Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - KRISTEN BELL Had a Meet Cute

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

The charming Kristen Bell joins Seth and Josh to share all the details of her family’s return trip home gone wrong. Thanks to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips. Go to nissanusa.com.../ariya to learn more about the all-new, all-electric 2023 Nissan ARIYA. Thanks to BetterHelp for sponsoring this episode. Visit BetterHelp.com/trips today to get 10% off your first month.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Shout out to the presenting sponsor of Family Trips, the all-new, all-electric 2023 Nissan Aria, the EV for people who love to drive. Hey, Josh, I have a question to start today. Yeah. Do you consider yourself a podcaster yet? I don't know. It's a weird thing to say about yourself, but I guess I do. I think we do a podcast.
Starting point is 00:00:28 I'm not sure if I would describe myself as a podcaster yet. Yeah, because I don't know. There's sort of not to be critical of our podcast brethren and sistren, but it doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel like a word you'd use to sort of brag about yourself. I don't like bragging about myself anyhow. It does feel like I'm a podcaster
Starting point is 00:00:50 maybe has a negative connotation. With that said, I love doing a podcast. I'm glad we have a podcast. I feel like I'm not allowed to describe myself as a podcaster yet because I had to travel with my gear and I just threw it all in a duffel bag and that's when I realized I'm not there yet.
Starting point is 00:01:07 I don't treat it with the sort of respect. You know, I don't think you can call yourself a samurai if you're just leaving your sword lying around. Yeah, you got to sheath it. Yeah, I'm aspiring to be a podcaster, but I have to put a little bit more respect into the gear. Yeah, well, I mean, I bought a couple couple nice cases for my gear that's great and then i in an email to your assistant i was like hey here are the cases that i bought and she was like oh this is very helpful great and i do want to stress that
Starting point is 00:01:37 i am sorry that i won't give you my personal email. But I do thank you for going through my assistant. She's efficient. I mean, it's probably, it gets to you faster going through a person than if it just went straight to you. Do you feel like we have willed Grand Canyon News into existence? I hope not. If anything, I want to be manifesting positive Grand Canyon news. I think there was a little of column A, a little column B. We mentioned in our podcast that we're about to do with the great Kristen Bell, we do mention that a young man, 13-year-old Wyatt Kaufman, fell 100 feet. He is going to make a full recovery. Thank goodness.
Starting point is 00:02:21 Yeah, but it's very scary. Very scary. First responders did an amazing job uh getting him up spent four nights in a hospital and he's he's okay i think the most important thing is okay i saw him get interviewed on um i think good morning america a charming uh seems like a wonderful kid and so i'm so glad he's fine josh i'm gonna ask you a question though how many according to the grand canyon this is the Grand Canyon saying this, in the last decade, how many people have fallen off the side of the Grand Canyon?
Starting point is 00:02:51 In the last decade, I'm going to say a lot of people can get blamed for this. It's not all the Canyon's fault, I'd like to say. But I'm going to guess, I'm going to say 82. Are you for real? It was the, what the article said was more than 80 well now now i gotta go to the canyon archives to see if you hit it on the head yeah wow yeah this is not the first question i'm gonna ask you in this intro and but that was the
Starting point is 00:03:23 one that i thought was just a stab in the dark. So, amazing work, Josh. Yeah, I mean, you always hear about people. Also, it's in the era of selfies and the era of everyone's got to take a picture everywhere. People are backing up towards cliffs. You know, that's interesting. I would like to see a graph of how many people per decade and see if there was a huge spike during the cell phone era. It has to be. Yeah, it has to be. Can I just say to anybody taking a photo of the Grand Canyon, there are better pictures of the Grand Canyon out there than the ones you're going to take. And I don't want to see the one you're in. Yeah, but those people, they want to frame that and have it in their house. I don't think they're going to frame
Starting point is 00:04:02 it. If you frame it, fine. I think a lot of people just take it on their phone and it's lost forever. If you're going to frame it, I forgive it. I've got pictures of Pickles and myself. Pickles, may he rest in peace, my dog. But I've got pictures of us at the Grand Canyon. I want to say none of them are framed, but I'll pull one up.
Starting point is 00:04:20 We can put it on the page. And then we can let our listeners decide if that was worth it or not a pretty point that you you didn't frame it and it was uh ultimately a waste of time i also want to say in the news story about a young wyatt kaufman it ended with the reporter saying you know the thing about the grand canyon is you're just one wrong step away and that really hammers home why i don't want to go there on vacation. I don't want to take a vacation where one of the headlines is you're one wrong step away. I want to be multiple
Starting point is 00:04:52 steps away on my vacation from disaster. Yeah. I mean, everyone's always one step away from disaster. Maybe it's the odds are increased when you're at the Grand Cam. You live in New York City. You could step out in the road and there's a taxi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not on vacation here. It's about vacation. I agree. In New York City, I'm one step away at all times.
Starting point is 00:05:15 But when we're talking about vacation, I disagree. But here's the positive news. Because there was obviously that is negative. Ultimately, in the end, positive. Thank goodness. Yeah. Everybody's okay. that as negative ultimately in the end positive thank goodness yeah everybody's okay joe biden since we started this podcast went out and he declared the grand canyon a national monument
Starting point is 00:05:33 and so he basically is protecting um a multiple more than i don't know the exact number more than one acre but this, this also, you know, what this says about Joe Biden in terms of the Grand Canyon, that he's team poshy. Oh, yeah, he's very team poshy. He threw on the aviators and he also cautioned the photographers
Starting point is 00:05:57 at his event not to fall in. Almost one million. Acres of land protected, yeah. But so, also another way to say that more than one um hey so i was reading the article about this national monument declaration i guess a president can't name it a national park but he can do a national monument declaration that can be a presidential act biden i read he had a gaffe while he was talking. All right.
Starting point is 00:06:25 Is that news? It's not news. And I will say, as his gaffes go, I thought this one was almost too soft to be considered a gaffe. Also, he corrected himself later in the speech. He originally said it was one of the nine wonders of the world. Okay. And there are seven. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:41 You know, gaffe? Yeah. I feel like in the political era we're living through, I would kind of let that one slide as a non-g seven. Yeah. You know, gaffe. Yeah. I feel like in the political era we're living through, I would kind of let that one slide as a non-gaffe. Yeah. Also, the eighth wonder of the world was Andre the Giant, I believe. Oh, interesting. I'm pretty sure he was.
Starting point is 00:06:56 So there you go. So you think maybe Biden got confused as a wrestling fan? Yeah. Here's my second question in this intro of this podcast. How many of the seven wonders of the world can you name? And let me just say, I would not have been able to do well here. I maybe would have gotten one more.
Starting point is 00:07:12 This is of the natural world. Of the natural world. Well, yeah. Aren't the pyramids or the sphinx? No, those, because people made those. So there's two seven wonders of the world. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, so Grand Canyon doesn't get credit
Starting point is 00:07:26 because a person didn't make it. I don't know how many I would be able to do. Unless you watch that ancient aliens show, in which case I think they did. Mackenzie's into it. Your fiance's into ancient aliens? She's into it. By the way, I think the fact
Starting point is 00:07:39 that we've brought up ancient aliens does in fact mean we're podcasters. Yeah, Mackenzie's like, I've been watching this show and she puts it on and falls asleep and then watches like four of them but she doesn't watch them because she falls asleep but then she backtracks and so we watch one the other night and as the host of that show you know talks about how like so maybe there was a society pre-ice age who was you know building these pyramids and living underground. Mackenzie keeps saying like, see? Oh, come on. And I'm like, okay. I mean, I love people like that, but then like there's
Starting point is 00:08:12 two weird dudes way underground in a pyramid and they're like, oh yeah, this could definitely be real. And then another guy's like, yeah, yeah, I think so. I think so. Wait wait these are guys on ancient aliens these are real guys today yeah this is the host and like some other you know expert on you know the incans or the mayans or something and they just kind of look around and they go this could be this could be real well the host is clearly, he's told his expert guest that can see to this show that like,
Starting point is 00:08:48 and they say multiple times, they're like, archaeologists think I'm crazy. Like people think there's no way this is true, but I think it's true. And then if you want to be an expert on his show, I feel like he's like, at some point I'm going to say, so there's a chance. There was a pre-I age like advanced civilization and i need you to back me up and there's always a bit of a pause and then that person is just like yeah yeah that's that's possible so yeah of the
Starting point is 00:09:19 seven wonders i don't know maybe i could name three of them. Go for it. I mean, Grand Canyon. Okay. Yes. One. Okay. Thank you. Victoria Falls. Well done.
