Road Trip

So, most of you are aware that we were in Duluth-a-way this past weekend for some extended family fun. We forgot to bring the camera to take some pictures, but that's okay. You all know what you look like.

When we left on Sunday, we left about two hours later than we wanted, simply because we had some other circumstances keeping us up North. No problem though.

We made up plenty of time once we got going, basically pushing straight through the Twin Cities and past. In fact, we were well past St. Paul on Highway 52 South in under 2 hours 20 minutes.

Then things got interesting.

We stopped in Rochester for a drive-thru dinner, but somehow, we missed the exit for US 63 which leads us straight home. Once we realized we were going the wrong way, and finally got back on 63, we'd lost about 30 minutes. Grrrr...

I want to pause just for a minute to tell you a quick side story. Lately, we've been having trouble with the sliding passenger door on the minivan. The lock does not seem to engage sometimes, and it takes quite an effort to get the lock to release and the door to open. I'm not sure if it is atmospheric changes, or a slip when the handle is being pulled at the same time the lock is being released (a common occurrence), or what. Either way, sometimes the door just don't open.

Back to the trip now. We're cruising along 63 when Bailey starts to talk about how she's not feeling very good. Both Julie & I think it has more to do with the exhaustion from the weekend. Still, she continues to not feel good and complain about it, so Julie decides to crawl in the middle seat with her, with Blake moving up front. Ian & Isabel are in the back seat, crammed in with all the stuff we brought back from Duluth.

As I'm driving along, I suddenly hear both Julie & Bailey yelling "PULL OVER!!!" I get off the road as quick as I can. I'm down to about 10mph, when I hear Julie yelling that the door is locked. I hit the auto lock button (probably at the same time Julie is pulling the handle), then hear Julie yell, "It won't open!" Then I hear...

BRALFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!

I leap out of the van, race around, and kick Blake out of the passenger seat, and begin to desperately try and open the sliding door. Of course, by now, Bailey is done barfing all over the inside of the van. I should mention that Ian, Isabel, Julie and Bailey are all stuck in the van with the scent of vomit all over, with no real way of getting out. I open the back hatch (which was packed high) to get some air circulation, and continue my battle with the door. Someone is watching out for me, and lets me succeed after just a few minutes.

With the door now open, I'm able to help clean. I take a orangish-pink barf filled rubber floormat out. We find a bit more fortune again, by having pulled over near a stream and culvert next to a random Iowa cornfield. This allows me to wash the mat out rather nicely. I then follow up by washing Bailey's pants. Time lost? Another 30 minutes.

We finish up the cleaning, climb back in the van and make for home, windows open.


Footnote: Bailey is fine now, though she missed school Monday, after spending Sunday night throwing up about another half-dozen times. No pictures or video of this event... sorry.