We have been rambling.  I would love to share with you our sure-fire-six-step plan for blissful travel with four children ages ten and under, but well, I don’t know how.  Each time we plan a trip, I read the travel blogs and books, soaking in their knowledge and expertise– again.  I pack snacks, educational games, not-so-educational games, movies, books, audiobooks, favorite blankets, horses, dolls, Batmans, ipods, and anything else we can stuff into every available crevice in the vehicle.  I pray.  A LOT.  We load up the car, everyone nestles into their place, and I think Finally!  Our time has come!

And then we pull out of the garage.

“How long is this going to take again?”

 “I have to go to the bathroom now.  I know we just stopped and I SWORE I didn’t have to go (and I didn’t), but now I do have to go.  Yes, it’s an em-errrrrrr-gen-ceeeeeeee.”

“If I have to listen to The Little Mermaid one more time, I am pretty sure I will need a barf bag.”

“She’s on my side!  He’s looking at me!  His left big toe is pointed in my direction and I am sure that means that he is calling me a name we’re not allowed to say!”

“Everyone be quiet!  We are having FUN!”  grumble, grumble, grumble.

Oh, the mandatory family fun we have.  Still, I love to travel, especially with my kids, who invariably teeter between hysterical and downright embarrassing with their honesty and zest for all new experiences.  This week, we traveled a new route from the East coast to Oklahoma, driving through West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Misery. 

No, it’s not a typo.  I learned that my oldest daughter Mem does not know how to pronounce Missouri.  Even better, she neatly pronounces it “Misery” every time, which makes me laugh uncontrollably, because frankly, it is so fitting when we are sixteen hours into a road trip. 

“How long until we get to Misery?”  she asks. 

“Are we STILL in Misery?”

“Yea!  We’ve left Misery!  I thought it would never end.” 

I just hope that when people at church ask her about the trip, she will reply, “Well, we drove through Misery, but we made it here just fine!”