Today my mom and I drove to Tehachapi to visit for my grandma’s 81st birthday and to help her take care of my grandpa after his hip surgery. We conveniently made our trip for during my Grandma’s 81st birthday. They both look and sound great! It’s always a pleasure to see them because they are upbeat and we always have a great time just talking and catching up.

Now for the most important story: the dive up here! My mother for sure did not teach me to drive. My father has taught me many things, but one thing I can say I remember is that you should always be a defensive driver. My mom missed that lesson. As we are pulling into our second Starbucks stop for the 3 hour trip my mom rounds the parking lot two times. Just when she found the perfect spot up front, someone slid right in and took it. So, naturally my mom pulls into a side lot that has all but one spot filled and there is no room to turn around if we don’t fit. Rather than passing this spot up, she decides to reverse into the spot! WTF?! After about six reverses and several squeals of the breaks I am convinced that we are in the scene of Austin Powers where the car is jammed between the two walls. She assures me we are ‘fine.’ I decide to put my head between my knees and say a quick prayer. With a sudden jerk she somehow manages to get her Harley-Davidson F150 straight into the spot! As I raise my head and wipe the sweat from my brow I feel a quick jolt! As only my mother will say, we just “tapped” the car behind us. She throws the car in drive, inches forward about two inches and puts it in park. She quickly makes sure that the car is unharmed and joyfully skipped into Starbucks with her ear piece in one ear and luggage-sized purse on her shoulder. 15 minutes later, we were on our way to complete our 3 hour turned 4.5 hour trip to Tehachapi.

Now it is five hours later and I have had the pleasure of good company and a glass or two of boxed wine with grandma. Happy 81st and see ya next time on the 82nd!

Cheers!