Starting point is 00:09:34 That's two. By the way, I'm going to say three and I'm going to give you the win. Let's see. A natural wonder of the world. If you want a hint, let me know. Okay. I don't know that the Nile. The Nile?
Starting point is 00:09:51 No, I heard the N and I got excited. The Nile is not one. You have a hint, which is the N. We saw it together in the sky. Ooh. We saw it together in the sky. The Northern Lights? Well done.
Starting point is 00:10:03 Wow. We did. We saw that in uh iceland we did there was a hotel we went to in iceland and you could sign in at the front desk if you wanted to be woken up yeah in the event of northern lights and we went to bed and at some point it was like a stampede of people running out of the hotel and there was no need to be woken up yes yeah and it was like a stampede of people running out of the hotel and there was no need to be woken up. Yes. Yeah. And it was spectacular. It would be a bad hotel to be in the night of a fire,
Starting point is 00:10:33 because I think you would assume it would be a Northern Lights situation. Right. And you'd be like, nah, seen them. So the Northern Lights, boy, I don't know. I mean, this is going to get boring for people, I feel like. I think it probably already is boring for people. Mount Everest. Excuse my pronunciation.
Starting point is 00:10:52 The Paracutin Volcano in Mexico. I think you nailed it. Harbor of Rio de Janeiro. You want to guess where that is? That's in Rio. Well done. I'm going to give you half a point for that. And the Great Barrier Reef.
Starting point is 00:11:06 Oh, yeah. That one I could have maybe found. Hey, we have a very great guest today. Yeah, like a callback in a way. A callback guest. Our first callback guest. And this is also a very special episode because Kristen Bell, who I've known for over two decades, said she does not have a good memory, would not be a good guest on the show, but then she had a very recent family trip story.
Starting point is 00:11:29 And so basically the bulk of the episode is Kristen sharing an incredible travel story she had with her husband, Dax, and her wonderful kids. And it's worth a listen. But before you listen to that, why don't you just listen to Jeff Tweedy real quick? Family trips with the Myers brothers Family trips with the Myers brothers Here we go
Starting point is 00:12:03 So right away, Josh has clocked that you have Taylor hands. Here we go I just noticed her nails while she was playing the guitar. And I spent the whole song memorizing the colors that she had on her nails, came home, and then I was like, shoot, what were they? And then I tried to do them cut to, there's a whole internet section devoted to how to do the Taylor nails. And I didn't realize it. I thought it was something that I had thought of. So this is shocking to me. I assume this was something you did because you were going to the concert. This is something you were so moved by the concert, which I think speaks to exactly how powerful this tour is. It is a powerful tour.
Starting point is 00:12:55 I mean, I was trying. Okay. I think I'm like maybe eight years too old to have been like completely swept up in the messages she had in her songs. Or I was just, I don't know, only listening to musical theater. I didn't realize. And then my daughter had asked to go and I was like, yeah, right. No, thank you. I don't like crowds. And have you seen the price of the tickets? And then my niece, who's my goddaughter, had asked like only for it. And her parents had said, this isn't something we're going to keep as a surprise.
Starting point is 00:13:27 We're not going to get you these tickets. Like this is not something we can afford. It's not going to happen. And she was devastated. So then I kind of put it out there like, oh, if anybody knows of anybody. And then somehow at the very last minute, a friend of a friend was like, yes, we have tickets. You can have them. We go to the concert. It was three hours and 45 minutes of the strongest athletic stamina I've
Starting point is 00:13:52 ever seen coming from someone's voice and their just like physical ability to maintain a presence on stage. I got it. Like I got it. And the crowd was so sweet. Everyone was handing out friendship bracelets. Like it was one of the most beautiful was so sweet. Everyone was handing out friendship bracelets. Like it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed. Your kids are a little bit older than mine as well, but don't you feel like it's also an incredible feat of endurance to maintain the attention of young people for almost four hours? Yes. Although I will say my daughter fell asleep around 9.40 and she woke up around 10.15 and that power nap got her through the rest of the show. But she's like me. Once your body says night, night time, there's nothing that you can do to keep it awake. So I have these adorable
Starting point is 00:14:42 pictures of my niece listening to the concert and my daughter sitting right next to her with her head on her shoulder, just completely asleep, despite how loud it was. But yeah, it held everyone's attention. The best way I can find to describe it is it was three hours and 45 minutes of a Super Bowl performance. Yeah. Super Bowl performance. Yeah. Like the production value,
Starting point is 00:15:07 the like the pyro, the lights, the dancers, the costume changes, the just everything. It was a Super Bowl show, but for that long, they should have had a halftime of her concert where guys played football for just 10 minutes.
Starting point is 00:15:20 That would have been genius. It was in a football stadium. It was at SoFi. Absolutely genius. Your daughters are close in age. Yeah, Barry. But only one of them wanted to go? Well, no, they both wanted to go.
Starting point is 00:15:32 I just told the little one she couldn't go. Okay, gotcha. Because also I've taken her to theater performances before. We went to see Matilda. We went to see, you know, things on stage. And she just, she's like me. She's so auditorily sensitive. And it's so loud for her.
Starting point is 00:15:48 I think it's doubly as loud for her as it is for anyone else. Because I have to bring her headphones when we go places. So it would not have been conducive to her liking. Did she accept it in a chill way? I mean, after about a 10-minute fit, yeah. Yeah, okay. She doesn't like to be excluded. But ultimately, I told her,
Starting point is 00:16:06 I was like, look, Lincoln's been asking to go. And also Crosby are my goddaughter. I'm like, it's all she's asked for. And you've never even asked for it. And she's,
Starting point is 00:16:15 she's a cool enough kid that she was like, you know what? You're right. You're right. That's good. Yeah. I was proud of her. Mackenzie really stumbled into going to that show as well. This is my fiance. She has a Yeah. I was proud of her. Mackenzie really stumbled in to go into that show as well.
Starting point is 00:16:25 This is my fiance. She has a client whose mother was buying her tickets. And the client has a daughter who's not old enough to sort of appreciate it. Or maybe would just be too small to be able to see anything. And then that woman's husband was like, not interested. And so this girl is getting these two tickets and then just asked my fiance and she went and she's she's got the nails they left at two o'clock they got in early they got that sweatshirt you can only get at the show yeah she's very proud of yeah i will say uh
Starting point is 00:16:59 on social media it's been a huge uh it's made a huge impact on mackenzie's life oh yeah yeah based on her social media profile recently you know what monica did the most baller thing monica who hosts with dax armchair expert she she was trying to figure out how to get that sweatshirt when she went and she wanted to get some t-shirts too and she was like god but i don't want to wait in these this line which is very monica like oh so she used her big old brain she walked to get some t-shirts too. And she was like, God, but I don't want to wait in this line, which is very Monica. Like, oh. So she used her big old brain. She walked to the girl in the front of the line. And she said, here's my credit card.
