I try. I really do. But I forget. Far too frequently. When I do manage to remember, it's usually in the wee hours of the morning. So I tell myself, "I'll text her when she gets up." And being The Bad Daughter I am, I forget.
When I left this time Mama said, "Text me every time you stop."
I laughed and said, "I can't promise that I'll text 'every' time I stop, but I'll text you when we leave the hotel in the morning, and again when I stop to visit Alicia and Bill. And I'll try to remember to text you when I'm safely back in Texas. I love you!"
As I drove away I got the giggles. You see, I am my Mother's ornery, prankster Daughter. I come by it quite naturally since I get it from her.
But I'm also a woman of my word, and I did exactly what I said I'd do.
I texted her when we were packed and leaving the hotel the next morning.
My goal was to prepack the night before our departure and leave by o' dark-thirty the next morning.
Didn't happen. I like my sleep too much and I was too tired to pack. Besides, I hate partial packing because it leads to repacking.
I use my own blankies in the hotel room, and pack them on the seat between The Girls travel beds while we travel. They make the entire back seat a comfy cozy haven with multiple soft resting spots for The Girls who are teathered in for safety. The FurKid Boxes and my overnight bag go in the back, along with my rollater. Moggy's carrier goes on the front seat next to me, with the water cooler and a basket or tray to keep all the things I need enroute handy.
I considered what I could prepack...
Prepacking the FurKids:
If I take diaposable bowls for food and water, I can chunk them along with the disposable litter box, potty pads, and any fast food wrappers or fresh fruit peels/cores I accumulate. I bring a small trash bag for each day, and a large trash bag for the end of the trip litter box dump. If I pack up the FurKids stuff, except their leashes, collars, vest harnesses, (all required for the actual driving portion of any trip), one toy each, a small bag of treats, brush, comb, and their breakfast. And I keep out the cleaning supplies for any accidents and a final swiffer of the floor and wipe down of the hard surfaces to pick up cat hairs--so few places allow cats, I strive to leave no cat hair behind so as to not wear out our Cat-welcome. Let me see, that means I can pack up and place in the car: pretty much nothing related to the FurKids
Prepacking me:
I can place my dirty clothes and overnight bag, in the SUV. Except for my travel outfit and morning toiletries. But then I have to remember to place both the overnight bag and the dirty clothes bag on top, so I can easiltly add my morning toiletries and sleepwear to the appropriate bags. Since that's inconvenient, I typically wait until the morning of departure to pack my bags.
I also travel with my cooler for extra water and DDPs--most Sonic and Whataburgers have DDPs, but not all McDs do. And other drive-thru chains think Diet Dr Pepper means non-diet, or worse yet, diet coke. They even think Diet Pepsi means diet coke. Diet coke is just pure nasty. I will go without before I drink diet coke. The cooler obviously stays out until we hit the road.
In addittion to the cooler, I travel with my garden tote (to get cuttings from Mama's garden). Cuttings remain in the hotel as long as possible--they go into the SUV right after the cooler, and just before the FurKids due to their fragility.
Last, but not least is my very important TEA/BEA.
TEA/BEA you ask?
That is my Tray (or Basket) of Easy Access:
The TEA/BEA houses treats for meal stops, so I'm not tempted to feed FurKids unhealthy people food. Leashes for enroute potty breaks. An atlas or free state maps picked up at Welcome Centers (to be used in spots where we have no phone service, or GPS Girl and Google Guy have a difference of oppinion about the route--they fought it out in the middle of a National Forest just before I lost all service one trip so I said I would settle the fight. I went old school and pulled out Mama Map/Auntie Altas.). The TEA/BEA also holds reservation confirmation emails, shot records (and destination emergency vet address/contact numbers) for the FurKids, our itinerary when we are going someplace new. And of course my wallet keys, phone, and tablet preloaded with audio books for the trip--because of course, I wasn't thinking when I saved my audio books to my tablet, and my reading books to my phone--and the phone and tablet are not synced! Back in the day, the TEA/BEA also housed the actuall audio book CDs checked out from the Public Library. Since the TEA/BEA sits atop the Cat Carrier, it can't be pre-loaded into the SUV either.
So, Plan B was to wake up by 6am, shower, pack the SUV and leave by 9am. Check out was 11am. That's usually when I manage to leave. So being ready to leave by 9am was a best case scenario. It hinged on two things: Me actually getting up at 6 am, and Moggy not hidding under the bed--his favorite Morning of Departure Game. I texted Mama just before I turned in the room key. It was 0845. My new "Best."
I also remembered to text from Alicia's home. I even added photos of Alicia and her garden. Alicia and Mama have a little plant growering competition. I kill almost all my plants, so the two of them leave me in the dust as it were.
My visit with Alicia lasted much longer than I had planned. As a result, I did not arrive at the Texas state line until 10pm. Which was around the time I had originally told Mama I thought I would be arriving home.
True to my word, I texted Mama that I had "arrifed safely back in Texas." I was counting on her to assume I was back home. Knowing it's been years since she left Texas and she likely wouldn't remember I still live five hours inland.
So I texted the times I told her I would: departure, Alicia's, and Safely Back in Texas. And I was truthful, albeit expecting my words would mislead her. But the reason I giggled when I left her drive?
I drove to the end of her street, and at the stop sign, I texted her from my very first "stop."
Yep. Very. Bad. Daughter.
