A Friday Skip Day
Friday morning and I am allowing Miss C to skip school 🙂 Does that make me a bad mom?? I think not. It is not something I take lightly or allow to happen very often, pretty much never. But we are driving to an Escondido figure skating competition and I don’t want to arrive after dark. Tracey has some work to do and some honey-do items he wants to get done on the RV before our next trip, so he is staying home this trip.
Miss C and I get our stuff packed and loaded in the car. I have now asked her about a hundred times if she has everything. Mostly her skate stuff, as I can’t just buy whatever she forgets, is my concern. She rolls her eyes yet again and assures me she has everything. (Later you will see just why I ask so many times.)
Starbucks and Good Luck Wishes
The three of us head over to Starbucks to grab a quick breakfast before getting on the road. We have small talk with the employees while placing our order. They ask if we have anything exciting planned for the weekend, and Tracey proudly tells them about Miss C’s competition. He is such a good bonus dad!! Miss C acts embarrassed and smiles as he talks about her.
We grab our stuff and take a seat. As we are chatting and eating, we notice that on Miss C’s cup under her name it says “Good Luck!” How sweet is that!! We like our local neighborhood Starbucks crew 🙂
We finish up breakfast, give hugs and kisses, and get in our separate vehicles and off we go!
Through Yuma and the Dunes
Our first stop is the gas station. I like to start out with a full tank no matter where we are going. We fuel up and are on our way. Miss C fills our first two hours with almost non-stop talk. Surprising, as when we are at home she doesn’t talk much. She opens up and shares lots of stuff, some fun, some good, some bad, some I really don’t want to hear, but I’m glad she is comfortable enough to talk with me. She is really growing into quite the young lady. I am proud to be her mom.
Since I am familiar, I stop in Yuma for gas. We fill up and then I pull into a parking space so we can go inside to use the restrooms. Yes, I am a rare breed and don’t believe in blocking the pumps while I shop or use the facilities!
Miss C says she is “fine” and doesn’t want a snack or drink. Love that word fine, don’t all you parents? Fine well usually means you are not fine. And yep, about 30 minutes down the road she is asking if I am hungry, ugh. Doesn’t she remember it is an all-in-one stop, gas potty and eat all in one stop. HA.
Reminiscing at the Dunes
As we are leaving Yuma she comments, “hey this looks like the dunes.” Well, that is because it is the dunes, honey. This is where we camp and ride. We reminisce about some trips we have taken to the dunes that she can remember. I point out Duners Diner, and she talks about the yummy biscuits and gravy they serve. Of course it all looks a bit eerie right now, as there is not one camper or rider anywhere. I would have to say that is a first for me, it being so totally empty.
It is about this time that “Google” yells out “welcome to California” and we both laugh. We didn’t know it would do that.
Construction, Climbs, and Checkpoints
We make it to El Centro, California, when she convinces me to stop and eat. Finding a Panda Express, we eat some lunch. We don’t hang around long, as I still want to get to where we are going at a decent time.
Between Yuma and the big long mountain climb, we hit 3 or 4 places where the freeway is down to just one lane due to construction. Now I am very glad we are doing this in the daylight. At one point we are even routed onto the frontage road and see a sign that says “dip.” Well, that was an understatement, as for the next several miles it was like driving on the whoops in the sand dunes!
So after all that, we hit the long mountain climb, which seems much longer than I remember. We finally make it up and over, only to come upon a border patrol checkpoint. Not a big deal, except they are stopping both lanes of traffic and inspecting every single vehicle. I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get to the hotel.
No matter how many times I see these, I am awestruck!
Settling In and Getting Pampered
Once past the checkpoint, it was smooth sailing. We found our hotel with no problems, got all checked in, and up to our room. We are pleased with the size of the room, and we have a small balcony that Miss C thinks is pretty cool. The weather is pretty awesome, so we stand on the balcony for a while chatting, you know, about the awesome weather.
Miss C has been complaining and hinting about her fingernails looking ugly for a while now, so I hunt for a nail place nearby. There is one within walking distance, so I call to see how late they are open. They close at 6, about 45 minutes from now, but tell me to come on over and they will do her nails.
