I’m in Chautauqua, on the porch of the Hultquist Center, trying to keep my cool. M’s Mom is already on my nerves, and we moved through the gates less than 24 hours ago. Not a good sign. I think some hegemonic misunderstandings (at best you could call them misunderstandings) are emerging. For example, M’s brothers (both nice guys, none of this is their fault) work high-powered business jobs and don’t see their kids very often. In turn, these vacations are FAMILY vacations, all capital letters, very much so. In other words, a pressure exists in which the father is expected to spend every spare second with his kids because this is the FAMILY vacation. My job has much more flexibility. I see my kids more in a week than both the brothers combined. I don’t feel the same vacation pressure. Also, Chautauqua does not make children monitoring easy. The kids could 1) play in the street, where you have to make sure they aren’t hit by cars, 2) play in a park down the street, but you have to go with them and watch them, or 3) play in the house, where you have make sure they don’t breathe on the wrong family heirloom or whatever. Fuck it. This is M’s party, as far as I’m concerned.

Ok, enough venting. At least the trip out went well. We made good time, P. W. to Wisconsin in nine and a half hours. We stopped twice. I cannot recommend two particular Ohio Turnpike rest stops enough. The rest stops are at exits 100 and 139, and they feature bright, shining restrooms, your choice of restaurants (including a Panera’s at one), and much natural light. Check out these links:

http://www.ohioturnpike.org/service_plazas.html#SPF


The kids watched movies, listened to my Mp3 player, and played with their action figures throughout the ride. I can’t complain at all. They were good.

More later. I’m a bit worried about this trip, I guess, now that I’m pissed off and we’ve hardly started. Oh, James, here’s a picture for you.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/randomanthony/STA72934.jpg