3:00 p.m. Location- 211 N. Sycamore St., Maple Park, Il., upper apartment (home). Ula, who will be 10 months old in 10 days, is falling asleep with her arm draped over mine as I sit on the bed and write this. The apartment is very hot and dry due to the morning's baking for our trip and a faulty thermostat. I have opened the window in Ula's room and propped it with a copy of The Real Mother Goose that is Jasper's from his childhood. Through this window I can hear loud cracks and pops from the wood the auctioneer is burning in an old filing cabinet.The auctioneer owns the property behind us and his barn burned down recently ( one night while I was away at my children's literature class).He seems to have decided to get rid of what was left of the barn by burning it a handful at a time.
Jasper is working today and we will be leaving for vacation as soon after he gets home as possible.
I packed the suit cases last night and baked muffins and cake, to take with us, this morning.
We still are not sure which way we are going on this trip. It is between East to Vermont (which we'd both really like to see) or South down The Great River Road (our second choice, but the more leisurely of the two since we only have four days).
7:20p.m. Ula is not well. She's been coughing and she won't eat. She did nurse, though, and she drank about a cup of water. She is asleep again.
Jasper is not home yet. His dinner is already cooked, so he can eat quickly before we leave and I have carried all the luggage downstairs.
8:15 p.m. Jasper just called to say he was leaving work. Ula just woke up about ten minutes ago and is now sitting on the kitchen floor trying to learn how the zipper on my bag works, while I reheat the chicken and dumplings for Jasper's dinner.
9:14 p.m. the car is running and we're off.
9:45 p.m. Our first gas stop. We are on the far East side of Geneva, Il. Jasper has filled the tank with Amaco Silver and washed all the windows. The milage on the car is 84862.5 (9.5 gallons of gas).
April 1, 1990
11:08 a.m. Location: Battle Creek, Michigan.
We just left the Comfort Inn where we spent the night. We got in to the motel in the wee hours of the morning. We lost a couple of hours due to a change in time zones and the change to daylight savings time.
Ula is still not well. She wouldn't eat any breakfast this morning and she woke up crying several times during the night. Right now she's singing herself to sleep with a very gutteral catterwalling.She still has dried brown spots of banana on her chin from this morning's failed feeding.
11:20 a.m. Ula's asleep. We are back on Rt. 94 East. Another motorist just threw garbage out their window and it hit our car.
It has begun to rain. Classical music is playing on public radio.
Rt. 69.
Detour ahead. "That's fench for 'long way around'" says Jasper.
12:50 p.m. Approaching Flint, Michigan. Yuck! Factories and smoke. There is a light fog now and it is no longer raining.
Ula's getting fussy. She just drank about an ounce of apple-banana juice from her tippy cup.
We will need to stop for gas soon.
1:20 p.m. Stopped for gas. 10.5 gallons for $11.75 at Imlay City, Michigan
Milage 852173
2:50p.m. It has started misting out.
Ula is still grumpy, even though she's been given toys and rice cakes.
Jasper and I just finished a lunch of deviled ham (lokks and smells like cat food) on rice cakes and hunks of cheddar cheese.
2:59 p.m. Welcome to Canada! The Ontario information station is playing on the radio. It is telling about the differences between miles and kilometer.
$20 American money just turned into $27 Canadian at a drive up teller's window for currency exchange. The Depech Mode tape is playing.
3:37 p.m. Made a pit stop at a Wendy's. Ula seems much happier now that she has a clean diaper on and is getting attention from Daddy.
5:30 p.m. Here we are in Ontario. We have already gone through Toronto and now Governor Thompson of Illinois is talking on the radio about Illinois trade with Canada. We just can't escape Illinois.
By the way, the Chicago Black Hawks are playing the Maple Leafs in Toronto tonight.
6:30 p.m. Stopped in Trenton to but gas. We were trying to find a self service station, but there weren't any, so we went to an Esso Station where the attendant acted like we had just awakened him from his winter's hibernation. I said the guy had all the personality of a rock, but Jasper said that wasn't nice.
We've lost reception on the public radio station we were listening to.
Ula's in a much better mood now, but I think she needs a diaper change.
7:30 p.m. Rest Stop.
7:40 p.m. Back on the road. Jasper called his mother while Ula and i were in the bathroom.
8:40 p.m. We are back in the U.S.. We still have over $40 in Canadian money because the currency exchange was already closed for the night.
Right now we are in a New York State parking area while Jasper takes a look at the map.
Ula's awake and happy.
It's raining again.
10:30 p.m. We are spending the night at Allen's Budget Motel. We had a snack of cheese and crackers while watching "Down and Out in Beverly Hills", Cheers, and Star Trek on T.V.
April 2, 1990
9:00 a.m. We're still at the motel. Ula cried most of the night. Her nose is very runny and her lungs are full.
I have a bad stomach ache.
Jasper has suggested turning around and heading for home, but no decision has been made. I'd like to go on at least one more day.
10:15 a.m. Back on the road, headed home.
Jasper and I are both moping, but Ula is acting happy and playful.
Only quality toys were provided
10:30 a.m. We just turned around in Watertown and we're headed for Vermont after all. Jasper's still not acting happy.
Alison Moyet is playing on the tape player.
12:20 p.m. Stopped at the Key Bank of Northern N.Y. to change our money, but they wanted to charge us 19%, so we left.
Ula just ate most of a jar of pears.
2:15 p.m,. We stopped on the Vermont side of the bridge across Lake Champlain on Rt. 11 to take pictures of an old fort, let Ula play with gravel, and chase sea gulls.
2:45 p.m. Took Rt. 78 to Rt.89 to get to the Canadian border in our attempt to turn our Canadian money back into U.S. money.
Ula still hasn't had a diaper change since we left the motel this morning. Vermont doesn't seem to have rest areas with bathrooms. I have vowed to Jasper that I will change her diaper the next time we stop, even if it means using the hood of the car as a changing table.
2:48 p.m. Midway between the equator and the North Pole.
2:50 p.m. We are sitting in U.S. customs listening to a French language radio station that's playing Paula Abdul.
No comments:
Post a Comment