Vacation Post Mortem

Traveling home from Cincinnati at 5am on Sunday, Bob and I, in true business form, discussed our vacation post mortem.  Best practices and lessons learned are listed below.
1.  Felicity does not prefer nice hotels.  Until Felicity can appreciate luxury, she will need to remain at home while we travel.  We hope this changes for her, but our taste will not change. Ben is ambivalent, but satisfied enough that he is not being abandoned.
2. Our kids don't ride their bikes when we bring them 1400 miles, and bikes on the back of a packed car are a pain in the ass. We will never do that again.
3. Trash bags are key.  For everything.
4.  The beer we brought and purchased was all drank.  We can never have enough beer.  Save room in the car for beer.
5.  Someone is going to cry.  It's just going to happen.  And at some point, it will be me.
6. Bring extra sheets.  Someone or something is bound to pee in the wrong place.
7.  Ben the Dog will sit on Ciera's lap.  Huge victory for me.
8.  Sheetz is the best rest stop.  Food, drink, outdoor seating, and space for dogs to potty.  Lunch for $17 for 4.  And everyone likes something.  And they have salad.
9.  Bring LESS.  Get real-no one is doing the "summer express" workbook.  No one is doing flashcards.  Movies, books.
10.  Seeing family and friends that are like family is awesome.  Trips need to include the people that you can be real with-so when your dog poops at the park, your kid refuses to eat the dinner he loves, or you need another beer, you can just be honest. 

To Grandma, Grandpa, the NY State gang (esp Guy and Cindy), Farrah, Brian, and the Link peeps, Deena, Jill, and all the people that work at Sheetz, thanks for making the trip great.  xoxo

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