rooms trying to figure out exactly how long we'd be able to actually stay. Three weeks won. The trip, itself, was miserable and stressful. We tried to do it in three days which, as it turns out, is completely impossible unless your car happens to be a plane. Justin's is a Pontiac. Not the same thing. So, it took three and a half days, which pissed Justin off mightily since we were both pretty sick of driving at that point. Also, the directions we had were basically all little highways all the time, which are NOT FUN. Also: Fuck Idaho. I don't CARE if some if it is rather pretty. I don't CARE if Boise is some kind of circle-jerk of awesomeness. We spent so much time going through hundreds upon hundreds of miles in that goddamn state and the only place we could get gas was in Utah.
So the trip down there? It sucked. However, it ended and we got into Junction, TX before his mom, sister, and cousin (and cousin's everpresent dog) which made ME rather cheerful and then all of us convoyed to the annual family reunion, which was being held at his great-aunt's property some miles outside of Junction. The reunion was very fun! 58 people showed up, altogether, and I even had to be in the family photo with the rest of Justin's immediate family. It was a little disconcerting that so many people knew who I am, but sort of awesome all the same. Everyone was super nice and I look forward to going again!
But, then, the reunion drama happened. Apparently, something ALWAYS goes awry at the family reunion. Usually, there's some kind of injury or someone has some kind of weird fight with someone else. This year, it was the Plague. We'd been hearing about various family member who were ill with some kind of 24-hour stomach flu, but they were safely sequestered away and no one else had to worry, right? No. Sunday evening, I felt like DEATH. It wasn't the worst illness I've ever had (read: the illness I had when I first moved up to WA that debilitated me for a week and made me feel feeble and pathetic for another couple of weeks on top of that) but it was still really shitty. My insides were very much determined to become my outsides at any available opportunity. I could barely even sleep. Just all-around suck. Justin was SUPER sweet and wonderful. I know he was worried about me, but we managed to get me out of the hotel room Monday morning to his grandmother's property outside of Leakey without too much ado other than my whining and feeling pathetic. There might also have been whimpering. By Monday evening, I felt mostly human, and even had some rice!
By then, Justin's mom and sister were sick, his aunt was sick, and he wasn't feeling so hot, himself. The trailer we were all staying in became this horrible retching sick bay. His aunt was retching into an ice cream tub in her room, Madi (Justin's sister) was on an air mattress in the living room, surrounded by plastic bags, and I was in the other larger bedroom with Justin, mopping his head with cool cloths because he had a NASTY fever, complete with hallucination! His mom was in her mother's house (luckily, Nanny didn't get sick!). It's really hilarious and ridiculous in retrospect, but at the time, it was AWFUL. For all of that week, no one was really feeling terribly hungry, despite having recovered from the illness. Justin and I still haven't gotten our full appetites back yet, and I'm still having trouble eating scrambled eggs. They look remarkably the same on the way up. It's just not right.
We think Patient Zero was a little girl who came ill to the reunion, but apparently this disease was the Olympic Gold Medalist of spreading to other people. I don't know what the final body count was, but it was pretty damn high.
The rest of our time there was extremely pleasant. The Frio River runs through Nanny's land and there was a really nice deep swimming hole that felt REALLY good in the afternoon. It was all very peaceful and relaxing and it was nice to get away for a little while. Not having had work for so long has taken a lot out of me and Justin and it was good to just get away from everything. I got to know Justin's sister and mom much better which made me quite happy, since they're both very cool ladies. His Nanny is simply lovely and his dad even came up from FL for a week, so I got to know him better, too. As stressful as it was getting there, I am definitely glad that I went!
The only other mishap was the treads on one of the wheels on Justin's mom's car shearing off on our way to San Antonio to see the latest Harry Potter movie and take Justin's dad back to the airport. Even that wasn't terrible, just irritating for his poor mom. We ended up only being about ten minutes late for the movie and we got his dad off to the airport in due time, but Justin's mom ended up out $100 and a small piece of her sanity, which isn't so great. Luckily, however, when we pulled over to try and change the tire, a AAA guy conveniently drove by and change the tire (even inflating the flat with the handy-dandy air pump he had in the back of his truck) free of charge. How freaking awesome is THAT?
