On the road again …

Traveling to and from BlissDom ’09 was quite enlightening.

I live 8 hours away from Nashville according to Google Maps. I had the bright idea late Wednesday night I should download some audio books to make the most out of the drive. I went to iTunes and picked out 2 audio books. They downloaded and then it hit me. I don’t have an iPod or any such device. The audio books won’t go on my MP3 player. D’oh!

Duck saves the day and says they make an adapter that plugs into the car lighter to give you an outlet you can plug your laptop into. “Cool! I get one on my way out of town in the morning,” I thought.

I pack up the next morning and hit the road. Thirty minutes later I’m pulling into the local Wal-mart to pickup the adapter. Get it. Come back out to the car. Hook it up and boot up my laptop. Start iTunes and select the audiobook to play.

“Your computer is not authorized to play this audio book.” Can I tell you that I wanted to cuss? I didn’t out loud not that that makes it ok, but still. How can I pay for and download something to this computer and it not be authorized to play it? D’oh! All weekend when I heard someone refer to me as a techie or geek, I laughed

On the road again I try to find a Wi-Fi spot. Another 30 minutes down the road I see a truck stop with a big sign. Pull into the parking lot and try to connect. D’oh! It’s one of those subscription things. My brain totally froze as to who gives away wireless because I don’t ever leave the house — at least not with this computer. I give up and hit the road listening to music on the radio and my MP3 player.

I am convinced that the “powers that be” knew what they were doing when they put in rest stops. They were perfectly spaced for potty breaks and stretching. Oh, speaking of stretching, Duck hurt his back a few months ago. He put a back massager into the car so it would heat and massage his back on the way to work. I foolishly told him that he could take it out of the car before I left — that I wouldn’t need it. He smartly left it in there. He’s not My Genius Better Half for nothing. I started using it about halfway to Nashville and it really saved me.

I don’t know why I thought it was going to be a straight shot — it was a major interstate all the way there. Only one problem — it wasn’t flat all the way there. I was thinking 65-70MPH — straight shot — 8 hours — I can do it. Then I hit this little thing called MOUNTAINS! Ack! I mean I knew I had to go over mountains but it didn’t register until I was actually doing it.

I wish I could’ve stopped on the way and took pictures of the icicles hanging on the rocks on the side of the mountain. They were absolutely beautiful! Anyway, I was really dreading the drive back because, well, I hadn’t slept really a lot or well in the hotel. But I made it safely back and it was pretty uneventful — just looong.

Here are some things I’ve learned just from the drive there and back:

• If you are riding in the left lane and not passing anyone? MOVE OVER!
• Don’t talk on the cell phone and drive. You look like an idiot. Trust me.
• I didn’t think I’d have to include this one, but don’t TEXT (or TWITTER) and drive either (this means YOU Jerri Ann!)
• I’m setting a driving limit. If it’s not within 3 hours of me, I’m flying from now on.
• Massagers are a life saver!
• Stop often. Pay attention to your surroundings. Be safe not stupid.

I thought maybe I was the only one crazy enough to drive from that far, but I just learned this morning that Amber @ The Run Amuck and the Mother from The Mother Project drove about 8 hours too! But more about people I met and my new bffs in the next posts …

BlissDom ’09 Recap Posts (back to the list)