After several hours of flying, we arrived at the Frankfurt/Hahn airport around 9:30 pm. By the time we had a bite to eat, located the rental car and got underway, it was 10:00 pm. Our precious Tom Tom (GPS) was to be our guide on this adventure, but after turning it on and finding our present location, it would not take us to Landstuhl (our hotel destination) for that night. All we had with us was a tiny, and I do mean tiny, map of this particular region of Germany. Charlie was optimistic (him being a man and all-who needs a map?), I was concerned (being a woman and all) because of the DARKNESS that surrounded us in a foreign land, and the boys were just enjoying themselves. “We can’t believe that we are really in Germany,” they kept saying, oblivious of the dark and the lack of need for safe passage to the hotel (about 1 1/2 hrs. away).
We started in the direction that we thought would lead us to the correct road- disclaimer- if you are trying to find the shortest distance between two points- it is always under construction. After several attempts in the wrong direction on the roundabouts, we finally found the road that we were supposed to be on (according to our tiny trusty map). It can also be said that the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line. I was trying frantically to get the Tom Tom to work and read the tiny print on our map as Charlie was asking, “Where do we turn?” and number two son kept saying, “Mom, let me see the Tom Tom, I can fix it.”
At this point, the fun was gone- I was mentally frazzled, lost and now because of the winding roads, nauseous. I kept rolling the window down to get cold air to cool off. I didn’t care where we were or if we were ever going to get there. This little nauseous episode was deemed “hilarious” by all of the boys in the vehicle. I finally yelled, “Pull over NOW!” Thankfully there was a parking area close to the road and I was able to get out and breathe in some fresh air. I could hear the boys discussions in the car, “Go hold your momma’s hair.” and “Awe, Dad, I don’t want to do that.” But my favorite had to be, “We are in the middle of nowhere, can’t she hurry up.” This is when I knew our trip was off to a wonderful start and would be such special family bonding time.
I am pleased to say that I never threw up and we made it to about 15 minutes away from our hotel, when number two son announced, “I fixed it!” We arrived safely at our hotel about midnight thanks to our Tom Tom and number two son.
Let the fun begin!
