First America Holiday (6)
When I went inside to get a room, the lady said that there was a very bad accident about 10 miles up the highway with fatalities and that it would be
backed up for hours. So it worked out well that we chose to stop. When we walked into the room we saw a huge king-size bed. Woohoo, this was gonna be
fun! Of course by now, I should know better than to think good thoughts. We both jumped into the bed from opposite sides and ended up rolling to the
middle, crashing into each other! OhMyGawd, this wasn't a bed, it was a giant hot dog bun! The entire middle of the mattress sunk in about 12-15
inches. I was laughing my ass off as I grabbed onto the side of the bed to pull myself back up. We couldn't even lie together. Anytime either one of us got
close to the middle of the bed, we would literally be sucked into that giant pit in the middle!
Marco kept trying to move over towards the middle, and every time he did, I would roll down towards him. I was laughing as I told him to stay on his
half of the world. I drew an imaginary line down the middle, and said, "that is your world, this is my world, do not cross the damn line!" We laid there
watching tv for a while as I kept one foot anchored to the side of the bed so I wouldn't fall in. Lord, this could only happen to me! And if it sounds like it
was hard to simply lay there, just use your imagination to picture how hard it was to do anything else! hahaha
We started out early and arrived at my Mom's house by late morning. We were just going to stop for an hour or so, and then continue onto New
Orleans, and end up in Memphis for the night. It didn't take too much for my Mom to convince us not to do that. She said just to give up New Orleans, go
to Memphis another weekend, stay the night and catch up on rest. Visiting with my Mom was nice. I've never lived further than 5 miles from her, so this
was the first time in my life I couldn't just hop in the car and go see her.
We again had a really nice visit and then all went out for dinner down by the pier. This restaurant was cool. They had thousands of bras that women
took off hanging all over the place. Also all over the walls were $1.00 bills that people signed their names on. Without exaggeration, I'd say in total there
was about $5,000.00 hanging from the walls. Marco signed one and hung it next to the bill that James hung up a few months ago. James would surely
get a kick out of that. It was happy hour, which meant 2-for-1 drinks. Yay! This place also brewed their own beer and offered a sampler platter of 6
different brands. We of course ordered this for Marco. They brought out a placemat with 6 circles on it, one for each glass of beer. Under each circle
was a description of how they brewed that particular brand.
Of course after drinking all of those beers, Marco had to use the restroom. When he was walking away though, my Mom started laughing. I kept
asking her what was so funny and she finally told me to go look at the bathroom doors. So I did. Well, this was just plain mean to do in a bar full of
drunk tourists! On one bathroom door, in huge letters it said, "WOMEN" and under it, in microscopic letters it said, "do not enter, this is the mens
room". And vice versa on the other door. I stood there laughing, hoping to Gawd that Marco would walk out of the correct door. He did, phew! He said
that he opened the wrong door, but when a woman walked out, he just went into the other one without reading the signs.
We had a very nice time at dinner with Mom and UncleDad. We took the long way home so that UncleDad could show Marco and I some of the city.
Now while we were in the restaurant, I was full from all of the drinks I had, so I only ate one or two of my chicken strips and barely any of the fries. But
by the time we were done walking around in the souvenir shop and got into the van, I was hungry. So I didn't think anything of opening my box and
eating my meal while we drove. Marco however, was laughing his ass off. He called me a Culture Barbarian and insisted that I could not sit in a
restaurant and enjoy a nice meal. He said I only like fast food and cannot eat unless I was in a car. hahaha I had never thought of that, but it really
wasn't true, I just wasn't hungry when we were inside! When we got back to the house, we spent the rest of the evening watching tv and talking. Spending
time with my Mom and UncleDad was definitely the highlight of our trip so far.
We woke up at 3:00am to start our drive back to St. Louis. For the first time the whole trip, it was pouring down rain. Until then we had really lucked
out and just had to put up with the temperature being hot as hell. My Mom gave us two large containers for the bed of the truck. Thank Gawd or
everything would have been soaking wet. We said our good-byes and thanked her for a great time, then headed on our way. Marco slept for about 3 hours
while I drove, trying to keep my eyes open the entire time. I knew I really shouldn't have been driving, but we only had a 2-hour window for rest stops or
delays if I wanted to be in St. Louis and at the graduation by 7:00pm.
