A Rough Roadtrip

We roadtripped this weekend, driving west out of Caracas to the smaller city of Valencia.  Dave had to give a short presentation at a conference there, and we thought we would take advantage of the opportunity to get out of town.

The drive was lovely.

We arrived at the hotel at 2:00, an hour before the posted 3:00 check-in.  So, they didn't allow us to check-in.  So, we sat in the lobby for over an hour with 3 kids itchy from a few hours in the car and ready to jump in the pool.  They told us that we could not wait at the pool.  It is for registered guests only.  They said we would need a key to get in.

So, we waited in the lobby for over an hour.  I kept busy by sunblocking everyone, in preparation for the pool.  Annika kept busy by peeing on the floor, and making quite a scene.

We eventually made it to our rooms and the pool around 4:00.  We swam until 6:00.  The pool was fabulous and the weather was perfect.  My kids displayed some of their worst behavior ever.  In a fit of parental Whatever you don't have in your hands, you're just going to have to leave behind!, I stormed away from the pool with my nasty children and left my phone on the chair.

It was not there in the morning.

We explored an areperia across the street, and everyone enjoyed their different types of arepas.  In this family, we're big fans of the national sandwich.  Dinner was fun.

The hotel hosted a free buffet brunch in the morning, which was delicious.  More arepas, with more fillings plus a chocolate fountain and plenty of pastries.  We departed feeling well fed.

We decided to stop off at Colonia Tovar, an isolated German settlement from the middle 1800s which has kept its old European charm and specializes in delicious strawberries.

The views along the drive were jaw-dropping.

The village was cute, although overrun by tourists.  And they had very few strawberries for sale, although we did all get to enjoy a big bowl of strawberries and cream.  We piled back into the car, with full bellies but without our bags full of strawberries.  Feeling a little disappointed.

The drive back held dramatic views as well, for the first 30 minutes or so.  We spent the next 2.5 hours sitting in traffic.  Colonia Tovar is an isolated little village in the Andes mountains.  One road leaves to the south, and one road leaves to the east.  We followed the one road to the east, down a long ridge toward Caracas.  And when an accident occurred somewhere down the hill, no one moved for hours.

We were hungry by the time we pulled into our neighborhood, and so drove straight to a pizza place to grab a quick dinner.  Sunday night is always movie night with pizza for dinner.  We enjoyed the movie in the car, and now we needed our pizza.  The food came out quick, hot and delicious and we were all happy to be out of the car.  We ate fast and ran back to the car, never looking behind us to see my backpack sitting in the corner of the restaurant.

Casualties from the weekend:

• My backpack
• My wallet, with some cash and my drivers license
• My car keys
• My house keys (leaving me currently locked in our apartment)
• My phone
• Many of Annika's shorts and panties (potty training - no accidents in the car!)
• A small camera
• A first-aid kit
• Any sense of rest or store of patience for either Dave or myself.

I'm still holding out hope that the backpack is at the restaurant.  I'd even sacrifice the cash to get back the bag and the driver's license.

Good that came from the trip:

• Delicious strawberries and cream in a cute little German garden
• A fabulous pool in Valencia
• Amazing views on the drives - I'll post them later.

If I get my backpack back, the good will probably outweigh the bad.  I needed a new phone anyway.  But I don't see us pulling together little roadtrips through Venezuela again anytime soon.