My mom had a good chuckle when we were on the phone last night, joking that Archer should be signed up for a frequent flier program. Truly, as I think about it, he has been traveling nearly every month he's been alive. This is a statistic I am proud of.
December was a stand out month for vacations, with our trip to Sayulita, Mexico being a highlight. But little Archie has been on the go from the get go, including two flights to Oregon to visit my family in the summer, a long drive to the Tri-Cities for an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in late fall, and a few glorious weekend retreats on Camano Island sprinkled in for good measure.
The mode of transportation to and from each of these locations has been variable; car, bus, plane and train. Those are printed in order of preference; from worst to fantastic. I'm telling you (emphatically) - you must ride the train from Bellingham to Seattle and/or vis versa. This is one of the prettiest routes ever to have seen tracks laid, and the spacious seating is absolutely made for travel with small children.
Another important variable in these trips has been sleeping arrangements for the baby. Visits to Grandparents' houses are fairly straightforward; they nearly strain muscles bending over backwards to purchase pack 'n' plays, set up cribs, clear out guest rooms and build additional wings onto their homes so that the kid will be comfortable.
But other, less familiar environments call for creative bunking. The cheap motel we stayed at in Tri-Cities was less than "baby friendly." We had to corner off a section of the floor, lay down some blankets, cover the exposed wiring, and hope that Archer didn't get too mobile in the middle of the night.
On Camano he slept in a closet. Sayulita, a bathroom. I'll never forget the look on the cleaning lady's face when I told her she didn't need to clean the upstairs loo because there was a baby napping in it. "En el bano?" she whispered, horrified.
But all this is just fine, because I have a love for travel that is thick in my veins, and I'm planning on many more adventures with Archer as a travel companion. In a month we fly to Florida to visit my folks, and then in June it's a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands. When Archer is school-aged, we hope to live abroad. It is hard to imagine my wanderlust ever being satiated, and hopefully this will be passed along to our children.
Of course all this wandering would not be nearly as sweet if we didn't come back to the greatest place on earth. Bellingham is home.