Starting point is 00:17:32 I want you to buy these three things for me. And I also want you to get whatever you want. Beautiful. And the girl did it. And everybody wins. And I was like, you're a genius. It is very nice to see you. I mean, having a husband who's a podcaster makes it very nice for you.
Starting point is 00:17:50 You have a far better setup than us. You really do. I have a better setup? Well, you, I mean, you look very arm cherry right now. Oh, oh, because I'm in this big old floral chair. Yeah, but can I give you a little hint into what, see the walls in the places where you're sitting look entirely, I don't know, plastered, drywalled. What we're dealing with here, I don't know if you can see, can you see what's?
Starting point is 00:18:18 Oh yeah. Can you see this situation here? Yeah, so it's like not a real, it's not a real, it's like a set. It's like a movie set. What they've done is really just maintained all of the kitschiness of this attic because it has such good mojo for everybody. So Dax was like, what do I do with these cords? I don't know. I guess I'll just tie them up with some tape and it works. It's the most unassuming, disarming place to record in. Also, those cords are very high to the ceiling. I feel like, like I might have a hard time reaching those chords. So I think you can all exist underneath them. It's a good space. Yeah. So this is, I feel like this is our first breaking news guest on family trips because I saw you this
Starting point is 00:18:58 summer. Dax and you and your lovely family were here and Dax agreed to do the pod. And you said to my sister-in-law, you don't have a good memory for things. No, terrible. You're not that kind of person. And so we thought, well, obviously you'd be a dud guest. Big time. We didn't even reach out. But then you have a recent family trip. This has never happened on our podcast before.
Starting point is 00:19:20 But you had just nightmarish travel. Yeah. And if you don't mind, we'd just like to dig right in. Let's do it. Do you know when you say my name and then the word breaking news, it makes my heart race so fast because that's my worst nightmare to be like swept up in the sea of nonsense headlines. There was literally a headline this morning that said, Kristen and Dax come clean about whether or not they actually host Hollywood orgies. Which like, apparently, somebody needs to set the record straight about that. And so the headline
Starting point is 00:20:02 was covering it. I was like wishing the article just said yes that was it the article was just the word yes but i mean clearly we didn't or at least we didn't get to it when we were at your house but um no for the record that would have been heartbreaking if you had spent i mean we basically spent a full week where we saw each other almost every day if not every other day and two have not gotten invited to one of the orgies right if we didn't instigate one of our our orgies. You know what it is? It's Daxie jokes so often about swinging and how, because he likes human beings. So he's like flirts with guys, flirts with girls. And it definitely comes across as though we have many key parties, which to set the record completely straight, we don't. Okay. I both want to say two things. I believe you when you say you don't,
Starting point is 00:20:43 and I would have believed you if you said we did. Right. That's why it makes me nervous, I think, when you say breaking news. But this is actually a story that happened. This isn't a fake headline. We had a crazy time getting home. We saw you as you were leaving Martha's Vineyard. You seemed incredibly hale and hearty, ready for the long travel.
Starting point is 00:21:05 You know, again, we had a wonderful ready for the long travel. You know, again, we had a wonderful time getting to hang out with your kids, getting to hang out with you, getting to hang out with your friends. It was a very fond farewell. We had no idea, obviously neither did you, what you're about to embark on. But you leave the vineyard, you make it to Boston fine? Totally fine. We got to the ferry. We took the earlier ferry, because obviously you have to take a ferry to get off of Martha's Vineyard to get into Boston. Booked the earlier one specifically because I was notified that the ferry and drive into Boston. And the whole time getting into Boston, it looks like we're going to be at the airport really early, which makes Dax very happy because he likes to have a lot of time. I'm more of a like, let's cut it as close as possible person.
Starting point is 00:21:58 But as we near the airport, we realize the traffic is getting thick, very thick. So we're in this van for a while, but we're doing okay. Near the airport, we realize the traffic is getting thick, very thick. Yeah. So we're in this van for a while, but we're doing okay. We stop at a Dunkin' Donuts. Everybody pees. We pull into the airport. We load our bags. No problem.
Starting point is 00:22:16 Check everything, go up to the gate. And when we sit down at the gate, we realize that two of our friends from Los Angeles are on the same flight. Great. Good omen. Very good. The initial time waiting for the plane to take off for that hour and a half was wonderful. We're playing Uno, we're playing spades, we're talking to our friends, we sit down and eat at a restaurant. Can I just jump in and ask, in general, are your girls good travelers? Are they happy vibes at airports? Very. Great.
Starting point is 00:22:49 Very. Airports, for some reason to them, is the time to experiment with, I guess, something I encourage them to do, which is like free range parenting. Like, would you like a bag of chips? Yes. Okay. Go next door. I can see you. Take my credit card or take this $5 bill and go get it. Like, do something on your own. Even though they're eight and 10, I think that's really important for them to be able to accomplish small tasks like that. So this was the time when I feel like they really were like, I'm going to go four stores down. And I was like, go for it. I'm going to go to the bookstore. Great. So they had been having a blast doing some on their own stuff in this airport. Everything's great. And then we see, oh, the flight's delayed an hour. What a bummer.
Starting point is 00:23:35 We'll continue playing cards. Then the flight's delayed another hour. Then another hour. This is, by the way, the worst thing in the world is the hour at a time. Yes. But we're still very hopeful, even though we're noticing at this point that the terminal is getting very busy.
Starting point is 00:23:55 And it's not because our flight hasn't taken off. It's because the lines at other gates are getting longer and longer because we start to realize, oh, this is a weather issue. The planes that are coming in can't get in. So the flight to London, which was the gate next door, everyone was lining up to try to change their tickets. But again, we're not thinking anything of it. We're having a blast. And the flight was supposed to take off, I think, like 2 or 3 o'clock. And about 7 o'clock, people at our gate start to get real antsy because it gets delayed till 8.45.
Starting point is 00:24:33 And that was the first, like, hour and 45. So people start to line up at our gate, and they're going, like, what is happening? And they're saying, okay, the reality is the plane is supposed to be coming from Providence, Rhode Island, and there's bad weather, so it can't land yet. We're like, okay. But again, I'm an optimist to the point of being completely chimerical. I'm like, this is going to be great, no matter what. So you're an incredible travel companion if this is always your case, I would imagine. Yeah, I think so. I have insane luck at airports. Don't tell the police, but I've gotten on two flights post 9-11 without my license.
Starting point is 00:25:16 God, what? I don't know. Pre-Worldwide fame? Post 9-11 pre-fame? Or did you get a little? Okay, gotcha. No, no. It was that it was for sure that yeah seth uh alexi seth's wife once uh lost her id at my parents house in new hampshire
Starting point is 00:25:32 and they were trying to get on a plane and i had to dump out all of the trash in the garage and sort through it and see if i could find it and couldn't find it wasn't in there i don't know whatever happened that day but i think you guys managed to get on a plane somehow. I do think we managed to get on a plane. I don't know how we talked around or maybe we drove. Maybe we rented a car and drove because of that. Yeah. Anyhow, back to you.
Starting point is 00:25:54 So you're in Logan. We're in Logan. Everything's still fine, mind you. We have four kids with us, four adults, and then our two friends. You were the most optimistic. Do you have any pessimists among the eight two friends. You were the most optimistic. Do you have any pessimists among the eight of you? Not until the 845. It's delayed till 845 call. But for the
Starting point is 00:26:11 most part, our group has such fun together. And we have a family, the Richardsons, that we travel with every summer. And you met them. They're lovely. They're just the easiest travel companions. Our girls are friends. Yeah, we just felt like whatever. If we're tired, we'll sleep on the plane. Big deal. I also want to say you are game people. I think game people can handle delays so much better than conversation people.
