A Practice Road Trip?

(Written 4/5/07; Posted 4/6/07)
We are in Chicago. We drove up today with both Matt and I thinking about how this or that particular event will translate on a six week trip. There have already been a few lessons. First, the pace is slow. For example, ledges need to be climbed and walked up on, posts should be circled, revolving doors need a couple go-arounds, bathroom breaks are needed, and jackets need to be taken off, put on, dropped, passed off to an adult, worn on one’s head, or hung from a single finger. Second, an art museum is okay, fun in fact, for about 45 minutes. After that, it is time to move on to something new (like smores at Cosi). We let each child pick one area at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is free on Thursday evenings. Calvin chose to see the armor, which was cool. Eleanor chose to see “American Gothic,” which led to our seeing “Nighthawks” and some Magritte, Dali, and other work as well. Both kids do enjoy looking at art for a while. It’s a great museum and ever-so-slowly we are seeing it on our trips to Chicago. Third, it’s hard to get math problems done in the car. It’s close quarters for dealing with frustration with one’s tormentor. We’re all figuring out how the actual “schooling” part of homeschooling will play out on the road. hmmm…more work is needed here. Fourth, when there are few options, Calvin will try new foods from the pastry group. Calvin now officially likes scones and wonders about their availability elsewhere. ☺

Fifth, don’t bring the dog. We are not actually planning to bring the dog on the East Coast trip. But having her on this trip has provided some annoying amusement. On our drive up, we stopped at a Dairy Queen. In the car, for some reason (it’s hard to recreate why) Rose was standing on Matt’s lap, facing out the front window while he held the overfilled cup of DQ ice cream. In Rosie’s excitement (over what I don’t know) she wagged her tail. The tip of her tail went right into the cup, sending DQ splattering onto her head and back and on to the car’s dash. The tip of her tail was covered in ice cream and chocolate. The humor of it exceeded the mess, so even at the time it was very funny. Less humorous was the putrid odor of Rosie’s farts in the car. To use words to recreate a smell is beyond my literary skill. It was very, very bad.

Fifth, we will go to bed early. Right now it is 9:45pm. (It will be posted later because we don’t have Internet now.) The kids and Matt are all sleeping. Maybe this is when I’ll get work done when we’re on the road.

We all like being on the road and together. I am really looking forward to our remaining time here in Chicago and our future on the road during the homeschooling year.