On our walk over, Miss C tells me she wanted her toes done too, okay no problem, we will tell them once we get there. She tells me that is rude since they close at 6. I try to explain that they said to come over and they will stay open for paying customers. She felt a little better once we got there and there were other customers there who were not done by 6, and 2 of them were still not done even after Miss C was done! So Miss C got pampered for an hour, getting her fingers and toes beautified.
An Evening Walk and Room Service
Then we walked across the street to Office Depot to pick up some index cards for some homework I have for a bible study I am doing. By the time we come out of Office Depot it is dark, yikes scary. Miss C is definitely her mother’s daughter, she is afraid of everything LOL. And now it is chilly out and the wind is blowing. Miss C says call an Uber mom! How do you even know what that means? And no, I am not calling Uber to take me back across the street.
We walk back to the hotel, and back to our room. We have decided to order room service and watch a movie. Staying in and relaxing to be ready for competition tomorrow. I just have to say I had the best salad delivered by room service, it was dee-lish! Miss C takes a shower and we are calling it a night, gotta be up ready and at the rink by 8:30am. Not to mention we don’t know where the rink is…. Good night, all.
A Scary Wake-Up Call
Saturday morning and we are up early, okay I am up early. I am showered, dressed, and almost ready to go. Miss C, she is still in bed! As I gently nudge her once again, I panic as I look at the clock in the hotel room and it is reading 8:44am. Crap, we were supposed to be at the rink 15 minutes ago and I don’t even know where it is.
As I am panicking there is a small part of my brain remaining sane, so I pick up my phone half wondering why my alarm went off so late. Well, my phone says 7:44am. WHAT?? I press the little Google microphone and say “what is the current time in San Diego California” to which Google replies “the current time in San Diego California is 7:44 am.” Oh thank goodness, as I breathe a sigh of relief. What dingle-dorf sets the clock an hour ahead?? Ugh.
By now Miss C is sitting up, stretching, rubbing her eyes, and asks “hey mom were you like really really tired?” Well duh, I drove your little butt all the way to Escondido yesterday, got your nails done, did a little shopping, what do you think LOL. “Hmm I guess so, why are you asking?” “Oh well you were snoring” hahahaha, oops bad mom. I guess I kept her up a bit last night. Well, “sorry kiddo, but get up and get ready.”
Coach, Lipstick, and Warm-Ups
We find the rink and arrive on time. Miss C checks in, turns in her music, and starts looking around the rink to get a feel for it. Shortly after we arrive her coach has arrived. After a short chat we go out to where her parents are parked in the parking lot to retrieve her suitcase. Her parents live a few hours away, so she took advantage and made a quick visit to them the day before competition.
We make small talk, as her parents are fixing to move from California to Chicago! Seems crazy until they tell you the why, their other daughter is pregnant with their first grandchild! I would move too 🙂 So we say goodbye and put Coach Amanda’s suitcase in our car and return to the rink.
Coach takes Miss C outside to do some warm-ups, and I leave to run an errand. Yep the drama started, she forgot her red lipstick! So I am running around Escondido with Google guiding me, trying to find somewhere at 8:30 am to buy red lipstick, oh and mom it has to be the right red! I do, after driving in a huge loop, find a RiteAid and purchase 2 red lipsticks. Want her to have a choice in case one is not the right color. I return to the rink as they are finishing their warm-ups. Miss C picks one of the reds and goes to put it on.
Competition Day at the Escondido Figure Skating Competition
There are 12 skaters in Miss C’s group!! 12!! That is a lot, and she is group B! Wow. We can only hope that they at least medal the groups separately.
She skates beautifully, lands her axel although very sloppily. When she comes off the ice, she is complaining about how certain moves or spins or jumps didn’t go the way she wanted, but then shrugs her shoulders and says “oh well I had fun.” Such huge growth in this young lady this year. Last year she would have been in tears, and if she didn’t win would have been devastated.
This year her coach has had several talks with her about her expectations and what Miss C should expect in and of herself. You see, she has moved up a level this year to a much harder, much more technical level. She has not mastered the elements she needs for this level, but it was her choice to move up and compete at this level. So she has really matured in making this decision and accepting the reality of it.
So, as you might have guessed, she did not medal 🙁 But we are okay with that.
Chick-fil-A and the Mall
We leave the rink and head over to Chick-fil-A as we are both starving. Neither of us had any breakfast, and all morning she kept telling me “shhh don’t tell coach I didn’t eat.” We get some lunch and then head to the mall. This girl is definitely a shop-a-holic. Hopefully when she has to spend her own money she develops more control, hahaha.