Starting point is 00:26:38 Everybody can run out of conversations. But if you have a deck of cards and you're game people, life cannot ruin your day as quickly as non-game people. That's a very astute point. Thank you very much. Also, if you're conversation people, the conversation can't help but turn to, man, this flight's really getting delayed. That becomes your topic of conversation, which is not something good to talk about because you have no control over it. No, and we also have a very intense uh
Starting point is 00:27:06 spades tournament going at all times because we started playing during covid and then um it became slightly boring to just keep playing games so eric bought a map of the world and got these little push pins and so we would play for countries, right? Like you would play for Brazil or whatever. And then if you played for a G7, it had to be best out of seven. It wasn't best out of three, it was best out of seven. And then once the pin was in the board, you could challenge someone else for that country, like wars. So we've got this board that has all these push pins and we have like a notebook that tallies it just to keep the spades game as interesting and as competitive as possible.
Starting point is 00:27:50 This is a dream. What you're talking about is a dream to me. I would be so happy. Every time the flight got delayed, I would be happier based on this weight. By the way, every time our parents go on a trip, they text my brother and I that they'll say, it's day one of the Turks and Caicos Scrabble Open, the Scrabble Invitational, and they update us
Starting point is 00:28:12 as to who's winning the best of seven. Oh, I love this. Breathlessly updating us as to, and it's the best. I love it. Dad took an early lead
Starting point is 00:28:22 in the last one, and then mom ultimately won the tournament, which, yeah, you just sort of didn't see coming because she really had to climb out of a hole. I bet I know how she won those two letters. That's how you win. Two letters is how you win.
Starting point is 00:28:34 Everybody thinks it's long words. It's the seven letters. It's not. You memorize the two-letter words. You get an XI. You get a QI. Bam, on a triple letter, the other person's done.
Starting point is 00:28:44 They don't even know. They've lived their whole life without even knowing those are words. And next thing, that's the last thing they see before you suck the life out of there. It's hard to not be mad at someone who plays the QI or the XI. I know that they're legit in the world of Scrabble, but. They see an opportunity. You know what? The person that uses that, it's very similar to the person who, like Monica, who takes her credit card and goes up to the person that's front line at the Taylor Swift concert and says, buy these for me and buy whatever you want, baby. Except the only problem, right, when someone uses an XI against you, you don't get a free sweatshirt out of it. That's the downside.
Starting point is 00:29:16 That's true. I didn't even think about that. That's true. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by the all new, all electric 2023 Nissan Ariya. And Josh, we took a lot of road trips. I'm deeply resentful, regretful that we never did it in a car as nice as the Nissan Ariya. I mean, it's comfortable, smooth ride, nice tech. Here's what the good people at Nissan have said about this car. It is a vehicle that has available 389 horsepower with instant responsiveness while simultaneously featuring a design so elegant.
Starting point is 00:29:52 It's literally described as timeless Japanese futurism. What I wouldn't give to be described that way. Literally. Also, I don't know if I don't know if you could be described literally as timeless Japanese futurism. Maybe sarcastically? Yeah, but the Nissan Ariya, literally timeless Japanese futurism. Real quick for our listeners, tell us a little bit about e-force all-wheel drive. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love this. It sort of means that Nissan's advanced system that delivers a powerful and smooth drive,
Starting point is 00:30:24 superior control and handling, confidence in all surface conditions, and comfort for all passengers. That is probably how I would have described it as well. Yeah. Or I would have just said it's super cool. Stop asking questions. Yeah, that sounds more like you. Just enjoy the E-Force all-wheel drive. So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips. Go to NissanUSA.com slash Aria. Now you, disclaimer voice, go. E-Force cannot prevent collisions or provide enhancement traction in all conditions.
Starting point is 00:30:52 Always monitor traffic and weather conditions. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Josh, you and I have both been lucky enough to be in a position to have people to talk to when we've gone through the turbulent times in our life. And I can't say enough about how much value there is in getting to work through your feelings with professionals. Yeah, it's nice to be able to talk to someone
Starting point is 00:31:16 and be able to say anything and not have to worry that you're going to hurt the feelings of the person that you're talking to. If you have an issue with someone, sometimes it's hard to address those things directly to that person. And BetterHelp creates a situation where you can speak to a therapist and you say whatever, and it's good to get things out. And it's good to work through things with someone,
Starting point is 00:31:38 with a professional licensed therapist. I mean, I'll say the first time I ever saw a therapist, I was sort of, I got hit with some depression. And when you have never experienced depression, it's so strange and it's so big. And I sort of didn't know what to do. And you bought me a plane ticket and brought me to you and had a therapist for me to speak to. And that was great. But I will say that BetterHelp is maybe a more efficient way. Yes, that was we had a very inefficient start to that. Let therapy be your map with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash trips today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash trips. All right, so you're playing your spades, your like spades slash risk or whatever it is that you're doing. Yeah, we're doing all this stuff. And then we see that it's delayed 8.45, right?
Starting point is 00:32:35 And it's nearing to 8.45 and we see the plane come in and we're so excited. We're like, oh my gosh, finally. But then it's like at this point, 8.30, and nobody has said like line up for boarding. So now we're starting to get slightly suspicious, but then we see our bags being loaded onto the plane. And nothing could be better to confirm that you are going to get out of here than seeing your bags loaded onto the plane. So Evan and our gate is kind of cheering like, yes, oh, finally, we've been at this airport forever. And 15 more minutes go by. Is it bad weather outside? Or does it look fine? This is where my memory comes into play. This really speaks to why we needed a recent event, if you can't even remember what the
Starting point is 00:33:23 weather was that night. Tell me about it. I think it was on the verge of getting dark. I know that because 8.45 p.m. Not memory. At this point, you're not using memory. You're just using a history of time and sun. I don't know what the weather was, but I'll tell you that I guess the weather must have been normal because I wasn't thinking about it. That I can conclude. Yeah. So about 15 minutes later, a PA announcement says, ladies and gentlemen, oh, sorry, right before this, the pilot and the flight attendants board the plane and people start cheering, which is really cute. 15 minutes after that, there's an announcement that says the pilot has heard a noise he doesn't like
Starting point is 00:34:08 and he'd like it to be investigated. And everyone at the gate is like, so frustrated. And I was as well. But at the same time, I was like, thank God, because I don't want him taking off hearing a jingle jangle that he doesn't like. You know?
Starting point is 00:34:27 So we're trying to be cool. We're like, it's fine. The kids are getting tired. No big deal. At this point, I'm starting to remember that our last meal was about six hours ago and that I do need to put something in my kids' bellies unless I want them to completely devolve because they're great travelers, but no kid is good when they're tired and they're hungry. So it now says no time that it will take off because we don't know how long this investigation is going to take. So we sit there till 8.45, I would say maybe 10. And now everyone's starting to get worried. And the flight attendants start to deplane. And I recognize one of them. And she comes over to me and she was like,
Starting point is 00:35:12 Kristen, it's Kristen. And I was like, Kristen? This is the start of a rom-com where you switch lives. Right? Oh, how we met was a rom-com. This was our meet cute. She goes, do you remember me? The-com. This was our meet cute. She goes, do you remember me? The dogs. And I was like, Kristen, of course I remember you. That was the
Starting point is 00:35:30 best flight of my life. So about 10 years ago, this flight attendant and I were on an overnight flight to New York and they turn the lights off in the cabin. Everything's settling down. I'm, you know, trying to go to bed to get a couple hours sleep to go to New York. And all of a sudden I hear like, in the cabin. And I look around and I see this dog, a stray dog. Just a stray dog walking up and down the aisles.