The drive was long and tiring, but still fun as long as I was with Marco. Up until now I have kept out the details of private happenings. But I will say
this. The trip was long, and we needed some form of entertainment along the way. So after some playing and coaxing, let me just say that those big road
atlases are quit handy for blocking the view of passing trucks! hahaha
We arrived at my house with a little over an hour to spare before having to get ready for the graduation. I had waited 16 years to see this child
graduate, and nothing was gonna stop me from going. However, we only stayed at the ceremony long enough to see Geoffrey walk in, get his diploma,
move his tassel, and return to his seat. I would have loved to stay and watch the rest, but I had to work the next morning and there was no way I would be
able to stay awake if I did.
I worked a full day that Monday, while Marco stayed at my house. I assumed that he would spend the entire day catching up on sleep, so I didn't feel
too bad. That night we went to watch James play the trumpet in a band concert for his school. Before it started we took Tyler outside so he and Marco
could play and get better acquinted. Afterwards Marco and I took the boys out for ice cream and then dropped them off at their home. By the time we got
back to my house, we were ready to lay on the sofa, watch tv, and not move an inch.
Tuesday I worked until 11:00am, went home, picked up Marco, went to my sister's house, dropped off my truck, picked up her mini-van, then went to
James' school to pick him up by 12:00pm. We were taking him to Kansas City with us so Marco could watch his favorite American baseball team, the
Oakland A's. Their colors are yellow and green, just like his team in Holland. And his favorite hat is an old A's baseball hat. It was pure luck that they
were playing against the Royals while he was here, and I was so excited when I found they were! So I had purchased the tickets as soon as I found out,
over a month ago. James could care less what team we were going to watch. He was just happy to get out of school and go on a road trip with Marco.
And actually, Marco was just as thrilled with the fact that James was going with us. Continue
backed up for hours. So it worked out well that we chose to stop. When we walked into the room we saw a huge king-size bed. Woohoo, this was gonna be
fun! Of course by now, I should know better than to think good thoughts. We both jumped into the bed from opposite sides and ended up rolling to the
middle, crashing into each other! OhMyGawd, this wasn't a bed, it was a giant hot dog bun! The entire middle of the mattress sunk in about 12-15
inches. I was laughing my ass off as I grabbed onto the side of the bed to pull myself back up. We couldn't even lie together. Anytime either one of us got
close to the middle of the bed, we would literally be sucked into that giant pit in the middle!
Marco kept trying to move over towards the middle, and every time he did, I would roll down towards him. I was laughing as I told him to stay on his
half of the world. I drew an imaginary line down the middle, and said, "that is your world, this is my world, do not cross the damn line!" We laid there
watching tv for a while as I kept one foot anchored to the side of the bed so I wouldn't fall in. Lord, this could only happen to me! And if it sounds like it
was hard to simply lay there, just use your imagination to picture how hard it was to do anything else! hahaha
We started out early and arrived at my Mom's house by late morning. We were just going to stop for an hour or so, and then continue onto New
Orleans, and end up in Memphis for the night. It didn't take too much for my Mom to convince us not to do that. She said just to give up New Orleans, go
to Memphis another weekend, stay the night and catch up on rest. Visiting with my Mom was nice. I've never lived further than 5 miles from her, so this
was the first time in my life I couldn't just hop in the car and go see her.
We again had a really nice visit and then all went out for dinner down by the pier. This restaurant was cool. They had thousands of bras that women
took off hanging all over the place. Also all over the walls were $1.00 bills that people signed their names on. Without exaggeration, I'd say in total there
was about $5,000.00 hanging from the walls. Marco signed one and hung it next to the bill that James hung up a few months ago. James would surely
get a kick out of that. It was happy hour, which meant 2-for-1 drinks. Yay! This place also brewed their own beer and offered a sampler platter of 6
different brands. We of course ordered this for Marco. They brought out a placemat with 6 circles on it, one for each glass of beer. Under each circle
was a description of how they brewed that particular brand.
