We made it to Bariloche and love it here. It is absolutely beautiful (green trees everywhere; clear, unpolluted lake; no trash on the streets; blooming flowers...) and we are very thankful to be here together.
It is a 20 hour drive so we thought we'd break it up and do 14 hours the first day and 6 the second.
On that first day, about 30 minutes into the drive, Andrew suddenly puked his guts out. Like, seriously, puked.his.guts.out. All over the back seats, freshly laundered pillowcases, stuffed animals, Johnny, and even his own new shoes. (Johnny just yelped a little "OH!" and then calmly got out of the car and waited for me to wipe him off.)
Andrew continued to barf for the next 12 hours. Yes, my sweet boy got the 12 hour flu just in time for our 14 hour drive. If anyone can handle it, he can. The child did not complain one single time. The closest he came was saying, "Wow, THIS sure is not what I expected for the beginning of our vacation."
I happen to be a whole-hearted supporter of reusing and recycling. However, being forced to reuse used barf bags can leave a person feeling a bit revolting.
That first day was a straight drive, literally, through Las Pampas and a whole lot of nothing. (Chris is an amazing driver and was passing the slow cars with a speed and know-how that would make his race-car driving dad very proud.) I sat in the back between David and Johnny keeping on eye on Mr. Ralph in the front seat and would yell, "pull over!" as soon as I sensed it coming. It was almost uncanny how in tune I was with his tummy. One of the funniest moments (poor Andrew) was when he was hurling out his orange Gatorade and in between hurls, he exclaims, "it has a leak!" and sure enough, the orange foulness was pouring out of the barf bag and spashing onto his lap, the seat, and the floor of the car. What a trooper.
He was totally better by the time we pulled up into the Hostel in Neuquén. It was called Hostel Portal de Sueños... Portal of Dreams. It wasn't anything close, unless they meant nightmares.
All that to say, we got to Bariloche safely that next day and we love it here and are incredibly thankful.
And hopefully no more barfing action.
I will post pictures when we get home... I just had to share our driving adventure. Please laugh with me and not at me. ¡Muchas gracias!
5 comments:
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!! I am so impressed with Andrew's endurance, Johnny's calmness, Chris's driving, your Yoda-like intuition.... and I can only assume David's patience. Hope your stay is goes well (in body, mind, and soul)!
Unbelievable! I am also so impressed with you all-- but especially Andrew. This reminds me of the more intense version of the poem that you wrote in the middle of the night when you all had the stomach flu years ago. You should write another poem for this episode. Hope the rest of your vacation is much better than the start!
Wow. That is impressive. I think I may have wussed out and headed back or something. I sure hope no one else gets it, but at least it didn't really last that long! Happy travels! Cheers to Yoda-like intuition.
I second the need for a second poem! I was feeling bad for laughing out loud until I got to the end. Love you for you and how you can laugh at the rediculousness of it all. Way to go team Froh!
Please give Andrew a Huge High 5 for me. What a trooper indeed. Your family strength is encouraging! I hope the rest of the trip is less eventful in terms of intestinal purging. Have fun Frohling 6 (have to include Buddy even though he might not be on the trip). Wish I could be there with a little green pine tree car freshiner.
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