Here is another post about our trip to Massachusetts last summer. We took the overnight plane from Seattle to Boston hoping the kids would sleep on the way there (and yes, Laura and I hoped we would get a couple of hours as well). August just didn’t sleep. I think he was too excited. Tevye did alright, but the other three had varying degrees of sleep off an on throughout the flight. At least they were well behaved.
We landed at something like 7 in the morning, got our bags got our rental car and hit the road. We weren’t in any hurry, so we took our time. Since we were staying in Salem we knew there was going to be a bit of a drive, and having arrived on a weekday there would be rush hour traffic to contend with.
Of course we stopped along the way at a Dunkin Donuts to get a dozen.
Each of the kids fell asleep in the car at various points along the way. We didn’t worry about getting there quickly as we had some time before we were supposed to arrive, and since it was our first day there Laura and I had scheduled it to be one of adjustment and getting our bearings. While we knew people would be tired and had prepared for that, it was the heat that sort of took everybody by surprise.
When we got to the house in Salem and unpacked we just sort of hung out for a while. At one point August was sitting outside on the porch in the shade (because it was cooler there with the breeze) complaining about how hot it was. Poor kid. Laura and I have lived in areas where there is real heat, so we weren’t as shocked as the kids. They can be told but it is still something you have to experience. “It’s just so HOT!” “I know August.” “No, you don’t understand. It’s HOT!”
Finally we gathered up enough strength to check out our surroundings. Well, we did need to find some food. We ventured forth into Salem and got an idea of what was in the immediate vicinity. One of the things we did find that first day was a shop that sold fruit smoothies (a shop we visited almost every other day). That’s about it for the first day. Everybody went to bed early that night. That was exciting, because everybody had their own bedroom.
There were three floors and more than enough room for everybody. The very top floor had just two bedrooms, and as soon as he saw the bedding Ciaran claimed the “Red Sox” room. Across the short hall was another room that Xavier took. Dela took the room which had a bathroom attached to it. August took a room that was decked out all in blue. It was a little disconcerting at first just how blue it was.
Interestingly nobody really argued over which bedroom to have. There were three floors and more than enough room for everybody. The very top floor had just two bedrooms, and as soon as he saw the bedding Ciaran claimed the “Red Sox” room. Across the short hall was another room that Xavier took. Dela took the room which had a bathroom attached to it. August took a room that was decked out all in blue. It was a little disconcerting at first just how blue it was.
I couldn’t get a picture of August that first morning because the light was not cooperating.
That second day was spent exploring more of Salem. We didn’t get a lot accomplished, necessarily, but did get to see quite a bit. It was still tough going with the sleep schedule changes. And the heat. But by the second day we started actively exploring Salem, but that will be for another blog post.