We run into one of her skating friends and her mom at the mall and enjoy a brief chat. This is a huge mall we found, and we have looped it almost 3 times and the momma is tired. So I finally convince Miss C to leave. We head back to the hotel to rest before heading back to the rink to watch her friends skate.
An Unexpected Nap Interruption
We enter our room to discover they have not cleaned it yet 🙁 Bummer, but oh well, such is life. I convince her to lay down for a bit, and just as we both drift off the maid shows up! We bolt upright startled. Our brains figure out what we heard, and we open the door and allow the maid to come in to clean.
I contact one of the other moms to see if they are going to have dinner before her daughter skates at 8. They had a late lunch but invite us for ice cream afterwards. Miss C decides she wants a snack, so we head out in search of a place. Neither of us had remembered to bring a razor, so we are in search of a place to buy one of those. Finding another RiteAid not far from the hotel, we buy a razor and some water bottles, can never drink too much water.
While in the store, Miss C asks if there is a Panera near us. So yep, you guessed it, we google it. Says it is not far, so while we are checking out I ask the cashier if he knows where it is. Nope, never heard of it. Okay, thanks. As we exit the parking lot it is across the street up less than a block, guess he doesn’t get out much.
Cheering on Friends and The Baked Bear
So Miss C and I have some tomato soup and grilled cheese as our “snack,” and then head back to the rink. We join other skating families and watch several of the Arizona club girls compete. Some good, some not so good. By 9:30pm we are frozen and ready to leave.
We head back towards our hotel and stop with another family at The Baked Bear. A cute little place where you create your own ice cream sandwich. The kids have a blast, as do the adults. The cookie part was extremely sugary, and I end up eating just the ice cream, the kids had no problem devouring the entire thing! Back to the hotel and we are done for the night!
Heading Home
Sunday morning we are up early, packed and ready to head out. Checking out of the hotel, we head to the rink. We arrive in time to watch several friends compete. We love our skating families and love being able to support the other skaters. It is running behind again today, so we are later than planned, once she has finished watching her friends. We say congrats, good luck, and give hugs.
There is still plenty going on, but we are heading home. We find a Starbucks and a gas station, so both our tummies and the car are ready for the drive. The drive is hectic and stressful as we get from Escondido out to I-10, so many freeways and cars. The rest of the drive is pretty uneventful, thank goodness.
A Scary Stop in Blythe
We stop in Blythe to get gas and snacks and use the restrooms. Miss C can’t wait, so while I pump the gas she runs over to the restroom. By the time I am done and parked she is walking out, but I need to go. She waits outside for me. Makes me nervous even at her age for her to go in alone and wait outside alone, such a scary world we live in. She thinks I am just overprotective or crazy.
But perfect example: as I am in the stall I hear someone come in and go in another stall. I heard the door close and latch. Then I hear someone else come in, no door close or latch, and a very loud “peeing.” Okay, a little TMI (too much info), but we ladies know that when you sit there isn’t that much noise. As I exit my stall I am still hearing the noise. I walk by a stall with an open door and OMG there is a man standing there!! He is making that noise!!
An Unsettling Encounter
Now I am freaking out, Miss C was outside alone. So I run past the sinks and out the door in a panic. She is standing there with a bewildered look on her face. I grab my hand sanitizer, since I ran out without washing my hands, and begin “washing” my hands and grab Miss C by the hand and head inside the store. Freaky. She is asking why that man went in there. I am trying to make it seem like no big deal, and I am quietly thanking God that it was me in there and not her.
But even stranger, that man still hasn’t come out of the ladies’ restroom! We pick out a couple of snacks and drinks and head to the cashier. A man is in front of us in line complaining to the cashier that there is a man in the women’s restroom, that he went in there when this man’s wife was in there. The cashier is a young man and is apologetic but has no idea what to do. We pay for our stuff and get back in the car. Not sure I want to stick around here.
Home Again
Miss C finishes her homework and studying for some tests, takes a cat nap. I drive. We arrive home a long 5 and 1/2 hours after leaving the rink, tired and body aching from being in the car. We have had a wonderful mother-daughter trip, capped off by an Escondido figure skating competition we won’t soon forget, but are glad to be home!!
Until next time, Safe Travels and enjoy your adventures!