DOH!

There were many possible titles to this first blog entry of "Volkapalooza 2011" but as you will understand later, "DOH!" seemed the most appropriate.  Other possible titles included "And Awaaaaay We Go!" or "On The Road Again" or "Stand By, We Are Having Technical Difficulties" or "Back To The Future" or finally, "All About Amanda."  When you are done with this entry you can decide if I chose the right one.

We started out the journey this year at around noon today.  Which, frankly, is a moral victory for us.  Usually when we say we are leaving as soon as we can, the proverbial #$*& hits the fan, and we end up leaving way later than we wanted to.  But this time, we were relatively organized the night before, and despite some frantic last minute additions to the suitcases (and my last minute shower because I STANK after loading everything up), we were on our way.

This year we stepped up and bought a Verizon Mifi, instead of the single user USB card we used last year.  And (I will do my best as we go along not to constantly compare to last year) we jumped right into the "More Than Paper On Wheels" mode and set up the printer from the get-go.  The plan was for Debbie to process as many orders as she could on the 4 hour or so ride to Boston.  The was the plan.  For the first hour or so she ended up on the phone with Verizon trying to figure out why her laptop would spontaneously try to kick itself into sleep mode.  It was quite annoying, and despite some helpful customer support people (hear that AT&T?), we never really got an answer.  She finally ended up changing some power settings and it seemed to solve the problem.  By this time, we were about half way to Boston.

We stopped for lunch at a soup, salad and sandwich place somewhere in CT, on the Merritt/Wilber Cross just before 91, then were back on the road and she was ready to print orders and get ahead of the game so we wouldn't have to work late.  But NOOOOOO, the printer wouldn't print.  By now she was wiped out and made the smart decision to take a nap. 

While packing, Amanda decided she wanted to bring her American Girl doll along.  Debbie wondered if there were any American Girl stores along the trip, and sure enough there was one in Natick, MA, just before we get to Boston.  So, the very first stop on our journey was at the American Girl Store in Natick.  Amanda wanted to get her doll's hair done, but there was a 60+ minute wait, so (after drying some tears - Amanda's, not her doll's), we convinced her to just get two outfits instead of one.  So, Amanda and her doll are now the proud owners of matching PJs. 

We got back on the road and arrived in Boston around 5:00.  We are staying at the Marriott Copley, which allows to walk or take the T anywhere we want to go.  [OK, here is where you will learn about the today's title]  I pulled into the driveway and left everyone in the car while I checked in.  During the check-in process, the person asked me if I prefered a king bed or two doubles.  I asked about the size of the room and if there was a pull-out couch.  As there was not going to be a pull-out couch in the room, the only logical thing was to get two doubles, and then use the air bed for the other child.  [Here it comes] But then I realized, to my great chagrin, that the reason that I felt that we had more room in the trunk to fit all of the luggage was because we had forgotten to pack the air bed.  DOH!  So, at least for the next two nights one of the kids will be camping on the floor.  There is a Bed, Bath and Beyond on our way out of town, so we will have to pick one up on Thursday.

After getting into the room, we decided to head to Quincy Market for dinner.  Ethan had gone there during camp and really wanted to go again, and show us around.  We took the T down there, and let Ethan show us the way, despite all of the times I had been there as a kid/teenager.  After walking the food aisle, Amanda and Ethan opted for chicken terriaki, and Brian, Debbie and I decided to have food from the "Chowda" place.  I left Debbie with Ethan and Amanda, and Brian and I headed to get our food.  As we were walking there, a guy in a suit passed me.  We both did a double take, and I came up with it first.  It was Sammy Pollack, a high school friend of mine (he was a year ahead of me).  He wasn't a close friend, but we certainly knew each other well.  We said our hellos, did a quick catch-up on the "where do you live, how many kids, etc. thing" and we went our separate ways.

We all got our food (Debbie and I shared clam chowder - New England, of course - and a lobster roll), and sat down for what could once again be about 2 weeks of food orgies.  After eating we strolled around, and Brian and Amanda got new hats.  After the mandatory desserts, we headed back on the T to go back to the hotel.

After once again dealing with printing issues, we were back in business with More Than Paper, while the kids did a little reading and went to bed.

All in all, quite a busy first day.  Tomorrow I am not 100% sure what we are doing in the morning.  Maybe the Aquarium or the Science Museum.  Will depend on when we get out of the room.  Because at 1:35 we will all be sitting in Fenway Park as the rest of my family enjoys their very first home Red Sox game.  Can't wait.