What I Learned From Our Trip to Deerfield

This month the assignment for Robert Hruzek’s What I Learned From… series is to take two or more of the following topics and combine them in a post: School, Writing, Children, Television, Recreation, Movies, Relatives, Friends, Heroes, Planes, Food, Pets, Trains, Time, Space, Automobiles, Technology, Mountains. I can do that!

The Wedding
We just returned from an 11-day, 3150-mile trip to to Deerfield, IL for my daughter’s wedding, so friends, relatives and food are well covered. Kaitlin and Torben had an open house/party at their house Friday evening, with 40-50 friends and relatives present and with an elaborate assortment of food. Then Saturday evening they had the wedding and dinner at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Sunday they provided brunch at their favorite restaurant. We were well-fed and had plenty of chances to reconnect with friends and family. It warms my heart to think of the friendliness and thoughtfulness of the whole weekend. I’m bursting with pride to be related to both of them. It’s not too much to say they’re my heroes.

Children were invited to all three affairs, and a baby sitter, children’s menus and entertainment were part of the wedding planning. One of the things that touched my heart was that Abby, Kaitlin’s eight-year-old next-door neighbor and flower girl, was so excited about the wedding that she insisted she and Kaitlin get their hair, face and nails done Saturday morning. Kaitlin good-naturedly agreed, even though she wiped most of the makeup off as soon as she got home. (Her exact words were: “Mom, I look like a clown!”) She didn’t like the way her hair was fixed…it wasn’t really “her”…but she left it alone until the next day for Abby’s sake. Yes, it was a kid-friendly affair. And yes, I’m awed by the thoughtfulness of the bride.

Kaitlin and Torben’s four pets (two cats and two dogs) couldn’t be physically present at the ceremony, but they weren’t forgotten. Each of the tables at the wedding had pictures of one or more of the pets, and the minister mentioned each of them by name.

Some of the guests came from as far away as Denmark and Czechoslovakia, so planes were the most popular way of getting there. But others were like us and used automobiles, and some even used trains. Also, many guests used the local Metra trains to sightsee in Chicago.

The Trip
Clearly those three events were a form of recreation, and we also did some sightseeing in Arkansas on the way: Fort Smith, Hot Springs National Park, and Little Rock. Television played a part because when we were driving we watched the Weather Channel every evening to check for tornadoes. We were lucky and weren’t threatened by any, but one touched down in Eastern Arkansas the day after we left the region. There were some tornado watches on our way home, but they had already moved to the east of us. The only severe weather was heavy winds and driving rain between Springfield, MO and Amarillo, TX.

One of the biggest forms of recreation during the drive was using the new technology I brought along in the automobile. Just before the trip I bought my first GPS navigation device: a Garmin nuvi 200W. It’s not one of the fanciest versions, but it’s amazing what such a little device can do. My husband does the driving on our trips and I do the planning and navigating. I use Microsoft’s Streets and Trips ahead of time to plan the routes and the overnight stays, but the Garmin made it even easier to find our motels and restaurants in the evening, and it was invaluable in finding lunch places along the way. It’s also a great toy for someone like me, who has loved maps and geography since grammar school days. I now not only have a multitude of maps at my fingertips, I have the magic of being able to see our little car moving along on them. I had brought along a portable DVD player and some movies to watch, but I only used it briefly. The Garmin was too much fun.

We also used its calculator function to keep tabs on the gas mileage of our rental car…a Dodge Charger. We were a bit concerned that the estimated EPA was only 18 miles/gallon, so each time we stopped we noted the mileage and number of gallons, carefully writing down the numbers. It turned out we averaged over 30 miles/gallon on the freeway, and about 28.3 miles/gallon overall…not nearly as bad as we had feared. We always rent full-sized cars because we do take a lot of stuff with us, including a thermoelectric cooler which takes up half the back seat, and we need the space! I’m afraid our days of traveling light are far behind us.

I also brought along my first laptop, a Macbook, which I bought just before the trip, so I could check my e-mail and answer comments on my blogs in the motel. And I brought along my StressEraser, which I sometimes used if I had trouble sleeping at night. I was especially grateful for it that day between Springfield and Amarillo. We were passing a truck when it hit a big puddle and splashed enough water on us that we momentarily lost contact with the pavement. We almost slammed into the guard rail. As soon as we regained control I used the StressEraser and almost immediately restored my emotional balance. Apparently my practicing has payed off.

Lessons Learned
So what did I learn from the trip? I already knew what fantastic people Kaitlin and Torben are, but this trip certainly reinforced it in my mind. And the trip, as always, reinforced how much we love the mountains of Northern New Mexico. We have a good time on trips, but it’s always good to get back home. We did see some country we had never been to before, especially Arkansas, but that scarcely qualifies as a life lesson. No, the two life lessons I got from the trip involve the Garmin:

1. Whenever we took a “wrong” turn or went too far, the little voice never criticized or got upset. It simply kept repeating: “Recalculating. Recalculating.” That’s an attitude I’m going to try to cultivate for myself. Okay, so what I just tried didn’t work. Don’t waste energy getting upset, just figure out what to try next.
2. And the Garmin isn’t perfect by any means…it does make mistakes. That just shows we don’t have to be perfect to be awesome. So let’s appreciate all the things we do right rather than focus on our flaws.

This post is way too long, but I couldn’t resist the challenge. Do you ever get that way? Also, have you learned any interesting life lessons lately? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks to bikehikebabe and Shirley for commenting on last week’s post.