Starting point is 00:36:03 And I'm like, am I dreaming? It's a great dream. And then I see another stray dog walking up and down the aisles. And I'm like, am I dreaming? It's a great dream. And then I see another stray dog. And I'm like, am I in a Twilight Zone episode? What are these free range dogs doing on the plane? And the flight attendant comes zipping out. And I am at the point of like picking one of them up. They're like smaller dogs. It should be noted, you are very-friendly and stray dog-friendly as well. Big time, big time. It's like my, yeah, I keep like a leash in my car. You're saying this is your dream. This is the dog's dream. Okay. Of all the people on a plane they could run into, you are as good as they could do. I'm a dog magnet. I really am. Like, I'll be the one that will see the stray. So I grab one of these dogs. She grabs the other one.
Starting point is 00:36:45 And she's like, what's going on? And I was like, I was just about to ask you the same question. What's going on? Where are these dogs from? She goes, I don't know. OK, well, I guess I could check the roster of who brought pets on. She's like, but I can't make an announcement because everyone's asleep. So I was like, give them to me.
Starting point is 00:37:06 Bring them to mama. So I put these two dogs on my lap. They're so cute. We fall asleep together. And at some point during the middle of the flight, I didn't sleep very well because I had two dogs on my lap. But I wake up and she's like, I figured it out. There's a person with two dog carriers, like, I don't know, a couple of seats up, but we waited till the end of the flight because everyone was asleep and we
Starting point is 00:37:30 couldn't like disrupt all their feet. We finally wake up, return the dogs. Guess whose dogs they were. A-Rods. By the way, who? A-Rods.
Starting point is 00:37:40 A-Rods. This. Wow. Is snakes on the plane level good. Well, and what's funny is I don't remember many sports people, but I did know who he was. And I think it was maybe like someone he was traveling with. I don't know that they were like his dogs legally,
Starting point is 00:38:00 but regardless, they were in his group. By the way, he was stressing once he realized that they had gotten loose, that they weren't his dogs legally. He knew what sort of exposure he had to a lawsuit. Once you saw they were A-Rod's dogs, you should have said, this dog bit me, and I will see you in court. But he was very lovely. And then I came home and told Dax the story. And he was like, what a smooth operator.
Starting point is 00:38:26 And I was like, what? He's like, he tried to Svengala you. That is how he must do it. Let some dogs loose on a plane. Get your attention. Dax had a field day with that one. So we returned the dogs. That was all good.
Starting point is 00:38:38 Anyway. I'm glad that you held on to the dogs. Also, once people woke up and that plane landed, I feel like you should have let that person see their empty dog carriers and then have them have to panic and be like, yeah, here are your dogs. I took care of them.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Like me and this flight attendant, we took care of them while you were just sitting here sleeping, not looking after. I don't know that they would deserve the panic because I don't think that they were mishandling the dogs on the plane. Like, I think they zipped the dogs in their carrier,
Starting point is 00:39:10 but the dogs were little scoundrels and like unzipped it. That's possible. Yeah. I just think you robbed other Kristen, flight attendant Kristen, of the moment when A-Rod walks up and says, hi, I'm A-Rod.
Starting point is 00:39:24 Yes, that one. I've lost two dogs on an airplane. Maybe I did. And I would love your help. Yeah. And maybe that, yeah, maybe I blew it. Although pretty great place for your dog to run away. I've had a dog run away once and it's the worst thing ever. Yeah, an airplane's the best place to run away. I did find him. But if he runs away on a plane, it's like, we're going to find these dogs. Most likely we're going to be able to find these dogs. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:50 So that's how I had known Kristen, the flight attendant, who's lovely. So anyway. I was just about to say, you know, you claim you don't have a good memory and yet you remember this flight attendant from 10 years ago. But now that you've told the story,
Starting point is 00:40:02 yeah, I get why you remember. There's a lot of details that really make this one stick in the old brain. Yeah. Also, if I, you know how you read about, well, you know how I read often about how to improve your memory. Oftentimes, if you reiterate the information, you make sure you go through it, you retell the story. It's like if you read a book of data and then you explain it to your friends, you're more likely to retain it. I think I had told that story a couple of times because it was so insane. Also, there's an element of it that Dax would point out if he were here, which is I remember dogs. I just remember dogs. So there have been moments
Starting point is 00:40:40 where we've been at some Hollywood thing and some executive that's very high up that runs God knows what place comes over and starts talking to us like we're friends and they leave. And then I was like, who was that? And he's like, oh, that's blah, blah, blah, who runs blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, oh, Sam's dad. Because Sam the dog had been in the room when we had the meeting. I just remember people by their dogs. It's not something I choose to do. It's just something my brain does. So Kristen, you see her again. I see her again. She gets off the plane. And we are excited to see each other. And I'm like,
Starting point is 00:41:18 whew, this is a whole thing, right? She's like, yes, OK. We're going to try to figure this out, go back and hang out. So at this point, like I said, it's about 10 o'clock. Okay, we're going to try to figure this out, go back and hang out. So at this point, like I said, it's about 10 o'clock. And over the next 20 minutes, I had said to her, because everyone's like casually hanging by the gate now. I said like, this noise, this jangle jangle he's hearing, the pilot, what's your gut tell you? Is this like engine failure or is this like somebody's cup holder's loose? She's like, there's no way of knowing. We just have to wait until the mechanics can get here to assess it. She said, but I will
Starting point is 00:41:51 say this. We are going to clock out in about 20 minutes because we've been working for the last, I don't know how, 10 or 12 hours, whatever their shifts are. And I was like, woof. Okay. And that's not something they say on the PA. So I had some inside intel here because I was friends with Kristen. It wasn't like they say on the PA, your flight attendants are about to clock out. Everybody beware. So then I come over to my group and I'm like, guys, this is not looking good. If they don't figure out what's going to happen, what's happening in the next 15 minutes, they're going to clock out. And then we have to wait their 10 hour turnaround. So at this point, we all start looking like, well, what if we do need someplace to stay,
Starting point is 00:42:33 a hotel? So Eric gets on his phone and is like, let me look for a hotel just so we have a backup. The two friends we met at the gate, Larry and Jen, who Larry Trilling, I don't know if you guys know him. He was one of the directors on Parenthood. He says, our friends live in Boston. We're going to make sure we can stay the night with them. Very shortly after this happens, the pilots say, the plane is not going to take off tonight. We're going to schedule it for 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Larry goes, well, that's our cue.
Starting point is 00:43:01 We're going to go to our friend's house. Do you guys want to come? And we say, no, we're still maybe looking for a hotel. And if not, we'll just sleep in the airport. So they leave, Larry and Jen. airplane. She says, they are not able to find us a hotel that's close. So just know that don't be optimistic about the time this flight is going to take off even tomorrow morning because she told me they have to have a 10-hour door shut to door shut. We call it port to port turnaround. So at this point, all four of the adults in our group start to get on the phone and look for hotels, any hotel, anything. Because of the construction at the airport and because of how many flights were canceled earlier in the day, there is not a single hotel or motel
Starting point is 00:43:59 of any kind available within 50 miles of the airport. Wow. And if you think about 50 miles getting through airport construction, that's easily an hour and a half, an hour, 45 minutes out. Then you've got that morning traffic coming back in. We're like, oh my God, we're going to be at the hotel for what, four hours? Maybe that's not worth it. So Dax makes the executive decision, we're sleeping in the airport. Great. Everybody embrace it? Any doubters? I had said maybe let's just talk through all the options,
Starting point is 00:44:32 but he seemed so excited about it. And then the kids got really excited about it. That's good. As long as the kids are excited, then yeah, that's contagious. And I was like, okay, great. Now I'm looking over at the flight attendant group and the pilot group, and they're like, look like they're in an Oval Office meeting. Their heads are all together. They're like dealing with something, but I don't really clock it at that point. So at this point, I'm like, all right, we're camping at the airport. Girls, take my credit card, go three stores down,
Starting point is 00:44:57 buy five toothbrushes. You and I will share. You and I will share. Everybody grab a pillow, a blanket. Well, we ended up spending like $550 at the airport because those pillows that are trash anyway are like $39. Yeah. If you're buying it at the airport, you've already lost. It was so bad. So I also insisted on buying like one of the sheet blankets plus a little like felt blanket because I didn't really feel like laying my head or body on like the carpet at the airport. Sure.
