Summer Plans

Hm.  That's a good question.

It seems that every year I say, "This summer I don't want to do ANYTHING.  I don't want to schedule anything, I don't want to commit to anything, and I don't want to be needed anywhere.  I just want to sit and read or take the kids to the park (where I can read) or do fun activities around the house...like read."

Well, that plan went out the window when DH decided that the eldest needed to be enrolled in driving lessons.  Four solid weeks, Monday thru Friday (except 4th of July) from 10 to noon.  She isn't even excited about taking driving lessons.  She doesn't care!  What *sane* teenage kid *doesn't* want a license?  I have weird kids.  Let me tell you how excited I am about this level of drudgery.  I'm gonna be saying, "Come on!  We gotta go!" and she's gonna say, "But Mooooooooommm!  I didn't even *want* to take these classes!"

Great.

Then DH says, "Hey, while she's there, you could take the other two for swim lessons!"  Now, if the swimming places *offered* lessons at the precise time that we will be available, that would be great, but these swimming pools don't have precise schedules published online, and when you register, you have to do so online when their registration begins, which is at MIDNIGHT in a few days.  May I repeat that *the schedule isn't published online* so I don't know what I'm registering for.  Apparently, the slots fill up very fast, so by 6 a.m., all the classes are full at almost all of these pools in the area.  Oh, and the lessons cost $88 per kid for 10 lessons if you don't have a membership at their facility.  I'm thinking maybe I'll go during a free swim time (at a mere $5 per person) and occupy one of the lap lanes with private lessons from me.  Bonus:  I don't charge $88 for a two-week course.

This whole week is jam-packed with activities:  Monday--chiropractor & picking up last-minute stuff from school; Tuesday--clinic appointments for the CF patients (wish I had a place to send Miss Cammie); Wednesday--Shop Hop begins; Thursday--guild meeting; Friday-Sunday--Shop Hop continues!

Shop Hop, the quilting kind--is my annual summer kick-off, where I spend hours in the car with a friend or two, driving up and down Western Washington from shop to shop getting my passport stamped, collecting patterns from all the shops, and eventually (perhaps many years later) building a quilt with the fabrics and patterns collected.  However, since I pulled that muscle in my back a week ago, I am not able to sit in a car for more than about 30 seconds without enduring agony.  Going to the store two miles away is torture.  I'm hoping that visits to the chiropractor, who goes by Dr. and his first name; he's not Dr. Jones, he's Dr. Chris (not his real name of course).  I think he does an OK job as a chiro, but it annoys me that he uses his first name, and I'm not sure why.  Maybe it just seems like he's trying to be friendly, but it comes off as pretentious, like we have to be reminded that he's a doctor.  Part of me doesn't even like that they're called "doctors" since they can't perform surgery or prescribe medications.  Heck, I read that in England, Obstetricians don't even call themselves "doctor", but prefer to be called Mr., Miss, or Mrs. (or Ms., I suppose).

So after four weeks of having to reluctantly shuttle the big kid to and from the driving school every day, I have plans to go to my class reunion.  Yep, it's been five years since the last one, so it's time to go again!  Nothing like trying to figure out how to travel 2000 miles to a reunion (and another 2000 miles back) with a husband and three kids in tow, how to keep everyone from whining the whole way, and how to afford such a venture.  Now there was the possibility that I would go alone to this thing, spend a week or so there, and save us a lot of hassle, but the kids have been wanting to see where Mommy grew up (this will include a several pit stops) and I thought it would be great fun to go see some of nature's glory in Yellowstone and such (the younger two would totally enjoy it), so we were looking into the options to get there.  Options included renting an RV, driving in the minivan and staying in hotels, or pitching tents at various KOA campgrounds.  I'm not sure I'd be up for the tent thing for two weeks, and RV rentals are EXPENSIVE, as are hotels for 14 days.  I wondered if we knew anyone with an RV we could borrow?  Since Mom & Dad sold theirs, we don't have that option anymore.  I can't think of anyone else, except for Greg & Erin, who have a large trailer type thing (or used to).  We haven't talked to them in a few years, so that might be awkward.  "Hey, we haven't seen you in six years, but now that we need to ask a favor..."

Yeah, that's not happening.

In fact, I'm not sure my minivan would be able to pull it, so we'd have to borrow their truck as well.

I even looked into the idea of *buying* a trailer, something used, and then selling it at the end of the year, but I'm not sure if we want to go through that kind of hassle.  It looks like you can get some pretty good deals on Craigslist--$4000 and up for a trailer that sleeps 5 or 6, but staying at hotels all along the way--even at $150 a night for 14 nights, which runs about $2100--will be cheaper than buying or renting an RV by about half.  I found one RV rental site that charges $200 a day PLUS 34 cents a mile over 50 miles.  So if you're only planning on going 50 miles a day, you're OK, but if you are traveling 4000 miles over 14 days, that's 286 miles a day--236 miles over the limit...an extra $80 a day on top of the $200.  Over $3900...you might as well BUY the used RV!

And I haven't even factored gas into this scenario.

Um...no.

So we're left with the option of traveling in the minivan, crammed to the teeth with our suitcases, medical equipment, and entertainment (whether it be electronics, books, videos, or knitting), for 10-12 hours a day, stopping in various locales to be tourists, hauling all our stuff in and out of hotels every day, trying to keep the refrigerated medicine cold and stay on a schedule.  I'm trying to wrap my brain around how much *fun* that might be.  [Here would be an excellent opportunity to use a *sarcasm* font.]

Sigh.