skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Chevy Chase Vacation: Part I
Well, the week leading up to Friday, July 4th turned out to be a really hard week. I have to mention all of this so you get the full picture about our Chevy Chase Vacation. On Tuesday morning, I found out that Kate, the 7-year old daughter of my friend, Maribeth, had suddenly passed away on Sunday from an inflamed heart. Needless to say, this was completely unexpected and they had no idea she had any kind of heart problem. Finally, I found out visitation was that night in Valley, AL from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. So I made a quick decision to try and make it in time ~ a 5-hour trip with an infant. I started packing.jpg)
around 1:00 p.m. with hopes of getting on the road by 2:00ish. Dan picked up Fenn from daycare and gassed up the car for me. We finally got on the road around 3:00. It didn't take long to realize it wasn't going to be an easy trip. Fenn had always been so easy and good on previous road trips, but this time he was really fussy and not napping as much. I found myself driving with my right arm draped over the seat so that Fenn could hold my hand. Not the most comfortable of positions! I finally got Fenn to sleep, but then it was time for the 5:00 p.m. dinner stop and we were close to an exit where we regularly stop about an hour north of Atlanta. We've found that Cracker Barrels are great places to stop because you can sit outside in the rocking chairs while feeding the baby. After about 45 minutes, we were back on the road. Thank goodness we stopped when we did, because it wasn't long before we got slowed down in road construction a little north of Marietta. We got through the construction and made it to the I-285 by-pass and then it happened.... Traffic came to a screeching halt. For the next 10 miles, we averaged 10 miles per hour
(yes, it was THAT slow!). Fenn cried a lot and really just wanted to be held. I knew he couldn't be feeling well, or he wouldn't be acting like that. We finally made it past the accident and traffic started moving at a normal, German Autobahn pace. By this time, I had come to the realization that I was NOT going to make it to visitation that night. Because of being held up twice in traffic, I had to make one more stop to feed Fenn his 8:00 p.m. bedtime bottle. Back on the road and headed away from Atlanta, we made it to my parents' house a little before 10:00 p.m. After getting the car unloaded and the Pack 'n Play set up, I finally got Fenn down for the night. He was running a slight fever that night and the next day. I attended the funeral at 2:00 p.m. while my parents watched Fenn. Let me just say that the funeral of a child is the saddest thing you'll ever go through. I just hope you never have to experience it. The strangest thing is that I was just thinking of Kate the weekend before when Fenn was swimming in my parents' pool. 
We (Maribeth, Kama, and I) had taken Kate swimming at my parents' just 7 years earlier, when Kate must have been only a few months older than Fenn. After the funeral, I fed Fenn and quickly finished loading the car. We got on the road around 4:45 p.m. This time, Fenn was still a little fussy, but the trip went much better and there were no traffic problems. We got home that night at 9:45 p.m. The next morning (Thursday), we went ahead and sent Fenn to daycare, but called the pediatrician to make an appointment. It didn't take long for his doctor to discover he had an ear infection. She said it was probably just beginning on Tuesday night. Poor little guy! (Mommy is feeling horrible right about now for dragging him out of town.) So... now we have ourselves a little dilemma. Do we go ahead with our vacation plans or cancel them? We were scheduled to fly out the very next morning. Destination: Denver, CO. We had been looking forward to taking Fenn to the 
cabin in Eldora and going on his first hike in the Colorado rockies. With a clingy baby on our hands, we did the best we could to try and pack that night. We decided we would see how he was the next morning before making a final decision about whether to stay or go. The next morning, Fenn's fever was in the "normal" range and he seemed to be feeling much better. (I had gotten 2 doses of Amoxicillin in him on Thursday.) So, we decided to go ahead with our trip. Everything we read about ear infections indicated they should be feeling better within a couple of days. So we thought he would be back to his old self by Sunday. We made it relatively easily through airport security (considering all the baby stuff we had). The first leg of our flight (we had a layover in Houston) went great. Fenn never cried during takeoff, took his bottle, napped a lot, and bounced on our laps. We was so good that almost everyone on the plane was either smiling at him as they exited or commenting about what a wonderful baby he was. The flight attendant asked if it was his first flight. 
