Get A Move On

My husband's family has a distinct schedule in which all of them like to road trip (or at least all the ones I've been on the road with.) They prefer to drive in the nocturnal hours. I can't figure out if this trait came from his mother or his father, but it certainly is strong! If they can drive through the night that's the best way to do it. Second best is to get up so early in the morning it can only be considered night to hit the road. They find no problem with stopping at a rest stop on the side of the road in the middle of the night to sleep for 4-5 hours or so and then just wake up and keep on moving.

Growing up I thought my parents liked to get us going on trips early by leaving around 6AM (boy was I wrong!). This time gradually became later and later as my sister and I got older to where leaving by 9AM was good for us. We liked to get going, but stopping frequently became necessary when my dad's diabetes required many breaks for food and rest rooms. Also, my father would never sleep in the car if a motel room was even an option. In fact I can only think of one example of my family sleeping in the car overnight. This only happened because there were NO hotel/motel rooms available in the city that they stopped in. (I wasn't even on that particular trip!) I consider us pretty efficient travelers, but we definitely had a different feel to the whole experience.

My husband and I are still trying to meld these two different versions of road travel. That is why I consider our itinerary for going home for Thanksgiving a personal triumph! We are leaving as soon as possible (one point for him), but we are not going to be sleeping at a rest stop. Perfection!