Starving the Rats, One Car Wash at a Time

Took the family truckster in for a good washing today. I mean, a good washing. The kind you can only do with no children in tow.

I took out all three car seats before I headed over to Royal Touch Car Wash in Rosemont (conveniently located next to a drive-through Starbucks and across from a Target, making for a perfect kid-free errand trifecta).

Last week's trip to our friends' cabin (posts on that to come), with a stop at the family farm on the way up and back, meant a total of 970 miles and 20 hours in the truck (and by truck I mean SUV) with my friend, one of her children plus my three. That's a lot of snacks -- string cheese, shredded wheat, grapes, bubble gum, juice boxes and pretzels -- consumed en route by children whose opposable thumbs do not appear to be fully developed.

Also picked up along the way was sand, lots of sand.

We also were beneficiaries of my in-law's garden during our farm stops, so bags of freshly cut corn (seriously, picked 30 minutes before our arrival), green beans, onions, potatoes and cucumbers, were shoved under and over and in between everyone in the truck.

I found a rogue cucumber and corn silk under the baby's car seat when I was cleaning out the truck before heading to the car wash. And that wasn't the oddest or most startling discovery.

The workers at the car wash earned their tips today, and the rodents of Park Ridge will just have to find someone else's family truckster to dine in tonight.

Our all-you-can eat buffet is closed.