Another spring break

Recently I asked Laura where she might like to go on a vacation, and she said “Four Corners.”

“Do you know where that is?”

“Arizona and New Mexico, and Colorado and Utah.”

“How would we get there?”

“Oh, we’d drive.”

I didn’t find that any less worthy than my own burning desire to visit famous locations when I was her age. But, having already visited most of the country by then, I knew about hours of driving and countless Burma Shave signs between home and a destination.

Laura has been close to nowhere in her life. The actual gap in understanding, I think, is not the lack of sights seen, but the lack of sense of the vastness of this country. So, I proposed a trip to Texas over spring vacation.  We’ll drive. Two days down, two days back, five pleasant days between.

I enjoy driving, Laura is a good passenger. I’m OK with her sharing some driving, but she was reluctant at the suggestion. “How will I know where to drive?” I think when we’re committed, she’ll ‘get it’. My sister and I drove over two thirds of this country, from Bangor, Maine to Austin, Texas. Wonderful memories.

“Aunt Janice says I’ll be so amazed, watching spring unfold all the way down to Dallas,” mused the kid. I remember a van full of children, some her age, coining the phrase ‘rock sap’ to dismiss the ice hanging from the sides of blasted rock along Ohio interstate. We were on the way to Dallas that time.

After our six inches of snow last night, spring will be a pleasant change. This time last year it was near spring in Ohio, and definitely spring and cherry blossoms in DC. We can dismiss the balance of that trip; it certainly did not leave either granddaughters involved with a distaste for travel.

I need to get a good cooler tomorrow. “We borrowed Aunt Beth’s last year.” I am not adverse to stopping for meals, but I am adverse to fast food. I stopped the mail for next week. I told the maintenance men we’ll be gone. And, Toby is booked into the spa for the week. Another opportunity to socialize himself, or lie haughtily in his doorway, paws crossed, and cross words for any cat who wants to touch noses or butt heads.