He has always thought I might be but he's now certain of it! After a recent trip to Orlando, FL (from Northern Alabama), he has decided that there's a whole other side of me he never really knew a great deal about and well, he's not sure he wanted to know if truth be told!
As we were pulling out of my office parking lot (which is where most realtors leave from to go on vacation, right?)...anyway, I digress... I pulled out my notepad from my driver side door pocket and hand it to him in the passenger seat. I ask him to write down PA and CO on separate lines.
"PA? CO? What for? What's that mean?" he asked me, in that ever so irritated manner he has so perfected after 24 years!
I go into my long drawn out story about how as military brats we were in the car going from one duty station to another on this occasion or that and Mom always had to have a way to keep us girls entertained. We had the ever popular "Car-Bingo" cards in the huge pockets on the back of our station wagon seats or there was the "Punch Buggy" game that we simply called, "Herbie" because if anyone punched anyone else bedlam was certain to ensue! ("If I have to pull this car over, you're gonna be sorry!"), Who can forget "Truck Horn Blower"! Then there was this one... "License Plate Lotto"!
I explained to him that "PA and CO" was simply the start of the game that began the moment we pulled out on the trip (the time when the odometer was zeroed for the "road trip"). Everytime you see a license plate from a different state, you have to write it down and we compare the lists when we get to our destination. (NO YOU CAN'T WRITE DOWN AL 950 times while in Alabama! or GA 458 times while in Georgia! That's cheating!)
Well, knowing my husband as I do, I was sure he would not participate so I decided to play alone (with his stenographic skills as needed if he would at least to that!).
This game was a multi purpose tool for my parents! One - for learning to read and recognize license plates from specific states. (I best remember the ones from Colorado and New Mexico even to this day!) Two - keeping us occupied for short periods of time (until our attention was drawn to "someone breathing on me"). Three - to break up fights by pointing out the one we just passed that no one else saw but Dad... "Hey, did ya'll just see that tag from Hawaii? (as we drove across the plains of Kansas)... Four - break up the "are we there yet" tendency or the repeated "I gotta go" chorus from the middle sister, Five - lull some to sleep when it was passed the time they should have napped anyway.
Now, being the oldest, I was determined to win (and often did)! It was the only way I could maintain my superiority over the two younger sisters since they both stood taller than me by the time the baby was 5 and I was 10! The youngest two would gang up on me in any competition besides those that utilized knowledge or deductive skills where I far exceeded their capabilities any day (in my mind anyway!)
Much to expectation, my husband refused to help in "the license plate list" until about the third day when he became MOST annoying! "Did you get that one? You better check!" or "We have to go back to the car" as we cross a seeming endless parking lot to our resort entrance where our shuttle bus was waiting, he would say.
"Why? What did you forget?" I would breathlessly ask. He'd answer, "To add Connecticut and New York" to our list..."
"I don't think so.... you better just remember them when we get back there after DisneyWorld tonight! We have enough walking to do today and I'm NOT starting off by going BACK anywhere!" (Wait! He said OUR list? Hmm...! Just a few short days ago, this was MY silly nerdy game!)
Long story being shortened (by a smidge)...at the end of the trip, we unload the suitcases and count our states! You know, we have 42 states on our list! I kept it to put in the scrapbook with our other souvenirs from this memorable trip! (Corny, I know!)
Now, if you know me at all, you know that my family lived abroad at some points in my life and we played this game in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, France and any other countries we visited (no matter the age) because even to this day, it's something to marvel at!
So how kewl is that? How many families do you know that will take time to set aside the tech games, cell phones, DS, ipod, etc to notice the number of folks on the road around you from all over the country? All over the world? How fortunate are we as a country to be "permitted" to go from one state to another freely without fear? With no passports? Isn't this the most incredible country in the world?!?!
Let's all take time to notice - and help our children and grandchildren see some of the small blessings we enjoy as Americans! It's also a great LEARNING tool for them because you can then quiz them at the room as you get ready for bed with your atlas (yes I know you have a GPS but you BETTER also have an ATLAS!).
Have the kids point out the states you've all listed that day! Then show them where you're going the next day - on the map so they can follow along in the car! (Can we all as adults do that? I was surprised at how many states had moved since I last looked! LOL)
Go West young folks - or East - or South or North, if you must (lol) and EXPLORE! Enjoy that which is this fabulous country we call The USA!
Oh when I'm having a particularly stressful day and I can't seem to get my mind off work and it's challenges, I pull out the notepad and play by myself as I drive around all day! It sure gets my mind in a brighter disposition as I think about the plates I see and remember times I've been in those states or what I can picture it being like if I could just escape there that same day! I got 12 different plates one day last week!
Use your imagination! And I challenge you - NO! Wait! I "DOUBLE DOG DARE YA" to tell me how it was for you when you play "License Plate Lotto" for the first time!
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