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All In A Mom-day's Work by Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi Next rest area: 3000 miles Most people go on vacation to rest and relax; not us. We usually come home more tried than when we left. This year was no exception. We went to California to visit my aunt and uncle in Burbank, but since we knew that a trip for five, 3000 miles away from home, was not something that we’d have funds to do again any time soon, we wanted to make the most of our trip. We wanted to see Hollywood and Universal Studios; we wanted to go to Disneyland; we wanted to visit San Francisco; we wanted to go to Sea World; and the San Diego Zoo. We mapped out our trip before we left home. On paper, everything looked fine. We would even have some time to just laze around the pool and go to the beach. Our flight from Montreal to Los Angeles was uneventful. We picked up our minivan rental, and made our way to Burbank just in time to get to bed. The next day, we stayed home, swimming and catching up with family. We took a drive to Hollywood toward the end of the afternoon to walk along the Walk of Fame, and check out all the foot and hand prints of famous people in front of the Chinese theatre. Hmmm… I guess you could say that we did rest and relax that day. After a good night’s sleep, we had breakfast, prepared a picnic lunch and headed off to Santa Monica Beach for some fun in the sun. Aside from the long drive in L.A. traffic, that was a rather restful day as well. So why do I say that we don’t rest on vacation? On Friday morning, we rose early, had breakfast, and set off for San Francisco. The drive went well, and by late afternoon we had checked into our motel on Lombard Street, our home-away-from-home for the next three nights. Over the next two days, we visited Alcatraz Island, Fisherman’s Wharf, the piers, the Golden Gate Bridge, Little Italy, and downtown San Francisco (We even pretended to shop at Bloomingdale’s. Anyone want a $2000 purse that looks like it’s made of shiny plastic?) We did most of our visiting on foot except for the boat ride to Alcatraz, the cable car ride to downtown and the drive over the Golden Gate Bridge (before walking halfway across it and back). Finally, as we hit the sack on our third night, my feet were so swollen that I felt as if I’d stuffed elephant feet into Barbie shoes. I awoke several times that night with severe cramps in my calves — so much for resting. We left San Francisco and headed toward the Pacific Coastal Highway. Our next destination: Hearst Castle in San Simeon. After hours of driving on the long winding path high above the rushing waters of the Pacific (did I mention that I have a fear of heights…and rushing waters?), we made it to the ticket office at Hearst Castle just in time to see the last tour of the day leave. Fortunately, we had reserved a motel in San Simeon for the night, so we asked for five spots on a tour the next morning, headed to our motel, had dinner and settled in for the night. The next day should have been a day to rest, according to our “on paper” plan. If we’d made it on time for our tour the night before, we would have headed back to Burbank in the morning, and been there in time for a dip in the pool before dinner. Instead, we made it back to Burbank around 7:30 p.m., and had a late dinner with my aunt and uncle before bedtime. Our next two days were spent at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure. Needless to say, we didn’t get any rest there. Unless, of course, you count standing in line to wait for rides “resting.” Next, we drove down to San Diego for a day at Sea World and another at the zoo. Upon our return to Burbank, we had three days left before we took the plane back to Montreal. We spent Sunday morning resting and took a short drive through Beverly Hills with a walk on Rodeo Drive ending our afternoon. I even pointed out a little black dress with a matching necklace and earrings to my husband, Rudy. (Hey, it’s important to give gift suggestions, isn’t it?) On Monday, we spent our third day at Disneyland and got back to Burbank past midnight. Tuesday was spent at Universal Studios with dinner in Universal City with my aunt and uncle to mark the end of our vacation. We returned home at 1:00 a.m. Thursday. We were exhausted and had no trouble sleeping. My problem was getting up to go back to work. My vacation was over, and I had to be sitting at my computer a few hours later to deal with whatever had come up while I was away, supposedly resting and relaxing. Today is Saturday, and I am resting. I also plan to rest tomorrow. I need all the rest I can get before Monday. But if I’m feeling grumpy, I’ve got that covered. My souvenir from Disneyland is a “Grumpy” T-shirt. I’ve warned the kids not to bug me if I’m wearing it. Hmmm… maybe I should have bought two? I will need to throw it in the laundry after a while, won’t I?
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