The drive back was MUCH easier than the drive up. We went via I-10 to I-25 to Montana and then took I-90 back to Seattle. Being on the interstate was much, much less harrowing than being on tiny little highways through the country and Montana is fucking GORGEOUS. I don't know how it stands having so much beauty in just one state! And I really love the midwest. I do! I think it's beautiful. I love the prairies and the rolling hills and huge fields. And we got to see some of it, which made me exceedingly happy. Someday, I'd like to go to California, just to say I've been, but I'm kind of glad that we didn't end up driving through Death Valley et al. and then through CA on the way up. The hottest part of the country during the hottest part of the year just didn't seem too appealling. (Our original plan was to take 1-10 to I-5 to home.) Justin was still convinced we could do the drive in three days, but it took three and a half. Not feeling so rushed and being able to stop frequently at useful places like gas stations definitely made the trip more pleasant. Also, beautiful vistas! :D And very, very little Idaho!
Oh, and if you're in Spokane and you need to stay in a hotel, do NOT attempt to stay at the Red Lion Hotel. We knew we couldn't afford it, but I wanted to know how much the nightly rate was just for shits and giggles and within thirty seconds (before we even got in!), we were treated EXTREMELY rudely by some guy that we didn't even realize worked there (he was a driver for what looked like a little catering van or something) and a group of women in line behind us were spoken to similarly rudely by another employee inside the hotel. Apparently, the manager of that hotel has managed to find a way to make money in an unstable economy that doesn't involve actually having people stay at his/her hotel. I suggest letting that manager enjoy success by avoiding it completely.
So, we've been home and it's been hot, though not so much today. Seattle had a record-breaking temperature of 103 day before yesterday. Justin and I hid in the mall. It looks like the hideously hot spell has passed, and it'll be in the upper 80's this weekend, which is perfectly acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
Life has resumed its quiet, slightly dull, pace. But we have Reboot in our lives now! :D
Justin and I didn't know if we'd be able to go until a couple of days before we actually left, which stressed the CRAP out of me. I'm a planner, and having the plan be, "maybe we're going 2,000+ miles away for an undetermined amount of time! Or maybe we won't!" is just not specific enough for me. But we went. I thought for two weeks, Justin thought for three and we spent long stretches of time in hotel rooms trying to figure out exactly how long we'd be able to actually stay. Three weeks won. The trip, itself, was miserable and stressful. We tried to do it in three days which, as it turns out, is completely impossible unless your car happens to be a plane. Justin's is a Pontiac. Not the same thing. So, it took three and a half days, which pissed Justin off mightily since we were both pretty sick of driving at that point. Also, the directions we had were basically all little highways all the time, which are NOT FUN. Also: Fuck Idaho. I don't CARE if some if it is rather pretty. I don't CARE if Boise is some kind of circle-jerk of awesomeness. We spent so much time going through hundreds upon hundreds of miles in that goddamn state and the only place we could get gas was in Utah.
So the trip down there? It sucked. However, it ended and we got into Junction, TX before his mom, sister, and cousin (and cousin's everpresent dog) which made ME rather cheerful and then all of us convoyed to the annual family reunion, which was being held at his great-aunt's property some miles outside of Junction. The reunion was very fun! 58 people showed up, altogether, and I even had to be in the family photo with the rest of Justin's immediate family. It was a little disconcerting that so many people knew who I am, but sort of awesome all the same. Everyone was super nice and I look forward to going again!
But, then, the reunion drama happened. Apparently, something ALWAYS goes awry at the family reunion. Usually, there's some kind of injury or someone has some kind of weird fight with someone else. This year, it was the Plague. We'd been hearing about various family member who were ill with some kind of 24-hour stomach flu, but they were safely sequestered away and no one else had to worry, right? No. Sunday evening, I felt like DEATH. It wasn't the worst illness I've ever had (read: the illness I had when I first moved up to WA that debilitated me for a week and made me feel feeble and pathetic for another couple of weeks on top of that) but it was still really shitty. My insides were very much determined to become my outsides at any available opportunity. I could barely even sleep. Just all-around suck. Justin was SUPER sweet and wonderful. I know he was worried about me, but we managed to get me out of the hotel room Monday morning to his grandmother's property outside of Leakey without too much ado other than my whining and feeling pathetic. There might also have been whimpering. By Monday evening, I felt mostly human, and even had some rice!
