The One with the Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty

Recently we drove from South Florida to Northwest Florida--Ft. Lauderdale to Pensacola. We spent 10 hours in a moving vehicle and never left the state of Florida.

As a child we used to take trips like this all the time, except they were shorter and covered more states. We used to all pile into my mother's 2-door Buick which, coincidentally, was just as long as the 5-door Volvo I drive today. Seven of us would load up--my mother and aunt up front with my young cousin sandwiched between them in his carseat. This was safe back then because there were no airbags. The rest of us, my brother, sister, cousin, and I, piled into the backseat where the only danger was my cousin's constant threats of car sickness.

I wonder how the Little Lady will remember our road trips. Will her memories be just a fog of Elmo, Barney and Blue? Probably, because this is the only time that I am happy to put her in front of a screen and the only time that I don't mind listening to all those high-pitched, squeaky character voices and over-acting children. Oh, the portable DVD player! I will allow my child to watch TV for 10 hours straight if it makes for a happy road trip. Seriously, I don't know how road trips were ever endured without today's modern technology.

This trip was not lacking technology at all. Obviously, the DVD player provided a constant hum-drum the entire trip, but it never could wash out the sound of the XM radio. The only thing that ever overpowered the XM was the iPod. We alternated. Keith had his Blackberry, and I, the iPhone. We never missed an email, text, phone call, status update...nothing. But just in case we thought we might miss something, we had an air card for the laptop--all access, all the time. And even though we knew right where we were going, we went ahead and plugged the GPS in just so we would know the exact minute we would arrive. You might think this sounds a bit exorbitant. Truth be told, most of our gadgets are necessities for Keith's job that turn into luxuries when we travel. What luxuries they are!

I have often found myself trying to deny that I enjoy or benefit from modern-day gadgets, but I give up; I give in. If gadgets can make a 10 hour drive (that ends up actually taking 12 hours) with a 2-year-old a, dare I say, pleasurable experience...then bring on the technological advances!



*This picture was taken with an old-fashioned digital camera.