Starting point is 00:45:33 So you had to double blanket it. And that was just me being bratty. But I just kind of felt like. I mean, you weren't paying for a hotel, so you're still probably making out for less money. And guess what i'm gonna take the blankets and donate them to a dog shelter anyway so everyone's gonna win okay every especially a couple dogs yeah yeah everybody gets a sweatshirt so we start to make our bed the kids go get toothbrushes we brush our teeth uh it's wild and fun and novel and great and then then I see them start to take off pillows and blankets from the plane.
Starting point is 00:46:09 And at this point, a lot of the crew had gone back on the plane, I'm assuming to get their stuff. And one flight attendant was still off the plane. And I said, oh, do you know if they're bringing any more pillows and blankets? Some for us, but some for, there was probably 40 people at our gate and some of them were older couples. So like, I'm at this point in like maternal mode of like, how does everyone at this campsite get what they need? And I said, oh, I see that they brought like three pillows and blankets off. Do you know if they're bringing any more? And she said, I don't know. I'm off the plane. Okay. And then I went- This is sort of the anti-Kristen it sounds like. okay and then i went to the anti-christian it sounds like yes and i have a thing where i'm like kill everyone with kindness i'm too scared to get sassy to people and i said okay do you know if um
Starting point is 00:46:55 do you know if they're bringing more out she's like i don't know i said okay do you know if we could um maybe like make a walkie-talkie call to someone on the plane and have be like just bring all of them. I didn't know that they realized how many people planned on sleeping at the airport because of this hotel issue. And she goes, technically, they're not even supposed to bring those off the plane. And I, out of nowhere, said, right, technically, the plane was supposed to take off. She walked right into it. She did not realize. And let me tell you something.
Starting point is 00:47:27 She may have walked right into it, but she did not like that. She walked right away. Yeah. She, she. Been a long day. Been a long day for everybody. She walked into it
Starting point is 00:47:33 and very quickly walked away from me because that was the wrong thing to say. Although. Now, though, come on, Kristen. Were you, it was the wrong thing to say. I'm sure you regretted it. Was part of you pretty psyched about how well crafted?
Starting point is 00:47:47 I'd never done anything like that before. And like you were saying, it was the wrong thing to say. I'm sure you regretted it. Was part of you pretty psyched about how well crafted? I was on fire for it. I'd never done anything like that before. And like you were saying, it was perfectly crafted. It was there for the taking. I grabbed it. You couldn't leave it on the tree. No. 10% of me felt bad that I had been rude to her. And then 90% of me was like, nailed it. She also did the right thing by walking away. I feel like walking away is such a good option that people don't thing by walking away. I feel like walking away is such a good option that people don't often take right away. I think walking away is like, yeah, that's over. Yeah. Yeah. This is ended. I also, and again, I have an incredible amount of empathy for working as a flight attendant, especially in these recent years through COVID, delays, attendant, especially in these recent years through COVID delays, just so many unhappy travelers. I try to be, I've had terrible travel this summer, but I always try to be upbeat and I
Starting point is 00:48:33 always never blame it on them. It seems like that was not what you were doing either, but it is frustrating when they choose to be rude first, when you are trying to be so much more polite and patient. Right. And also, I don't know how many hours she worked that day. That's true. You know, she might have just been cranky like people get cranky. Yeah. I real quick.
Starting point is 00:48:54 I'm going to take up my here's my quick tangent of me trying to get off the island this summer. There was a flight where we got on the flight and we had to get off the flight because something was wrong with the toilet. And it was the best announcement ever because the captain talked about it like a stepdad whose kids had fucked up his toilet. And he didn't say it, but it almost, he's like, well,
Starting point is 00:49:18 uh, someone put some in the toilet. They weren't supposed to. So, and it almost, he didn't say shitter, but everything about his tone, you could tell he was the kind of guy who would have called it the shitter
Starting point is 00:49:31 if he wasn't saying it to a plane full of people. That's amazing. So I realized that it's some, the other thing that I really want to stress, they all want the plane to take off too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so.
Starting point is 00:49:43 Do you follow an Instagram account called Passenger Shaming? No, but that's great. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So do you follow an Instagram account called Passenger Shaming? No, but that's great. Oh, highly recommend. It's people having absolute meltdowns on planes or doing weird stuff. It's one of the delights of social media. That's great. All right. I really love it. Okay. So I gave one of the flight attendants some Tude. And then they did end up bringing all the pillows and blankets out. And Kristen and I methodically went through the whole camping group being like, okay, do you have a pillow and blanket? Do you need one?
Starting point is 00:50:19 Okay. Like making sure our kids didn't take a bunch of the ones from the plane since we had already bought them. We just made sure everyone was covered. It was very humane, right? We were a group. And then there starts to be this murmur. This older woman who was next to me sleeping on the floor with her husband says, you know they're going to come and kick us out at 1 a.m.
Starting point is 00:50:39 And I was like, what? I tell Dax that. He's like, there's no way they would do that. We're through TSA. Why would they do that? So then I go to Kristen. I was like, I've heard a rumor that TSA is coming to kick us out at 1 a.m. She's like, oh, my God.
Starting point is 00:50:53 Why would they do that? Let me investigate. So she goes and asks. And she's like, OK, really bad news. They are going to come in at 1 a.m. Not now at 11, but 1 a.m. They're going to wait till just everyone's on the cusp of dreamland. Wake them up to which I immediately go, well, let me tell you something.
