I love my new house.  I love being home. I hate unpacking boxes. I hate that every weekend is about unpacking the boxes.  Of course, it’s not all we do, but it is a lot of what we do and after 2 months it was time for a break.

And what do you know?  My good friend Min just knew I needed a break, and I got an email this week… “Come to Berlin! Come see me?” She didn’t need to ask me twice.  I buckled down & worked hard, did twice the work for two days.  Dave put in for a pass.  I packed the van, begged the kids schools, and we left mid-Friday for the 6+ hour drive up to Berlin.

Yesterday was sunny, beautiful & warm.  The perfect day for a roadtrip.  Much of the snow has melted, but the trees are still bare.  I saw castles I’d never seen before on any of the previous drives and marveled at how many castles there are.  If I can see one just off the autobahn, every 20-30 minutes, I can’t imagine how many are sprinkled through the countryside.  I love castles!

The only problem was, I drove first, while it was still light.  On the German autobahn.  It is very hard to really appreciate a castle when you are flying by at 85 mph.  Don’t get me wrong, I love getting from point A to point B at 85 mph. You get places much faster. But for me, part of the getting there is the journey.  Even as a child I loved looking out the windows, at the passing countryside, admire the scenery and imagine life for each person, in each house (each castle!) that I passed.  At 85 mph it’s a very quick little snippet I can imagine. Plus, I need to pay attention to the road.  I may be going 85 mph, but there are people woooshing past me at speeds I can’t imagine. If I’m not paying full attention to my driving, then every WOOSH has me jumping in my seat.  Jumping & driving are two things that do not go together.

My kids love roadtripping too. Or they really love Min in Berlin, it’s a toss-up.  Unlike me they spend most of their time staring at electronics held in their hands, or sleeping, see the green blob (ie, Cole).  Of course, batteries only last so long & Dane’s borrowed DS ran out a good hour outside of Berlin.  After 5 minutes of a constant stream of questions, I suggested he look out the window and imagine what people were doing.  Two minutes later he was in full-panic.

He saw a big robot with red eyes, hiding behind the trees.  It was deactivated but it was big. If the builders activated it, it was big, it would catch us.  Until we hit the outskirts of Berlin and the city lights distracted him, he worried about that stupid robot.  Imagination is not all it’s cracked up to be.

09MAR13