road trip

I used to love road trips. Portland to Chicago? no problem. Do it in 40 hours. Austin to Vermont? What a great vacation! Pittsburgh to Los Angeles? Gas 'er up. Things have changed. Turns out, toddlers don't love being stuck in car seats for hours at a time, and they aren't shy about expressing that dissatisfaction. We drove today from Pittsburgh to New York. Mapquest quoted the trip at 6:30; I estimated 8, what with McDonald's Playland stops, gas, Starbucks, and diaper changes squeezed in. We managed to make it in just over 7 hours, but the hours when Boy was awake were... trying.

I'm now rethinking my plan to drive to Minneapolis this fall for a family reunion. And if I have to eat $900 in plane fare, versus $250 for driving, so be it.