The 15,000 Mile Winter

As I watch my odometer continue to climb higher and higher a couple of things happen (besides getting yet another oil change). 1) I turn up my music louder to ignore the rattling noise that comes from the rear of my car every time I go up any sort of grade. 2) I wonder how in the crap in a time period of 7 months have I put 15,000 miles on my car?
Since my drive to work is less than 10 miles round trip I don't really think my work commute is the culprit. No, I am pretty sure it has something to do with the frequency in which we left our timezone this winter to DRIVE to places in other timezones. We started off the winter with a Thanksgiving climbing trip to Joshua Tree. Although still in our particular timezone, Southern California with it's brown clouds and what not seems somewhat like another world. I'm pretty sure though it was the Christmas road trip to the east coast that sent our 36,000 mile factory warranty flying out the window like a discarded piece of hubba-bubba. The neatest part of that trip was how we made Phoenix and the Fiesta Bowl 'on the way' back to Tahoe. Then there were other trips that did not require us to drive across Kansas. An ultimate tournament in Vegas, a sweet ski trip to Southern Colorado, and I'm pretty sure I have driven back and forth to San Francisco close to 12 times. At least it feels like I have. My advice to all you other road trip warriors is hubba-bubba and sunflower seeds. I have discovered them to be excellent distractions from the desolate Nevada desert.
I think my husband said, "This winter was full of exciting times and well some minor drama." I would have to agree with him. I don't think we could have crammed much more into this winter. Most of all I think we just all laughed a lot. When your having family meetings to make sure there is no confusion about where to put the magnetic beer bottle opener on the refrigerator after using it, and the Douglas County Investigators show up looking for your landlord, and well every once in a while the water gets turned off....well that's just funny stuff.