By then, Justin's mom and sister were sick, his aunt was sick, and he wasn't feeling so hot, himself. The trailer we were all staying in became this horrible retching sick bay. His aunt was retching into an ice cream tub in her room, Madi (Justin's sister) was on an air mattress in the living room, surrounded by plastic bags, and I was in the other larger bedroom with Justin, mopping his head with cool cloths because he had a NASTY fever, complete with hallucination! His mom was in her mother's house (luckily, Nanny didn't get sick!). It's really hilarious and ridiculous in retrospect, but at the time, it was AWFUL. For all of that week, no one was really feeling terribly hungry, despite having recovered from the illness. Justin and I still haven't gotten our full appetites back yet, and I'm still having trouble eating scrambled eggs. They look remarkably the same on the way up. It's just not right.
We think Patient Zero was a little girl who came ill to the reunion, but apparently this disease was the Olympic Gold Medalist of spreading to other people. I don't know what the final body count was, but it was pretty damn high.
The rest of our time there was extremely pleasant. The Frio River runs through Nanny's land and there was a really nice deep swimming hole that felt REALLY good in the afternoon. It was all very peaceful and relaxing and it was nice to get away for a little while. Not having had work for so long has taken a lot out of me and Justin and it was good to just get away from everything. I got to know Justin's sister and mom much better which made me quite happy, since they're both very cool ladies. His Nanny is simply lovely and his dad even came up from FL for a week, so I got to know him better, too. As stressful as it was getting there, I am definitely glad that I went!
The only other mishap was the treads on one of the wheels on Justin's mom's car shearing off on our way to San Antonio to see the latest Harry Potter movie and take Justin's dad back to the airport. Even that wasn't terrible, just irritating for his poor mom. We ended up only being about ten minutes late for the movie and we got his dad off to the airport in due time, but Justin's mom ended up out $100 and a small piece of her sanity, which isn't so great. Luckily, however, when we pulled over to try and change the tire, a AAA guy conveniently drove by and change the tire (even inflating the flat with the handy-dandy air pump he had in the back of his truck) free of charge. How freaking awesome is THAT?
The drive back was MUCH easier than the drive up. We went via I-10 to I-25 to Montana and then took I-90 back to Seattle. Being on the interstate was much, much less harrowing than being on tiny little highways through the country and Montana is fucking GORGEOUS. I don't know how it stands having so much beauty in just one state! And I really love the midwest. I do! I think it's beautiful. I love the prairies and the rolling hills and huge fields. And we got to see some of it, which made me exceedingly happy. Someday, I'd like to go to California, just to say I've been, but I'm kind of glad that we didn't end up driving through Death Valley et al. and then through CA on the way up. The hottest part of the country during the hottest part of the year just didn't seem too appealling. (Our original plan was to take 1-10 to I-5 to home.) Justin was still convinced we could do the drive in three days, but it took three and a half. Not feeling so rushed and being able to stop frequently at useful places like gas stations definitely made the trip more pleasant. Also, beautiful vistas! :D And very, very little Idaho!
Oh, and if you're in Spokane and you need to stay in a hotel, do NOT attempt to stay at the Red Lion Hotel. We knew we couldn't afford it, but I wanted to know how much the nightly rate was just for shits and giggles and within thirty seconds (before we even got in!), we were treated EXTREMELY rudely by some guy that we didn't even realize worked there (he was a driver for what looked like a little catering van or something) and a group of women in line behind us were spoken to similarly rudely by another employee inside the hotel. Apparently, the manager of that hotel has managed to find a way to make money in an unstable economy that doesn't involve actually having people stay at his/her hotel. I suggest letting that manager enjoy success by avoiding it completely.
So, we've been home and it's been hot, though not so much today. Seattle had a record-breaking temperature of 103 day before yesterday. Justin and I hid in the mall. It looks like the hideously hot spell has passed, and it'll be in the upper 80's this weekend, which is perfectly acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
Life has resumed its quiet, slightly dull, pace. But we have Reboot in our lives now! :D