Our goal was to be on the road as soon after sunset as possible. We were on the road by 6:30, which we considered to be quite reasonable, given that we hadn’t started packing until about 4:00pm!

Things we accomplished today before leaving:

• eating most of the perishables in the fridge
• closing and winterizing the swimming pool (been on my list for at least a month)
• straightening house and folding laundry
• downloading 2 movies for the kids to watch on the iPad – Ice Age and Madagascar 3
• collecting together most of the music I need to practice for Zemer Chai shabbaton at Bnei Israel Congregation in 2 weeks
• surprise return of our wandering cat, Orli! Maybe our cat-sitter can keep her at home for the week.
• packing for the trip, and loading up the car

And, now we’re on the road!

I took the first shift of driving, with the hope that Dad could get some sleep (he’s better at car-sleeping than I) and then he’d be rested for the second leg.

We had a good laugh right at the beginning. We had gotten on the freeway, and I wondered if I had my cell phone. At first, I suggested dad call my cell, but thought the ringer might be off, and then we remembered that, as iPhone users, we have this great feature “Find My Friends” which allows us to see the location of each other’s phones. Dad launched the app, and my phone showed up on the freeway, although the relationship of the little blue dot representing dad’s phone appeared to be about 50 feet ahead of the purple dot representing my phone!! Dad said “Gosh, I didn’t know our car was that long!”

I actually like driving (good thing with my commute), and I like driving at night. It brings me back to the long nights of driving up and down the California coast that my family did when I was a kid. Of course, driving through Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas is nothing like the experience of driving through California, with its hills rolling down into sparkling lights of cities. This landscape is flat, and lined with tall trees, and mostly dark. And, as I drive now, I’m more aware than ever of the burden on my dad of those drives. My mother didn’t like to drive, so it was all on him. I don’t know how he stayed awake. I’m sure a lot of cigarettes were involved!!

But, he did love to drive, and he taught me to drive, and when I’m driving in the middle of the night, I feel closer to him, closer to his experience.

Not a bad way to start a vacation.