When we told her it was, she asked if we wanted to take a few pictures up at the front of the plane. We said sure! We, of course, just thought she meant right there as you exit the plane with the cockpit in the background. But then we found out she meant INSIDE the cockpit! How cool is that? The pictures are a little dark because the light is coming from behind them, but you can still tell they're in the cockpit. If you look at the other pictures, you can see that Fenn's cheeks are flushed and it is obvious he's not 100%. But he still was so good throughout the day. The next leg of our trip went fine, too. However, Fenn's temperature had been creeping up some during the day. We made it to Denver International Airport and caught the bus to the car rental place. There was a long line, so I sat with Fenn and all our luggage on a sofa in a waiting area while Dan stood in line. 
Fenn was sitting on my lap. He was tired and getting a little fussy. And then the INCIDENT happened. I felt something warm on my lap. I lifted Fenn off my lap and there it was.... POOPY all over my shorts and the (thank goodness) leather sofa... RUNNY POOPY. (If you'll look closely at the 2nd picture, you can see it is on both legs.) While holding Fenn away from me, I called for Dan. He looked around at all the people around him and gave me a look like "I really don't want to get out of line and lose my place. Can it wait? Or, can you come here to me?" I said, "Get.... over... here... NOW!" He came over and quickly assessed the situation. (It didn't take much "assessing" to figure out we had a mess on our hands... pardon the pun.) Dan took Fenn and was just standing there holding him as far away from his clothing as possible. We were trying to figure out 
how to get both of us to the bathroom, when this extremely nice lady came rushing over to offer her help. She called her daughter out of line and they told us they would watch our luggage. I tried to find the "back up" change of clothing I had packed in a carry-on for Fenn, but couldn't seem to find it. I grabbed the diaper bag and my suitcase and we headed to the bathroom. Well, I waddled like a duck and must have looked really strange. While walking toward it, we met a woman and her young daughter coming out of the bathroom. The little girl looked down at my pants in horror. I suppose to her it looked like I'd had an accident in my pants! I went inside first and got the diaper changing area set up, then went back to get Fenn. I cleaned up Fenn and handed him back out to Dan. He only had on a diaper, so he looked a little bit like white trash standing in line with his Daddy. All he needed was black, dirty feet and a snotty nose and he could have passed for some of the babies you see in Wal-Mart. I changed my pants and then rinsed out our clothes. Once back out with our luggage, I was able to think straight and find some clothes for Fenn. We got our car and were finally on our way toward Boulder for a Target stop and then on to Eldora.
I'll post more about our Chevy Chase Vacation later in a separate blog entry. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't the vacation we were hoping for. Complaining about our recent run of bad luck is all in fun. We feel very fortunate to have our health and be able to even take a vacation. In no way do we think what we have been through remotely compares to what Maribeth and her family are going through right now. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with them.
.jpg)
around 1:00 p.m. with hopes of getting on the road by 2:00ish. Dan picked up Fenn from daycare and gassed up the car for me. We finally got on the road around 3:00. It didn't take long to realize it wasn't going to be an easy trip. Fenn had always been so easy and good on previous road trips, but this time he was really fussy and not napping as much. I found myself driving with my right arm draped over the seat so that Fenn could hold my hand. Not the most comfortable of positions! I finally got Fenn to sleep, but then it was time for the 5:00 p.m. dinner stop and we were close to an exit where we regularly stop about an hour north of Atlanta. We've found that Cracker Barrels are great places to stop because you can sit outside in the rocking chairs while feeding the baby. After about 45 minutes, we were back on the road. Thank goodness we stopped when we did, because it wasn't long before we got slowed down in road construction a little north of Marietta. We got through the construction and made it to the I-285 by-pass and then it happened.... Traffic came to a screeching halt. For the next 10 miles, we averaged 10 miles per hour
(yes, it was THAT slow!). Fenn cried a lot and really just wanted to be held. I knew he couldn't be feeling well, or he wouldn't be acting like that. We finally made it past the accident and traffic started moving at a normal, German Autobahn pace. By this time, I had come to the realization that I was NOT going to make it to visitation that night. Because of being held up twice in traffic, I had to make one more stop to feed Fenn his 8:00 p.m. bedtime bottle. Back on the road and headed away from Atlanta, we made it to my parents' house a little before 10:00 p.m. After getting the car unloaded and the Pack 'n Play set up, I finally got Fenn down for the night. He was running a slight fever that night and the next day. I attended the funeral at 2:00 p.m. while my parents watched Fenn. Let me just say that the funeral of a child is the saddest thing you'll ever go through. I just hope you never have to experience it. The strangest thing is that I was just thinking of Kate the weekend before when Fenn was swimming in my parents' pool. 
