Road Trip!

So with Tessie's Mom off at a conference in San Diego, the little one and I were left to our own devices for an evening before heading off on the open road for a weekend excursion.

We spent the evening packing our necessities: fresh clothes and a toothbrush for yours truly, and pretty much everything else in the house that wasn't nailed down for Tessie. (Toddlers require a lot of infrastructure. Road trips with toddlers require the logistical expertise of Halliburton, which I, your correspondent, lack. Oh well.)

So, to where did we escape on our sojourn? I mentioned that Hannah was in San Diego, right? Where else would we go? After one night of single parenting, I was very ready to reunite the family.

We hit the road a little after one p.m., and I hoped to make it to San Diego by four. No such luck; traffic has become significantly worse since the last time I drove down that way.

Regardless of our slow progress, Tessie sensed that our destination would mean seeing "mama" again, and so that was all she talked about. Which means she just kept saying "mama" over and over again all the way down.

That's not entirely true; she did have a nap during the drive, and she would interrupt her "mama" chant whenever she saw a large truck. This would cause her to shout "bus!" which meant she wanted me to sing "Wheels on the Bus"; this happened a few times until she realized that I can't sing.

Eventually, we did make it all the way to the hotel, the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, in time to catch Hannah between a conference session and a schmoozy dinner. There was a joyful reunion after their roughly 32 hours apart, but then Hannah had to leave for dinner, and Tessie and I were, again, left to our own devices.

Fortunately, Hannah had spotted a Joe's Crab Shack from our hotel room balcony, and it was to there that Tessie and I made our way, requesting a table for one and a half when we arrived.

Tessie was an excellent dinner companion, if a bit messy. There are many reasons we like to take Tessie to Joe's. Among them are the loud atmosphere (she really can't be disruptive), the fact that everyone there is eating with their hands (not just Tessie), that the table setting includes a roll of paper towels (with more available on request), and that there's a large bucket in a hole in the center of the table. It's meant for crab shells, but everything goes in the bucket: dropped food, napkins, disposable bibs, more dropped food, spat-out food - everything. Very useful and convenient. Tessie surprised me by a) really liking the clam strips I got as an appetizer, and b) not caring at all for crabmeat, which she had enjoyed on previous visits.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and I gave Tessie a bath. This was the first time I'd done so; normally, it's Hannah's job because I'm not so good at kneeling tubside for twenty minutes and then being able to walk afterward. The Mariott's bathroom layout made it a bit easier than it would have been at home, and I must say I enjoyed watching Tessie splash and play.

After bath it was bedtime; the Marriott was good enough to provide a playpen for Tessie, and she quickly fell asleep. Which was good, because she needed the rest for the next day

To be continued...