One Mama, Two Kids, 1,800 Miles of Open Road = Total Insanity

I just finished doing one of the craziest things I’ve done as a mother.  Come to think of it, it’s probably one of the craziest things I’ve done ever. I drove 1,800 miles in one week with my 3-year-old and 5-month-old to visit family. It was a last minute trip so flying wasn’t an option.  I’ve done road trips with my 3-year-old before and they always went great. Of course, I never had two kids with me and the trips weren’t as long, but I was still optimistic.  In fact, whenever anyone told me I was “brave” (i.e. crazy) for taking on such an endeavor, I played along, but honestly I didn’t think much bravery was needed.

I was wrong.  Well, actually, the first 1,450 miles went pretty well.  There was only one moment when my 5-month-old decided she was hungry and there was no way I could stop for what seemed like 2,000,000 miles because of the “Prison Area, No Stopping” signs.  Yeah, that was fun.  But honestly, even that wasn’t too terrible. It wasn’t until the last 350 miles that things really started to go downhill.

The girls were both sleeping, I was happily listening to another podcast of This American Life (which rules, by the way) and making great time, when the little yellow gaslight went on.  In the middle of nowhere.  The same nowhere with the “Prison Area, No Stopping” signs, if you can believe it.  My 5-month-old also wakes up at this time and starts crying.  I start praying like crazy and slow the car down to 55 mph to try to squeeze out every possible mile.  The speed limit is 75 mph, by the way, so I’m getting nearly run over by every other car on the road. Unbelievably, I come over a hill and see Lovelock, NV only 10 miles away.  We make it no problem and I’m feeling so happy and grateful...until I realize I’ve locked my keys in the car.   

I was lucky enough to have both my daughters with me on the OUTSIDE of the car, and I had my purse, complete with wallet, phone and diapers.  After spending 30 minutes on the phone with Geico trying to find a locksmith, we come to discover that “Charlie” is the town locksmith.  Yeah, just a guy, not a company. Which is why he didn’t come up in the Geico system.  Well, Charlie was out doing something super exciting, this IS Lovelock after all, and the police station was not answering the phone either.  Geico told me I should just call 9-1-1 at this point since there didn’t seem to be any other options.  Note to self: don’t ever move to Lovelock, NV.

I decide to try the police station one more time before resorting to 9-1-1, and they actually pick up! And send a super friendly policeman to my car in less than 5 minutes.  It was free and fast–way better than a locksmith any day.  While I didn’t exactly enjoy my time in Lovelock, I will say that everyone we met was unbelievably nice.  Which made our “stay” much easier.

My goal that night was Lake Tahoe.  As I’m leaving Reno, I realize I’ve missed the Tahoe turn off.  I pull off the road, my phone is dying and I can’t get a hold of anyone to help me figure out where to go. At this point, I’m a crazy mommy screaming at my 3-year-old for kicking my seat one too many times, at which point she starts quietly crying and tells me I shouldn’t “yell at people like that.”  That’s when I really started to feel good.  After 11 hours of traveling, we made it to the hotel, but not after my 5-month-old cried for the last 45 minutes of the ride because she was inexplicably hungry much sooner than I was planning on.  Oh, did I mention that I also have a stiff neck and can’t really move, even on 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours? 

Where am I going with this diatribe, you may be wondering?  WELLLLL...I need to publicly recognize that everyone who thought I was crazy for doing this trip alone was RIGHT. And I’m sorry I doubted you all.  Secondly, the story ends nicely.  The last day of driving was very uneventful...and full of beauty, no less.  This was my first glimpse of Lake Tahoe.  One word: stunning. And as I came down into Berkeley yesterday, the view of the bay was spectacular.  Despite the craziness of the day before, all I could think of was how lucky we are to have this opportunity to live in Northern California.

So, the big question, will I ever do that trip again?  Yeah, I probably will, because I’m crazy.  And next time, I’m going to make SURE that I actually run out of gas and nurse my baby in the Prison Area.

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post. Jane Maynard also blogs at This Week for Dinner, where she takes pretty pictures of food and fakes being a good cook.