Fly By Night

This morning CP stood up on her own for the first time. She grabbed a bag of spinach out of the fridge and just stood there holding it....with both hands!

Our visits with family in the midwest went well. It was a relaxed visit - sans holiday or reunion madness - and we all really enjoyed it. It was quiet. The picture nearby shows CP getting a workout on Grandma's front porch. She loved it - especially the stairs! CP got to see all of her cousins except SuperDave in this one visit and as an added bonus, she got to see the grandparents, the Wisconsin Schnorenbergs, Grandma Great, Jan & Steve as well as spending an evening with the lovely Cavanaughs. After picking up the car, we decided that since we were only 8 hours down the road from Dallas, it'd be a crime not to go down there.

The car is wonderful and we've really enjoyed travelling in it already. Our first fill-up was at around the 620 mile mark. From what I can tell, we ran around 46mpg under less than ideal conditions (rain, 20+mph headwinds, and high speed). It's a tight car with a few little imperfections here and there - and we love it. CP likes it too because she can see out the rear hatch window and is able to wave at everyone.

We made it home this morning around 5am from the whirlwind mid-America tour. The sun was just coming up as we pulled into our little street and let the noisy beast out of her car seat/straight jacket. After leaving Grandma Great's place in Euless, TX at around 1pm our time, we headed out into the vast expanse of rain and boredom that is West Texas. A stop here and there for food and windshield de-bugging were about the only things to break the monotony of the road. The LW took the wheel and drove from 830-430...oh, and there was some excitement provided in the early morning when, what the LW said was a housecat, decided to dart into the road out in the middle of nowhere. If you've ever been out in the open area near San Simon, you'll realize just how strange it is that anything is present to dart into the road. Well, this little furbag decided he wanted an exciting morning and decided to run out and kiss our new TDI wagon on the front fender as it whizzed by at 80mph. Sadly, it didn't end well for him or the car. The front valence under the bumper was torn loose, the inner fender well cover was ripped in half and turned into the wheel (thus making a hellish racket), and the fender attachment point for said cover was bent. It can all be fixed, but I wish that cat hadn't decided on that particular moment to fill his morning prescription for excitement.

Of course, all of this happend while I was as sound asleep as one can get while wedged between the car seat and the door panel in the back of the car. There's nothing like loud popping noises, akin to a few Rubic's Cubes bouncing around in your car's fenderwells at 80mph, to wake you up quickly.