Road Trip, Day 1 - Good Friday

It was Easter break (no school for 2 weeks) and we were setting off for a 10-day trip to the South Island with Nolan and Erica. We had ambitious plans which included driving 3500 km (2174 miles). We'd be driving from #1 to #4 on the New Zealand map on the right. That's about the same as driving from Bellingham to Los Angeles and back. BUT - and this turns out to be crucial - there won't be any motorways, just 2-lane roads. Imagine driving on Highway 1 along the coast all the way to L.A. instead of using I-5. Imagine the unimaginably beautiful scenery. But imagine how much longer that would take. Imagine all the carsick people in the back seat.

Our first day would involve driving all the way to Wellington, at the bottom of the North Island. (On the map, that's from #1 to #2) We left at 7:00 a.m. - even though I am NOT a morning person - and stopped within 20 minutes for crappuccinos for Curt and Nolan. As I got out of the car in the parking lot, I realised I still had my slippers on! My shoes were sitting back home by our kitchen door, and I had intended to put them on as I left, but evidently I didn't. Good grief. I did the same thing once before, when I wore my slippers to choir accidentally. I am having WAY too many senior moments. Those were the only shoes I was bringing on this trip, apart from sandals. Would it be sandal-wearing weather (hot and sunny) every day? Probably not. And I had no shoes for the next 10 days. Hmmm. Plan A - turn around and go back for my shoes. This idea was nixed by everyone. Plan B - My slippers almost look like shoes so I could just keep wearing them and nobody would know. I'd certainly be comfortable! Plan C - Maybe I would just have to buy some shoes. The consensus was to go with a combination of Plans B & C. As you might expect, Nolan got a big kick out of my absent-mindedness, but he would never tease his poor old mother about it throughout the trip, would he?

It took us about 9 hours to get to Wellington, but we made lots of pit stops and with 4 drivers we managed pretty well. During the drive, Erica took lots of pictures and Nolan did lots of crossword puzzles. We like to help him, which he doesn't always appreciate, but it helps us pass the time. We found our hotel in Wellington after a few wrong turns, U-turns and swear words. We call these episodes "Adventures" which is a euphemism for being lost and frustrated. One problem is that Curt is morally opposed to turning around; I think it's against his religion. Apparently, it feels too much like defeat and he doesn't want to have to admit that we're lost. So we keep going and proceed to get lost-er.

Eventually we arrived at the hotel. Whew. After checking in and schlepping all the luggage to our room, Curt and I decided to stretch our legs - remember, it's been a long drive! So we went for a walk (wearing slippers) in Wellington's Botanic Gardens nearby and climbed the trail to see the city from the summit. Very nice. We also stopped at a children's play area and tested out the zipline which was pretty cool. I always wanted to rig up a zipline from our house in Portland to my school below. You could see the school from our back deck, and it seemed like a pretty efficient way to commute to work every day if I could just jump on a zipline and whoosh down the steep hill, landing in the football field. Alas, it would only work if I could get Boone to crank me back up the hill at 5:00 every night and he wasn't too keen on that idea. Wimp. So I walked or biked to work instead. But it would have been fun.

We walked back to the hotel to get Nolan and Erica so we could drive around and find something for dinner, which involved more Adventures. As the official mapigator, I usually get blamed for getting us lost. In my defence, it's impossible to see the map in the dark. So I can only get a glimpse of the map as we drive under a street light, and then whoosh, my light source is gone. Before long, my credibility is gone too. On the way home, it sounded something like this:
me: Turn left at the next light
Curt: What? That's going to take us down to the waterfront again. We want to go the OTHER direction.
me: Trust me. It'll get us right back to the hotel.
Nolan: Why should we trust someone who can't even remember her shoes?
Curt turns left as directed. A few seconds later, we enter an unexpected tunnel.
me: "What is that tunnel doing here? There's not supposed to be a tunnel. Uh oh. You need to turn around. Trust me on this."