Molly:

I am really upset for three reasons:

1. This is our second to last blog post.

2. I just realized I’m not going to have a bathtub in college.

3. I am finally watching TV for the first time in 2 weeks and Anne is snapping her fingers behind me like I’m not doing my homework or something. 

I can’t decide which is making me more distraught.

We’ve had quite the day.  We woke up SO early, (this is what I get for having a mother who wakes up before the birds do) We went downstairs and I sat with out 15 bags while Mother pulled around the car.  In the meantime, I watched as the CIA/Department of Homeland Security/government spies left the building.  When we checked in last night, we ran into the Department of Homeland Security who had three rooms with the doors open, 2 cameras on tripods and a mess of other equipment.  When I asked the lady at the desk what was going on, she said they were hiring people.  I don’t think so.  They were clearly staking someone out--maybe someone we know—maybe Diva 1.  You never know…she apparently wont be in photos because she is “running from her past”.  It’s plausible, y’all.

So after this, we hop on the road. We drive and drive and it’s like a wrap up of all the states we’ve been through.  Cornfields, mountains, half a zillion more trees, fields, multicolored cows, and then some buildings.  Woohoo.  If we drive across the country again we are going to need to go in a country music tour bus with a driver because SOMEONE still can’t stay between the lines of the lanes.  I try to be a good driver, but I guess not everyone can be me.

Then we see this giant Shrek on the side of the road.  This is now normal for us.  We have seen all sorts of things this past week. Bad things. But we slow down to take a picture and this man death glares us, I guess for not stopping and getting out to buy something.  What would I have done with a giant carved Shrek?  Let’s be honest with ourselves, I’m trying to reign myself in these days.

Then we get on the 101 in Oakland/San Francisco heading toward San Jose.  It’s like rush hour traffic at 3pm.  It was a mess.  I am never driving in this city—thank goodness for public transportation!  But Mom was a trooper even though we were almost taken down a few times by some people who probably did way worse on the license test than I did, if they even possessed a license.  But we are alive and there is valet here so we are doing much better.

We love the Valencia, it’s so pretty and we are settling in nicely before I have to go to school on Saturday morning.  Daddy comes tomorrow with some of the stuff I’ve forgotten.  We had dinner tonight in the hotel, which was really nice except this couple who spent the entire night with their screaming 1 year old taking Myspace style photos of themselves without the child in them.  Loved it.

Anne: Well, we are finally here in the Promised Land. We have toured Santa Clara, Molly’s school, which I had not seen before today. Tonight we are resting our weary heads in a hotel on Santana Row. This is almost enough to make me move down here—it’s so cute and fun.

But, I’ve just got to say that Molly is going to have her work cut out for her whipping some of these people into shape in the manners department. Some man, sporting a man purse, jumps on the elevator with us and then pushes us out of the way so he could get off first. That was on the way to dinner. On the way back, we pushed the “up” button and waited for the door to open. Before we could even move to the door, three people jumped in front of us and closed the door. We stood there with our mouths open. She will be issuing citations to these people as soon as she can find her sticky notes.

Anyway, we made it. I am very anxious to see her dorm and her room and her classmates. It was hard to see much today because the workers were bringing out all the chairs and tables and umbrellas—you know, all those things they bring out the first day to impress the parents, but are never seen for the rest of the year. Some of the roads were blocked.

But back to our day…As usual, I had to drag the Diva from her bed. And let me just say, this is not a place you would have wanted to have lingered longer than necessary. Before she had even gotten up, I had been to the pool for an hour and done another load of laundry. But she finally graced the world with her presence, and we left. It was a six-hour drive today. We’ve gotten immune to the hours and now think six hours is nothing. We didn’t run into a single interesting person except those we passed on the road. We did go by another fascinating roadside redwood carved animal stand. We stopped long enough for Molly to take a picture of the giant Shrek statue.

So, since not a lot happened today, we are going to include some snippets of past incidents, which did not make it into the blog for one reason or another:

* As we were passing through Nebraska, Diva Two and I were having a discussion about who would have made the better pioneer. In my mind, I was thinking who would have done the most work, been able to endure bitter conditions, etc. Here’s what the Little Diva said, “Oh, by far I would have been the better pioneer, way more than you. I could do that little patchwork apron thing, maybe add a little lace. And I could probably have worn one of those bonnets. It wouldn’t look very good one me, but it would look better on me than you.” I ask you, was this child raised by Zsa Zsa? I wasn’t even thinking about what we were going to wear…but about who could handle being a PIONEER.

*When we got to Nebraska, Diva Number Two made a very unkind comment about the number of cars some people had in their yards. Where did I go wrong with her education? Apparently, she has not seen enough of rural Alabama, not only with a dozen cars in the yard, some up on blocks, but also the washer and sofa on the front porch. I have failed as a mother.

*Ever since she was young, Sarah Riley has said she was going to college at Alabama and don’t ask her again. She hasn’t waivered over the years, so we sort of thought that might really be where she was going to end up. The other day she told Michael that she believed she might apply to Vandy. Do you think it’s because she thinks I would take her on a road trip and blog about it? Hey, Sarah Riley, there’s a lot of stuff to do and see between Grassland and West End!!!!! You never know. It might not take us 12 days, but we could get a great blog going.

*As we went through Portland, we saw a sign for the Vacuum Museum. I tried to get directions so we could go. I don’t think Diva Number Two has ever seen one and this would be such a good educational opportunity. She wouldn’t give me the map.

*In Oregon, we saw many interesting things—in addition to the bazillion pine trees. One of the most fun road signs said, “Seatbelts Must Be Fastened Night And Day.” Hhmmm…don’t most states require that? AND, you also get a $97 fine if you don’t wear one. Not $75 or $100, but $97. I guess it gets the driver’s attention.

*There is a candidate running for Congress in either Washington or Oregon whose last name if Heck. His slogan is “Give Congress Heck.” Cute.

*Our wonderful. luxurious hotel has fake bearskin coverlets on the beds. How appropriate. I hope Molly brought her bear spray in from the car!!!! They might attack us in the night.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog—probably our last for this trip. We are going to rate the Best and Worst of things…We might even do another trip.  I’m sort of thinking we could find some great things to write about in say, south Florida.

Leave us comments!

Xoxo,

Anne & Molly