Starting point is 00:51:12 I am not waking my eight-year-old up at 1 a.m. to tell her she has to move places she's sleeping. You can do that if you're an armed guard, but I'm not going to do that. That's so dangerous. So she says, she goes and tries to get to talk them out of it, like talk to her manager, be like, can these people just get a pass to sleep at the gate? We're taking off at 9 or 10 a.m. They say no. And then she says, okay, not only are they going to remove you at 1 a.m., they're going to take you down to baggage claim, offer you cots, which is really nice. But baggage claim is going to be bright, like a gap dressing room. And you're going to be there from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. when the luggage
Starting point is 00:51:54 carriers start up again. Wow. So it's starting to get real bad. Now my optimism is waning a little bit. I'm like, wow, it's really tested. The most optimistic traveler is now being tested only at this moment. You've made it till 11 PM. So I come back, I tell my group that Eric is still trying to look for hotels and nothing's coming up. And then Kristen comes back over to me, the flight attendant, and she says, okay. Can I just ask, why is she still there? Why is she not departed for her hotel? You're about to find out. Why were they in this huddled heads together pilot and flight attendant meeting that looked so serious? She says, okay, here's what we've been working on the last 45 minutes. We have to find a hotel. Did you know there's no hotels
Starting point is 00:52:42 within an hour? I was like, Kristen, I did know that. I did. She said, okay, but legally we have to have a hotel. So they are going to drive us tonight to Providence, Rhode Island. Where the plane was coming from. Weren't you waiting for a plane from Providence earlier? Correct. Correct. This is the gift of the Magi where the plane comes and the flight attendants go to where the plane had been shame on anyone who's flying from providence rhode island to boston as well but please how long of a drive do you think that is 90 minutes without traffic okay without traffic and then so with airport traffic uh let's say it's two hours. So she goes, we're about to get in a van and go to Providence, Rhode Island,
Starting point is 00:53:32 which means we have two hours there. We're going to have three hours back in the morning with morning traffic. Plus we have to have a 10-hour turnaround. So that's minimally 15 hours. And it's now 1130. We're like, okay, well, I don't think we're taking off at 9 a.m., which is what the board still says. So at this point, the flight attendants leave, the pilots leave. Some people are still risking it and snuggling up on the airport floor, which I totally respect. And I say to Dax, I'm
Starting point is 00:54:00 like, they're definitely going to move us. And he's like, they can't fucking move us. I'm going to talk to them. And that's when I go, no, you're not. We have to get out of the airport because the last thing I need is a tired Dax interacting with a TSA agent. Because it's already not good even when they're like, lift your hands, take off your shoes. He's so triggered from childhood stepdad authority that it's already hard for us in the airport to navigate that. And it's not to any fault of his own. It's just that's what triggers him, you know?
Starting point is 00:54:34 And I should also say, Dax, if you know and recognize him, you appreciate him as one of the most affable, empathetic people. Incredibly warm, all these things. If you know Dax, you know, if you don't, he might look like trouble. He looks like, yeah, he looks like a trouble, like a silverback gorilla. And that's oftentimes what it feels like traveling with him. But we have ways of dealing with that. Like I can, I can, I put my hand on his chest and I'm like, just take a breath, buddy. And he's like, okay. So we both collectively agree it's not a great idea in the age of cell phone videos for him to be interacting with a TSA agent at 1 a.m. So I say, can I please call Larry and see if we can
Starting point is 00:55:20 stay at his friend's house? Because there's no other option for us. So Dax feels really, really guilty. The idea of showing up with eight people at probably 1 a.m. Also, at this point, he's already taken his sleep aids. So he's 10 milligrams of melatonin and a half a trazodone in to night-night time. Wait, when did he drop them? Looking back, do you feel like he erred in thinking it was safe to take them? Not based on the information we were getting. Okay, gotcha. He took them prior to knowing that TSA
Starting point is 00:55:55 would come and wake us up at 1 a.m. Okay, gotcha. So I call Larry. His friends are like, of course, come to us. Of course, we don't have any room. Get here. We'll figure it out. Right? Yeah. So we're thrilled. We get everybody up. The kids are sluggish, but we're getting through it. I'm kind of blindly leading Dax through the airport because he's so sleepy. Then we realized, well, a lot of other people, there was a wave when they realized TSA
Starting point is 00:56:26 was coming at 1 a.m. So the cab line is really, really long. We get through it. Everybody's still trying to stay positive. We take two cabs to Wellesley, which is 25 minutes outside of Boston. We pull up to the cutest older house that was, I don't know when it was built, 100 years ago, 200 years ago, something. It's gorgeous. They meet us with open arms, John and Krista, and they're like, we did what we could. Come on in here. Get on in here. They've got two old, really, really old dogs wandering around the house, bumping into walls and stuff. They're like, Kristen Bell. I was like, I'm here, guys. We heard about you. It was so sweet. They had taken every corner of the house and put out like pillows with blankets so that everyone could sleep.
Starting point is 00:57:12 Because again, they were hosting 10 people. There was like an attic, like this old little attic. And they put, there were two twin mattresses up there. And then they put two like blankets and pillows on the floor. And that's where we slept with the girls. And the girls thought this was the coolest thing that had ever happened because they're not often outside their bubble sure they're like who are these people we're like we don't know but they were so lovely john's a retired lawyer super smart but he's just like i couldn't do it anymore it felt started to feel gross. I walk in. Krista has knitting everywhere, like blocked knitting, which is like what you do before
Starting point is 00:57:49 you sell it. I'm like, Krista, what is this? It's gorgeous. These hats, these scarves, these socks. She's like, oh, I have a little Etsy shop. Then there's music books everywhere. I'm like, what is this? Why do you have a book of arias? She goes, oh, I'm an opera singer. a book of arias she goes oh i'm an opera singer i'm like we have stumbled into a fantasy land the kindest people in boston have invited us in so we go upstairs we sleep we're all so exhausted we wake up in the morning and we come downstairs and dax said it felt like walking downstairs in a christmas movie like yeah christmas morning they had gone to the grocery store and gotten us it felt like walking downstairs in a Christmas movie. Like Christmas morning. They had gone to the grocery store and gotten us a beautiful breakfast.
Starting point is 00:58:32 And it was turned into one of the loveliest experiences I can remember. They say August is the hardest month to make it feel like Christmas morning. And yet they managed. They nailed it. Krista wasn't there. Do you know why?
Starting point is 00:58:47 Why? Because she takes her opera group to expose the juvenile detention center on Wednesday mornings to music. So she was singing there. I mean, is that a storyline you'd write in a movie? Like, how do we make her super, super likable? Okay, what if she volunteered every Wednesday morning to bring her music to the juvenile detention center? So then we look up what the flight's going to do.
Starting point is 00:59:12 It now says 2 p.m. the next day. So this is a 24-hour delay. John goes, no problem. We can keep busy. We're about to take the dogs on a hike. And then I really wake up. I'm here for this. That's your coffee. This is my coffee.
Starting point is 00:59:27 So we all get in the car. The kids are still really groggy, but I'm like, it's going to be a hike. There are going to be a ton of dogs. It'll be great. We go to this beautiful wooded area outside Boston with their two dogs. And there's probably 40 other people with 45 other dogs, just off leash, like Newfoundlands, greyhounds, mutts. Everybody's like running through streams and we're taking this beautiful hike in the woods. And we're just like, this turned into such a lovely experience. And the only downside was on that hike, Dax got a pretty nasty bout of poison ivy because he went to pee in the woods and he didn't realize that he had gotten it like all over his shorts and all over his arms. And then we go back, we thank our hosts. So just so profusely, they were so kind. We pack up, we go back to the airport. kind. We pack up. We go back to the airport. It's at this point an hour and 15 minutes to get there because of the traffic. We load onto the plane. And we see that even though the flight attendants
Starting point is 01:00:32 could have worked because they got their 10-hour turnaround, the pilot was flying, but all the flight attendants were sitting in seats relaxing, and they had called in a different crew, which I thought was so lovely. Yes. Yeah. Because even the one that was really tired that I was sassy to had a seat. That's nice. Yeah. And then Dax started to get a little itchy on the plane and thought nothing of it.
Starting point is 01:00:54 And then he came home and it blew up to the biggest case of poison ivy I'd ever seen. I get it very bad. When I get it, it's almost hospital time. Yeah. Seth got it once when we were in northern california with our parents and he had to like wrap hit one of his legs with a towel and the towel was like would get like wet with like just it was a bad thing it like the oil situation
Starting point is 01:01:20 yeah oh and did it look like you had because anytime we looked at dax's legs it looked like he had like a flesh-eating bacteria it was yeah my whole right leg swelled was just swelling and red and might have said this before but i flew back to new york and it was so painful i went to the emergency room and at the er they said you could have died from flying with. It just could have been like a blood clot situation. Based on how swollen my leg was, I could have gotten one of those airplane blood clots that. Oh, wow. I'm so glad you didn't.