We (Maribeth, Kama, and I) had taken Kate swimming at my parents' just 7 years earlier, when Kate must have been only a few months older than Fenn. After the funeral, I fed Fenn and quickly finished loading the car. We got on the road around 4:45 p.m. This time, Fenn was still a little fussy, but the trip went much better and there were no traffic problems. We got home that night at 9:45 p.m. The next morning (Thursday), we went ahead and sent Fenn to daycare, but called the pediatrician to make an appointment. It didn't take long for his doctor to discover he had an ear infection. She said it was probably just beginning on Tuesday night. Poor little guy! (Mommy is feeling horrible right about now for dragging him out of town.) So... now we have ourselves a little dilemma. Do we go ahead with our vacation plans or cancel them? We were scheduled to fly out the very next morning. Destination: Denver, CO. We had been looking forward to taking Fenn to the 
cabin in Eldora and going on his first hike in the Colorado rockies. With a clingy baby on our hands, we did the best we could to try and pack that night. We decided we would see how he was the next morning before making a final decision about whether to stay or go. The next morning, Fenn's fever was in the "normal" range and he seemed to be feeling much better. (I had gotten 2 doses of Amoxicillin in him on Thursday.) So, we decided to go ahead with our trip. Everything we read about ear infections indicated they should be feeling better within a couple of days. So we thought he would be back to his old self by Sunday. We made it relatively easily through airport security (considering all the baby stuff we had). The first leg of our flight (we had a layover in Houston) went great. Fenn never cried during takeoff, took his bottle, napped a lot, and bounced on our laps. We was so good that almost everyone on the plane was either smiling at him as they exited or commenting about what a wonderful baby he was. The flight attendant asked if it was his first flight. 
When we told her it was, she asked if we wanted to take a few pictures up at the front of the plane. We said sure! We, of course, just thought she meant right there as you exit the plane with the cockpit in the background. But then we found out she meant INSIDE the cockpit! How cool is that? The pictures are a little dark because the light is coming from behind them, but you can still tell they're in the cockpit. If you look at the other pictures, you can see that Fenn's cheeks are flushed and it is obvious he's not 100%. But he still was so good throughout the day. The next leg of our trip went fine, too. However, Fenn's temperature had been creeping up some during the day. We made it to Denver International Airport and caught the bus to the car rental place. There was a long line, so I sat with Fenn and all our luggage on a sofa in a waiting area while Dan stood in line. 
Fenn was sitting on my lap. He was tired and getting a little fussy. And then the INCIDENT happened. I felt something warm on my lap. I lifted Fenn off my lap and there it was.... POOPY all over my shorts and the (thank goodness) leather sofa... RUNNY POOPY. (If you'll look closely at the 2nd picture, you can see it is on both legs.) While holding Fenn away from me, I called for Dan. He looked around at all the people around him and gave me a look like "I really don't want to get out of line and lose my place. Can it wait? Or, can you come here to me?" I said, "Get.... over... here... NOW!" He came over and quickly assessed the situation. (It didn't take much "assessing" to figure out we had a mess on our hands... pardon the pun.) Dan took Fenn and was just standing there holding him as far away from his clothing as possible. We were trying to figure out 
how to get both of us to the bathroom, when this extremely nice lady came rushing over to offer her help. She called her daughter out of line and they told us they would watch our luggage. I tried to find the "back up" change of clothing I had packed in a carry-on for Fenn, but couldn't seem to find it. I grabbed the diaper bag and my suitcase and we headed to the bathroom. Well, I waddled like a duck and must have looked really strange. While walking toward it, we met a woman and her young daughter coming out of the bathroom. The little girl looked down at my pants in horror. I suppose to her it looked like I'd had an accident in my pants! I went inside first and got the diaper changing area set up, then went back to get Fenn. I cleaned up Fenn and handed him back out to Dan. He only had on a diaper, so he looked a little bit like white trash standing in line with his Daddy. All he needed was black, dirty feet and a snotty nose and he could have passed for some of the babies you see in Wal-Mart. I changed my pants and then rinsed out our clothes. Once back out with our luggage, I was able to think straight and find some clothes for Fenn. We got our car and were finally on our way toward Boulder for a Target stop and then on to Eldora.
I'll post more about our Chevy Chase Vacation later in a separate blog entry. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't the vacation we were hoping for. Complaining about our recent run of bad luck is all in fun. We feel very fortunate to have our health and be able to even take a vacation. In no way do we think what we have been through remotely compares to what Maribeth and her family are going through right now. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment