2013: Heading to Disney

In preparation for the trip to Florida, we created a 55 page itinerary detailing every moment and requiring military-like precision. According to the itinerary, to make it to Harrisburg Pennsylvania we needed to leave by 5pm. We left at 5:30, so, everything was thrown off. We crossed the Pennsylvania border at twilight.

Shortly after sun set we found ourselves driving through the Allegany mountains in the dark. Driving through mountains in the dark is like a scary version of Space Mountain. Driving at highway speeds through curvy roads pushes to limits of the headlights. I saw a large black mass in the road and before I could react? We had plowed straight into it. I hit a large tire fragment in the road.

When astronauts traveled in the space shuttle, they had no way to tell if the shuttle was damaged until they tried to land the shuttle. If the shuttle disintegrated upon reentry? Good sign it had been damaged. We were traveling at speeds not permitted by the laws of man and it was impossible to assess the damage from hitting the tire debre. I slowed down just in case I should have a blow out. We listened to every creek and moan of the vehicle - would we be OK?

After ten minutes of successfully traveling at a slow pace, I determined the damage wasn't significant and returned to my pervious speed. Worse case? We would disintegrate upon reentry.

As the night stretched on, Linda (my navigator) grew sleepy from a long night of packing the day before. As a result, her navigation skills deteriorated. It was 10pm and we hadn't found gas nor food, and the kids were ready to wet themselves. We missed exit after exit (oh! We should have taken that one!) and several times we got off in a useless attempt to try to back track, but instead became lost.

Finally, around midnight we approached Harrisburg and found our hotel. We got the last available room which, I guess, means we pay double the normal rate. I don't understand that, but the foreign gentleman had no interest in listening to my complaints. If we didn't take the room? The next car pulling in behind us would.

We took the room and immediately questioned why this was the last room? We found the floor hasn't been vacuumed so Linda became grossed out. She broke out her CSI kit and inspected every inch of every layer of each bed. Only once she was satisfied the beds were clean were we allowed to go to sleep.

I'm sure this room is will be fine. This won't be a problem...