Sunday, August 28, 2005

Orey - gone

The best part about the drive up to Oregon last week was that the kids discovered a great game which consisted of putting blankets over their heads and being REALLY QUIET.

These were the two kids who were crammed into the back seat of the 1994 Honda Civic Hatchback along with a cooler, a diaper bag, three bottles of water and two bags of their assorted toys and books. We took the hatchback because 455 miles at almost $3 a gallon adds up, and the Civic, bless its little metallic Japanese heart, gets 42 miles to the gallon. One tank of gas gets us *almost* to the Oregon border, actually we could probably make it to Brookings but I start getting nervous when the needle is in the red.

We got a measly 41 miles to the gallon on the way back, because we ran the air conditioning.

But on the way back, after a week of running around on the farm and visiting Grammy, those same two children couldn't seem to play that same game again, and nobody would sleep, either. So the best part about the drive back to Oakland was the thought that after we move next year we won't have to do that drive as often. Oh, and we fantasized about minivans.

Oakland had a rousing welcome for us. First, somebody was shooting something off up the street from us at around 9pm, then the police helicopter started circling over our house at about 1am, and then at some point after that some ding-a-ling lingered at the stop sign opposite our house with the music turned up so loud that it was making the car vibrate and rattle. That has got to be bad for the engine somehow.