Traveling NOW, VS. Traveling THEN

When we were young, meaning my friends and I, well, and my wife too.  We could travel at a moments notice.

You want to go to Southern Utah for the weekend?  Break out the 98 quart cooler, fill it with food, beer, ice.  Get the tent, the sleeping bags.  Make a stop at the liquor store, fill the Isuzu with gas and off we go.  Oh, don't forget food for the dog.  Or the DOG for that matter!

We knew what we needed, knew where it was, and could throw that stuff together in a few minutes.

Now?  Not so much.

I'm going to go to Denver this week with my friends, Phil and Al, to see my friend Lisa Landry the comedian, and I've been planning it for a MONTH!

Once we all decided that we were going to go, we had to all agree on what day we were going to leave.  We had to decide WHICH show we wanted to go to.  Well, if Phil can't get Thursday off, we have to leave on Friday, so we better book the late show on Friday night.

Then I had to find a hotel close to the show.  Buy the tickets on line, print them off and make sure I have all this stuff in one place, so I won't forget it when we leave.

Then, starting last week, I had to get the car ready.  Check the oil.  Half a quart low.  No sticker in the car telling me what my mechanic put in it, so I had to call him.  Mobile One Synthetic, 5-30.  Turns out I HAD a half a quart of that in the garage, cause it's what I use in the Camaro.

Fill the washer fluid.  Check the tire pressure.  Get the car washed, cause I at least want to START the trip with the car clean.

Check my prescriptions, make sure I have enough that I don't run out while I'm out of town!  Never did THAT when I was young.

Spent today paying the bills that are due the first week of the month in case it snows in Wyoming on the way home, and we are stuck in Cheyenne for a week to ten days, turning our under ware inside out, that is if we can GET a motel room, so the mortgage doesn't get missed and BOA jumps all over us and by the time I get home, the house has been foreclosed, and Deb and the kids are living in my mom's empty condo with no furniture or cable and cursing my ass.

Tomorrow, I have to go fill the car with gas, pay any OTHER bills that have arrived, on line of course, just to be sure, and I hope I don't spend all night awake, worrying about what ever it is I forgot!

Man, might be easier to just stay home!

Any one up for an impromptu trip to the southern Utah desert?  Oh, never mind.  I can't camp any more.  I would have to plug my CPAP machine into a Current Bush or I might die in my sleep from Apnea.

Man, life changes when you're old.  I finally understand why my mother liked Erma Bombeck books, and I never thought they were funny.