On The Road

On the Road

September 4, 2017

Hello,

Leroy, Brian’s kids, and I headed off on Highway 52 north to meet Brian. These children wanted to revisit the Whippy Dip, an ice cream place in Decorah. They declared it to be a highlight of our camping trip last year. I love this road with its marvelous vistas as you cruise along plenty of curves and hills.

After a bit Sophia groaned, “I do not feel well.”

I remembered rather belatedly that she has motion sickness. Leroy pulled over on the first almost safe place on the side of the road so her position was stable for a while. I got out and found a bread bag that I emptied of its contents and gave it to her for any need later.

We got going again only to have her actually throw up in spite of having the air conditioning as high as it would go and driving slower than we had been. We stopped once more in a rather scary place as this road was not made for people to make random stops. I was happy to see that everything was in the bag which I tied shut. Another bag was not to be found. I called Brian, “Can Sophia sit in the front seat? How old or big do they need to be?”

On his ok we had Sophia sit in the front while I moved to the back. At the first gas station we got rid of the bag, pleaded for a bag, received four, and bought some hard candies. The person there said, “Kids can ride in the front seat if they are 12 or older.”

We then had tall nine year old Sophia sit in the back once more. She moaned, “Let’s skip the Whippy Dip.”

We traveled on a bit of distance before she once again wanted to stop. Leroy pulled into the parking lot of a motel. She lay on the grass, but I saw a bench and wondered if she would be more comfortable. She was worried that the owners would not like that. I went in and asked.

The man told us it would be ok, but he would get her a pillow to make her more comfortable. When he came back he said, “I will let you use a room.”He also brought a bottle of water for her.

After a bit she felt better and we moved on. At this time the road was not so hilly or curvy and Sophia started to feel much better. With some skepticism the Whippy Dip was discussed. But plowed under by the persuasive powers of grandchildren, we made a stop. It was declared as good as last year.

Just about 10-15 miles from Rochester, Sophia threw up once more. This time she got it in the bag, but some on her shirt and some on her leggings. By now it was raining.

I made the decision that we would call Brian, thank God for cell phones, and move our meeting place to a gas station that was close. There we would have a shelter from the rain if parked at the pumps. Also a bathroom would be close so Sophia could change her clothes.

At the stop we managed to find her dirty clothes bag, pulled out the needed changes, and headed toward the building. Because Sophia did not want anyone to see her messed up clothes, I walked in front of her. The change was made successfully. We also found it a quick job to move children’s items from our car to Brian’s.

The car did not even smell bad after the airing time as nothing was projected onto the car’s interior. It does help that Sophia is old enough to control a bit of what happens.

I suppose we should have skipped the Whippy Dip, but I am not sure that the kids thought so.

Paula