Anticipation

How far out from a vacation do you start getting excited about it? For me, it’s as soon as reservations/plans are made. And the anticipation that builds up to the actual vacation is what sees me through. Having a bad day at work can be minimized in knowing that in 57 days I’ll be sitting on a deck overlooking the beach and the Pacific Ocean listening to the crash of the waves and drinking an refreshing alcoholic beverage. Ah…..only 57 more days. You know it’s when bad you start counting down the days. It’s even worse when you start counting down the hours. I probably won’t go that far because I still know what I have to endure before I get my butt into that Adirondack chair that is calling my name.

Yes, there might be some pain before the pleasure. This is a road trip and not just any road trip. It’s a FAMILY road trip, a 1,350 mile (one way) with my sister, my mother and two dogs (Shih Tzus to be exact). I took this trip with my sisters and the dogs last year and it wasn’t that bad (the trip back was worse than trip out because one of the dogs seems to have some anxiety about being in the car and leaving beach – I could TOTALLY understand that). And this year Mom is coming along. I love my Mom dearly but, and all you out there who know her will understand, she talks NON-STOP!!! We are definitely going to have to get her some books on CD and possibly some duct tape.

Also, this is not the most scenic trip either. We go north up to Wyoming, then across southern Wyoming to Utah and this part of the drive is really brutal. There is nothing, I mean nothing, out there but brown plains for as far as the eyes can see. We head northwest through Utah and it’s pretty scenic around Ogden but them it’s flat, nothing, all the way north of Utah, through southern Idaho and north through Oregon until you get to the Columbia River and start heading west. At least you have the river to look at until you get close to Portland.

We aren’t flying to Oregon because my sister wants to take the dogs with her and I can understand that. Last year the dogs absolutely loved the beach as much as we did and were fairly well behaved. And so the road trip is the price to pay in order to see the ocean when you are land locked like we are.

Only 57 more days….