Time Away

So, hubby and I had our first vacation alone, with no kids, in over seven years. It was wonderful and refreshing and bizarre (more on that later).

But first I must tell you about our trip to Chicago to drop the kids off at Grandma's house. We left in late morning and before our drive even really began we hit our first detour (an accident prevented us from entering our highway). On our alternate highway we hit another detour that took us half an hour out of our way. And then in 90 degree heat we hit construction in Chicago. Did I mention we don't have air conditioning?

So, here we are in the fifth hour of our four hour drive when hubby notices that the van is beginning to overheat. We pull over to the cramped shoulder of the Edens Expressway in downtown Chicago, turn off the engine and wait for it to cool down. Of course, every second we are getting hotter - airflow is the key to staying cool when a/c is lacking. Trying to stay positive I turn around and ask the kids what they are looking forward to about going to Grandma's house (thankfully this keeps them from whining and focused on why we are subjecting them to this torture).

After fifteen minutes we think the car is cool enough and decide to keep going. Unfortunately, just as we begin to feel a cool breeze again, hubby sees that the thermometer is going up. The van is about to overheat again. Being the ingenious man that he is, he decides to turn the heat on. This draws hot air from the engine and blows it on us. Did I already mention it was 90 degrees outside?

So here we are crawling down the expressway, soaking in sweat when my husband (always the empathetic man) looks over at a guy all dressed in leather on his motorcycle and says, "Wow, he must be hot. That looks really uncomfortable."

Removing my foot from the scalding dashboard I look at the delusional man driving our van and say, "You know, hun, I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that we are probably the most uncomfortable people on this highway right now. We are driving with the heat on in the middle of JULY!!!"

I try to be supportive. I try not to complain. But I cannot take it anymore. Call me a twenty-first century wuss, but I need air conditioning in my vehicle.

Our 4 hour drive to my dad's took 6 1/2. By the time we got to my mom's, my nine-year-old had prickly heat all over his body. As I walked up to our room I felt the temperature rising and realized that my mom did not have her a/c on.

I cried.

That was all I could take. I tried to be gracious, but I suspect mom noticed the tension in my voice when I begged her not to turn the ceiling fan off (she had been reaching for the light switch in our room).

Eventually she turned the air on, I took a cold shower and all was well in the world. I just needed to gripe a little. Thanks for listening.

But 5 nights and 6 days away with my husband is an amazing thing. We couldn't believe that we actually had 3 years of this before the kids came along. It was so strange to have numerous conversations without anyone interrupting, butting in or causing some sort of catastrophe. And then to have no one else pulling at me, asking me questions or invading my space reminded me that we are in a challenging phase of life. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it is just plain hard some days.

We came home eager to be with the kids, refreshed and reconnected in the most wonderful way (did I mention the hot tub in our room? oh yeah).

Now we just need to set up our appointment with the mechanic...