Of course after drinking all of those beers, Marco had to use the restroom. When he was walking away though, my Mom started laughing. I kept
asking her what was so funny and she finally told me to go look at the bathroom doors. So I did. Well, this was just plain mean to do in a bar full of
drunk tourists! On one bathroom door, in huge letters it said, "WOMEN" and under it, in microscopic letters it said, "do not enter, this is the mens
room". And vice versa on the other door. I stood there laughing, hoping to Gawd that Marco would walk out of the correct door. He did, phew! He said
that he opened the wrong door, but when a woman walked out, he just went into the other one without reading the signs.
We had a very nice time at dinner with Mom and UncleDad. We took the long way home so that UncleDad could show Marco and I some of the city.
Now while we were in the restaurant, I was full from all of the drinks I had, so I only ate one or two of my chicken strips and barely any of the fries. But
by the time we were done walking around in the souvenir shop and got into the van, I was hungry. So I didn't think anything of opening my box and
eating my meal while we drove. Marco however, was laughing his ass off. He called me a Culture Barbarian and insisted that I could not sit in a
restaurant and enjoy a nice meal. He said I only like fast food and cannot eat unless I was in a car. hahaha I had never thought of that, but it really
wasn't true, I just wasn't hungry when we were inside! When we got back to the house, we spent the rest of the evening watching tv and talking. Spending
time with my Mom and UncleDad was definitely the highlight of our trip so far.
We woke up at 3:00am to start our drive back to St. Louis. For the first time the whole trip, it was pouring down rain. Until then we had really lucked
out and just had to put up with the temperature being hot as hell. My Mom gave us two large containers for the bed of the truck. Thank Gawd or
everything would have been soaking wet. We said our good-byes and thanked her for a great time, then headed on our way. Marco slept for about 3 hours
while I drove, trying to keep my eyes open the entire time. I knew I really shouldn't have been driving, but we only had a 2-hour window for rest stops or
delays if I wanted to be in St. Louis and at the graduation by 7:00pm.
The drive was long and tiring, but still fun as long as I was with Marco. Up until now I have kept out the details of private happenings. But I will say
this. The trip was long, and we needed some form of entertainment along the way. So after some playing and coaxing, let me just say that those big road
atlases are quit handy for blocking the view of passing trucks! hahaha
We arrived at my house with a little over an hour to spare before having to get ready for the graduation. I had waited 16 years to see this child
graduate, and nothing was gonna stop me from going. However, we only stayed at the ceremony long enough to see Geoffrey walk in, get his diploma,
move his tassel, and return to his seat. I would have loved to stay and watch the rest, but I had to work the next morning and there was no way I would be
able to stay awake if I did.
I worked a full day that Monday, while Marco stayed at my house. I assumed that he would spend the entire day catching up on sleep, so I didn't feel
too bad. That night we went to watch James play the trumpet in a band concert for his school. Before it started we took Tyler outside so he and Marco
could play and get better acquinted. Afterwards Marco and I took the boys out for ice cream and then dropped them off at their home. By the time we got
back to my house, we were ready to lay on the sofa, watch tv, and not move an inch.
Tuesday I worked until 11:00am, went home, picked up Marco, went to my sister's house, dropped off my truck, picked up her mini-van, then went to
James' school to pick him up by 12:00pm. We were taking him to Kansas City with us so Marco could watch his favorite American baseball team, the
Oakland A's. Their colors are yellow and green, just like his team in Holland. And his favorite hat is an old A's baseball hat. It was pure luck that they
were playing against the Royals while he was here, and I was so excited when I found they were! So I had purchased the tickets as soon as I found out,
over a month ago. James could care less what team we were going to watch. He was just happy to get out of school and go on a road trip with Marco.
And actually, Marco was just as thrilled with the fact that James was going with us. Continue
