d1 stanford

LINK: d1 stanford

I didn’t sleep much the night before, I was embarrassingly excited about going to Stanford to see BTS perform.

This was a first for me, going on a road trip with women outside my own family. I was cautiously optimistic. I wanted it to go well, since we are going to Vegas shortly after.

We all met up at Alyssa’s husband’s office parking lot. Linda brought along her son because her hubby was out of town and he was too young to be left home alone for days. I’d never met him before, but within minutes, I could tell that he was on the spectrum.

Linda was harder to read because she’d refer to him as “not as smart” or “lazy”. I couldn’t figure out if she genuinely didn’t know her child had ASD, if this was her way of coping, or if she thought mental health was taboo? Alyssa, on the other hand, thought that he needed more discipline and that he was a brat. That’s very on-brand for her. Because I am the youngest in our group, my unsolicited opinions usually go ignored, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

Before hitting the freeway, we decided to eat lunch first. We went to BHC Chicken, because that’s where Hobi, aka J-Hope, had food delivered from during his solo tour. Normally, I go for the wings but for whatever reason, I decided on the chicken finger combo. I had zero regrets. The chicken was flaky and not greasy at all. The corn and the humungous bread ball covered in seasoning was mid.

After that, we swung by Concerto Bakery to load up on snacks for the road. I bought pastries, I know… so much for being gluten-free for this trip. I was getting tired so I also ordered an Americano with cream too. Bye bye to being caffeine free too.

We were in the car together for nearly five and a half hours. Linda’s son had a few meltdowns and shutdowns (hitting himself, crying, going non-verbal, rocking) somewhere along the road. Linda started crying quietly in the back. Alyssa, being Alyssa, couldn’t help but offer her thoughts on Linda’s parenting style. I watched Linda become quieter and quieter. Alyssa was not reading the room. I kept trying to redirect with light conversations as much as I could. I don’t try to lecture parents on how to raise or discipline their children, unless they ask for my professional opinion, otherwise I keep my thoughts to myself.

The other thing about Alyssa: she is a plan-changer. I’m generally easygoing. I can be very flexible when I haven’t made any prior arrangements, so I don’t mind pivoting. But pivoting with a child who needs a routine, can be challenging.

The original plan was easy: get to the hotel, rest up, be fresh for the concert the following day.

But then Alyssa’s brother, a newly minted ARMY, texted and asked if she wanted to line up overnight for concert merch with him.

I politely told her: not me. I said that I would happily drive her to her brother’s place in Palo Alto, but the overnight night merch line was not gonna happen with me.

Our plans changed about four more times before we checked into the hotel first. Linda’s son was over the car ride and us. I couldn’t blame him. I was over it too. LOL. He wanted nothing more than to be at the hotel with his laptop, playing Roblox. Linda stocked him with food, made sure he would be able to communicate with her in case shit went South.

The hotel was umm interesting. They had twin beds, thin walls, and plumbing that could wake up the city. The front door looked like it had been kicked in. Yelp gave this place 2.6 stars and I felt that tracked. I’m used to traveling with my friend, Five Star, who exclusively only stays at top hotels so she has spoiled me. But at least I had my own twin bed, there was a kitchen, and a sofa.