Yesterday I drove to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to pick My Favorite Domer up for the holidays.
Today I’m apologizing to all those drivers on I-10 for the stupid move I made that could have taken out dozens of us. Maybe more.
Here’s how it went down:
I’ve just returned from The Land of the North, where My Favorite Domer will be moving later this summer.
Our journey was necessitated because Domer rather likes — and needs — a place to call Home, yet he obviously didn’t have one since he’s never lived North.
(Other than four years in South Bend, which often felt like “North”!)
We packed the car on Sunday and took off, Google maps in hand, prepared for an eight-hour road trip. Domer took the wheel first, giving me a chance to file my fingernails, place some phone calls, and read.
Some time after lunch, we found ourselves in the Podunk region of a neighboring state, watching as farm after farm flashed by, enjoying the bucolic scenery of cows and hay, corn and trees.
But we were on a two-lane state highway, and Domer was “lucky” enough to have several slowpokes in front of him — with no easy way of getting around them.
“Can’t we go any faster than 50?” he wondered aloud.
Not really, I said. The road is twisting and turning, you’ve got hills and No Passing signs.
“I can’t stand this! The idiot in front of me is just far enough behind the guy in front of him that I’d have to go around the whole lot of them, and there’s no time.”
Poor Domer.
Want me to take over, I asked.
“What more could you do?”
He had a point.
Eventually, we landed in The Land of the North, checked into a hotel, and decided to look around.
How can one city have so many confusing road signs, I wondered.
Normally, I have a great sense of direction. Sure, the compass inside my rear view mirror helps, but still.
These streets felt as if they were going north when they were going south, east when they were actually west, and I felt much like somebody had blindfolded me, spun me in circles, then instructed me to walk a straight line.
We learned it was easier for Domer to play navigator and me to drive.
Fewer angry words, too!
Because it was after-hours for leasing offices, we opted to eat dinner and get an early start the next day.
DAY ONE:
Armed with a map and a list of addresses, Domer and I set out in hopeful spirits.
The first couple of places we checked felt a little sketchy.
Nice enough, I suppose, and certainly reasonable in price, but nothing to write home about.
“Remember,” my sister had advised me, “Shacks are cheap for a reason.”
She knows this, having helped lease apartments for her two kids several times now, and I’ve never felt the need to experience everything for myself when I can learn from others!
Finally, I sensed Domer’s growing frustration and suggested we look at something on the pricier end of his list.
“I can’t afford that,” he whined.
(Yep, by that time both of us were whiny!)
We’ll just look, I said. You can’t compare if you don’t have anything to compare to.
(Where had I heard that before??)
Long story short, we both fell in love with the “fancy” place, and if all works out, that’s where Domer will live.
A place that’s safe. And clean.
One that fits his budget and has amenities (like snow-removal and private entrances).
A place I wouldn’t mind living myself.
If it weren’t in The Land of the North!
I just got back from re-settling My Favorite Domer in his dorm at Notre Dame, and I’ve got to say — whew, what a harrowing trip!
Having not traveled over the Thanksgiving holidays for many moons, I’d forgotten how nightmarish traffic can be. It was literally bumper-to-bumper — cars, semis, big SUVs, big manly trucks, people dragging stuff, people moving stuff in U-Hauls, people with stuff stacked atop their vehicles — all flying down the interstates in an effort to get someplace.
Don’t they realize they’re jeopardizing not only other drivers but also themselves??
Topping it off, permacloud was back, this time with a driving rain. So let’s see — we’ve got slick roadways, early darkness, deer cautionary signs, people weaving in and out as they seek to find the “fast lane,” people jamming on brakes so they won’t go careening into the “slowpoke” in front of them, people hungry and tired and angry — gee, sounds like a recipe for disaster to me!
When we got to campus (which, by the way, seemed eerily quiet and vacant!), we noticed a huge evergreen completely covered with tiny white lights outside Hammes Bookstore. It was breath-taking! There’s another one covered with multi-colored lights over near the Basilica. And the individual dorms, not to be outdone, are putting up decorations as well, so it won’t be long before campus will be spectacular.
Rather than just drop MFD off and run, I decided to get a hotel room for the night. I’m glad I did.
It was so much easier traveling early on a Monday morning in clear conditions! And, it gave me another chance to spend some quality time with MFD.
You know, when your kids are little, you think the diapers and colic and nighttime feedings, etc. will never end. Then you blink your eyes, and your kid is off to college. I guess that’s why everybody always told me to enjoy every minute with my son.
I have, and I continue to do so!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 