Lake Lure Trip - On the Road to NC

(KELLY) - 10:34 AM - We are halfway through the 6th hour of our excursion from Tampa to Lake Lure, NC. We have 3 adults and 4 children packed into the Caravan. Good ole "Caravan". We are praying the Caravan will make it. I wanted to bring my little wooden Jesus with me, but I forgot. We are currently a little ways into Georgia and, of course, we have hit traffic. It is related to construction we believe. Cara is very annoyed at the people who are not following the instructions on lane merging. "These screwballs are the reason our lane is going so slow!"
There is a car next to us from Ohio and they have doilies on the headrests. What's up with that? "Jeez, these people are pissing me off," Cara says. One after another, cars intent on getting ahead whiz past us on the left. I spout out, "This is what the Land of Entitlement has brought us! This is the generation we have raised. Everyone feels they are entitled and no one has to follow rules." Now I'm getting pissed.

We left this morning very early. Cara picked me up at 4:45 AM and then we went to Krista's. Cara had gone to pick up Krista's suitcase the day before. I was really impressed by the efficiency of everyone's packing. Only 3 suitcases. Then we got to Krista's and she had lots of pillows, blankets, food items, laundry detergent, etc. We were on the road by 5:19. Immediately, I was hungry. Cara was annoyed with me for being hungry and Krista was dealing with Natalie. As we inch our way now through this traffic, I am needing to get out, walk around a little and pee, and not necessarily in that order.

(CARA) - 12:27 PM - We are still in Georgia. Still going bumper to bumper through construction. A sign says construction ending, but Kelly, now in the driver's seat, is skeptical. She is listening to one of her CD's, Top 20 hits of the '70s, and singing aloud. She has both hands on the wheel and her concentration level is at least a 10.

**Rewind to change of drivers**

Me: "You're not going to drive with those headphones on, are you?"

Kelly: nods as she messes with her CD player and headphones

Me: "Oh, no. No!"

Krista: "Oh, you can't do that!"

Kelly: "What is the big deal? What's wrong with that?"

Me: (faking legal knowledge) "It's illegal for one thing."

Kelly: (removing her headphones) "Well, I need music, and I want my music, and you won't like it, and I won't be able to play it loud like I need to so that I can concentrate. I need it to concentrate."

**Fast Forward to present**

Thus her music and the decibel levels (well, for the most part as she is practicing compromising) have enabled this level 10 of concentration.

Krista is reading Robin McGraw's (Dr. Phil's wife....Krista is a HUGE Dr. Phil fan) book titled, Inside my Heart. She is trying to set a good example for her children by reading. (Said children have headphones in their ears, playing electronic games) 

Every once in a while she gasps, which causes me to turn around to make sure she is okay. Kelly, of course, is concentrating too hard to notice these gasps. Krista will then read a passage aloud from the book to explain her reason for gasping.

For the most part, we haven't heard from the children. The 3 in the very back are busy with movies and games. The little one, mentioned often in our previous trip journal, is actually doing well. She has slept, watched a movie, played her DS game and read 23 pages in 5 minutes of her book (this we know is false, but she is really behaving so we let this slide).

New CD has been inserted: Queen's Greatest Hits. Music is the driver's choice. We are now all singing (except Krista who is on the phone) "We Will Rock You".

Natalie: "Good song, Kelly."

(KELLY) - 3:34 PM - After a brief stop 8 miles from our rendezvous with I-26, we are on the road again. Glad to be off I-85 where there was traffic trouble on and off the whole time. At this last stop, I told Cara that I could continue to drive (it is raining now), but not much longer. Even with my music playing and my concentration at level 10 most of the time, at the end right before we stopped, I was fighting a bad sleepy, doze-y feeling. At the stop, Madison emptied her "ready to burst" bladder, and I purchased water, fruity Mentos and some pepperoni pizza flavored Combos. I made the vow very early that I was not going to let the fact that I was on vacation give me license to eat crap. I vowed to eat real food. Let's see what today's consumption has been like:

1. Bacon, egg and cheese biscuit - okay there is some nutrition value here, but a lot of fat and salt.


2. Orange juice - nutritious, but sugary.


3. Coffee w/artificial sweetener - few calories/no nutrition


4. Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and Diet Coke - Ugh!

Perhaps tonight's dinner will be better. We do not expect to arrive at the Fairfield until 7 PM-ish. Krista is calling the resort to let them know that we will not be there by the 6:00 PM check-in. 

Krista has a lovely phone voice (we will let her have all phone duties) and is well-versed in pretending to be someone else on the phone. Krista's phone call disturbs us. The lady on the other end tells her that we are staying in the "unmanaged" property, not on the resort. If we arrive after 7:00 PM apparently we need to follow directions to a cabinet next to a Coke machine where there is a secret combination. 

What is this? Encyclopedia Brown Goes on Vacation? The reservation says 2 bedroom deluxe. I don't want to be negative at this point, but it sounds like we'll be staying in a picnic area somewhere near the resort. I have now, after being on the fence for years, definitely decided to NOT purchase Fairfield property or shares. I know they will miss me as a customer.