Survivor – La Fayette!

I know this season of Survivor is in Gabon but Michelle embarked on her first solo road trip and is CAMPING. It really feels like Survivor and I’m wondering when she will call me and tell me that she got voted off the La Fayette, Georgia island and is heading home early – or at least to a hotel.

When the kid was here a couple of weeks ago, she started a new 101 things in 1001 days list (after making fun of the fact that I gave up on my list and let it expire without updating it or ever thinking about it again. The kid is a brat, she takes after her father – and TW.) On her list was something like “go on a road trip all by myself”.

Yesterday after class she got in TW’s her little blue car and hit the interstate.

This is a really big deal. Not because Michelle isn’t independent, she is – mostly. It’s a big deal because she just got her license last spring. She’d never driven on the interstate at all until earlier this week, and she only did it then in preparation for this trip.

She called me after she crossed the Georgia border – and yes I was a nervous wreck until she called. Then, she called me from Perry, Georgia (which should have been around the halfway mark.) And then, she was supposed to call me in another 1 1/2 to 2 hours… and she didn’t! 3 hours went by and she hadn’t called. And yes, I was an honest to God wreck.

Because after Perry, Georgia comes I475 which is not a big deal but the merge back onto I75 can be a freaking nightmare. A gazillion lanes, people driving a gazillion miles an hour, people merging all over the place.

So, I called her – and left a message – and then, my phone buzzed, I looked down and there was a voice mail from an hour ago! She had called and my phone hadn’t rung – and it hadn’t told me it was a voice mail until after I called her. Thank goodness. I could stop worrying. Sort of.

She called me back a few minutes later and said she was almost there, “looking for the road to turn on in what should be six miles”. I told her to call me when she got there… another hour went by and I called her again. She was sort of maybe lost. Except she had talked to Fred, Fred, Wet the Bed and she was close, but she was stopping at a gas station to find out exactly where she was and Fred, Fred, Wet the Bed would meet her.

A few minutes later, she called back again – and her journey to La Fayette was over. Next up… camping.

She called this morning – she slept in TW’s her little blue car last night. She had not had any food, she has no idea what they eat while they’re camping. And then, she screamed… BEE!!!!!!!!!!! And I suggested maybe she should just continue to sleep in the car but she insisted she was going to hang up and set up her tent – which probably means she was going to hang up and make Fred, Fred, Wet the Bed or Ned, Ned, Good in Bed set up her tent.

*Fred and Ned are long time friends – they started as Chris’s friends and became Michelle’s friends. They are on a little road trip – driving around, camping, rock climbing, visiting Fred’s family in NC and then onto Missouri or some such place. They’ve been hanging out at some place called Rock Town for awhile, and that’s where Michelle is trying to “Survive” for the weekend.*