Starting point is 01:01:58 Thank you. I'm really glad you didn't. Are you an itcher when you have it? Yeah, that's another problem isn't it then isn't it the best feeling of like ecstasy when you itch something like eczema or poison ivy when you can really get the itch yeah do you know the hair dryer trick no i've been told this a bunch and i feel like a dad told me and i don't think it works but i think it does if you if you have like poison ivy or if you have like some sort of bug bite if if you put a hot hairdryer on it, so you got to be careful not to burn yourself. Um, and you like
Starting point is 01:02:30 heat it up, the itch will come to the surface. And while you're sort of heating it up with a hairdryer, you will feel like you want to scratch it right away. But then when you stop the hairdryer, it's like the itch has disappeared for a while it won't be forever but then that itch will subside and it will be gone and it's i don't know i've i've done it what do you think the medical conclusion is from that like you're pulling the histamine the actual histamine molecule up to the top of your skin i don't know come on this wouldn't be the first podcast where we just guess at the science. Go for it, Josh.
Starting point is 01:03:07 Yeah, I think it's... On the surface of your skin, there's like a film. And when you heat that film, it sort of melts it. And then that it dissolves into your pores. Or is it like placebo effect, which I'm like a full believer in. Sometimes when you give somebody something like drink a glass of water upside down when you have the hiccups, it's just to take their mind off of their spasming diaphragm. It doesn't do anything to the hiccups. I think this is a scam perpetrated by big hairdryer. This is the Paul Mitchell people, the Dyson people. This is a way to make sure everybody's still buying a hairdryer.
Starting point is 01:03:42 Can I just say real quick, this is independent of nothing. Does this happen when a dad visits you, Josh, that he asks if you have a hairdryer he can borrow? I don't know. I mean, I know we have one actually that's in the guest room. So it's just there. You probably just sorted it out. Are you guys blow drying your hair on a daily basis? Because just from my visuals right now,
Starting point is 01:04:03 I'm looking at some beautiful coif on both of you. This naturally, we have naturally drying hair. That kind of playful volume just comes. Yeah, I don't use a brush or a hair dryer. That's a wake up and go? Wowzers. Because you almost have like a Dennis the Menace curl at the top. Like it's almost like perfected.
Starting point is 01:04:24 Can I tell you when I see Josh's hair, I wish I knew how to surf. It so much looks like a cresting wave that I just want to be one with the sea. I mean, these headphones are trying to hold it down, but. Can't be done. Cannot be done. And has Dax fully recovered from his poison ivy situation?
Starting point is 01:04:42 He has now, yeah. Because we got back, what, two weeks ago, I guess? Okay, gotcha. We miss you so very much. We miss you. And so you have done everything we've asked of you. You showed up with a recent story. We did not have to press you on your foggy memories.
Starting point is 01:04:59 Can I just ask real quick, do you want to, not that they're going to listen or anything, do you want to say any one final thing to the lovely strangers who housed you in Wellesley, Massachusetts? Oh my God. Yeah. I hope to God, sincerely hope to God you're stranded on the streets of Los Angeles at some point so I can return the favor. I think they'd probably pass on that. But I can still hope for it. it all right we have some real quick questions for you kristin okay josh is going to ask you okay here we go uh you can only pick one is your ideal vacation are you relaxing is it or is it adventurous or is it educational educational
Starting point is 01:05:37 all right but a lot of times you can do both yes you can for sure. Your preferred mode of transportation, trains, planes, automobiles, boat, on foot? Automobile. Motorhome, specifically. We drive the motorhome every summer. Yeah, we love your motorhome family. If you could take a vacation with any family other than your own, and this family could be from history, they could be fictional, which family would you like to go on a vacation with? The Simpsons. Oh, great answer. For sure. Really nice breakthrough answer.
Starting point is 01:06:14 You saw that in a different way very quickly. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would you choose? Kids don't listen to podcasts. So if you've got a favorite. Dax, then Dax, then Dax. No, no, I'm just saying, I was saying if you had a favorite kid, they would never hear. No, you know what it is? It's neither of them. Because being with my kids, they're so inquisitive and curious, which I love. And I'm trying to help bring that out of them, ask a lot of questions, except for the fact that it's backfired because
Starting point is 01:06:49 being with my kids is like having NPR on two different stations of NPR. But if it weren't information, it were just questions. It feels like I need to check myself into a mental institution. Yeah. That's great. Did they go through that phase where it was just why for everything? A little bit, but mostly their questions are, they're linked, they're linear, they're real. They require me to actually stop and sometimes close my eyes so that I can get a handle on my words and the logic of their thought, but they do it at the same damn time because they just erase their sister from their presence. And so they're both talking in one ear and I just can't keep up with it. Do you ever just say like, Google it?
Starting point is 01:07:40 Stop asking me these questions. Google it. No, I should. But then they would be like, well, I'm going to need to use your iPad. And they know that's a no-no. Yeah. Okay. So the problem is they're always one step ahead of me. Yeah. Where are you from exactly?
Starting point is 01:07:54 What's your hometown? Detroit, Michigan. Detroit. Would you recommend Detroit as a vacation destination? Hmm. It depends on where you go. Some pockets. Yeah. Detroit's been getting itself together lately.
Starting point is 01:08:09 I've done some shows in Detroit and it has been getting itself together. Yeah, the Fox Theater, the Masonic Temple, there's some really cool places in Detroit. Some nice hotels. We went to a Super Bowl years ago in Detroit and it was fantastic. I mean, also the Steelers won, but yeah. I would also say anywhere in the mitten, even the UP.
Starting point is 01:08:28 Yeah. Yeah. I've still never been to the UP and we lived in Michigan when I was two to five. So Seth would have been like, yeah, four to seven, but we lived in Okemos, Michigan. Crush that math so fast. Where's Okemos?
Starting point is 01:08:41 Okemos is just outside of East Lansing. Okay. Our mom was getting her master's there. So, and it was during like the bird and magic era, but I don't recall going to any of that or sort of it registering, but in my defense, I was very young. Yeah. Very young. And then Seth, you've got a final question. Last question. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? No. Do you want to go? Yeah. All right. One day.
Starting point is 01:09:06 Yeah, okay. Do you hear that kid just fell down in there? Yeah. But he's fine. Just FYI. Wait, what? We should have told you before you answered. A kid fell. He's fine.
Starting point is 01:09:13 Well, he's not fine. He's okay. He broke like nine vertebrae, but he is going to be fine. How old was the kid? 13. 13. And he was moving so that another family could take a picture he was doing the right thing oh I was
Starting point is 01:09:28 gonna jump to conclusions about adolescent boys and say those are the ones you gotta watch and he was really just being kind the point being it was a big fall it was like 75 to 100 feet and they it was like 40 first responders and an incredible
Starting point is 01:09:44 very happy ending. And I'm very sorry that you've agreed to go to this death trap. Oh, no. But we have you on tape. It's apparently the most dangerous park that we have. No shit. It's a grand canyon. Here's the thing.
Starting point is 01:10:02 I have no problem. Here's another headline for you. I had no problem leashing my kids. I have no problem. Here's another headline for you. I had no problem leashing my kids. I got no problem with it. There are points in which you have to jerk your kid back. I mean, my kids are a little old for it, but like when I see the toddlers with like a backpack and a big like monkey tail and the parents holding it, I think that's smart as hell. Yeah. When you walk dogs or children, do you wear one of those like belts and you have them leashed to like attached to your midsection rather than on? The dogs for sure. Yeah. I got
Starting point is 01:10:31 a hip pack and I got like everything I might need in the hip pack and then the water bottle attached, like a big, like a crew belt. And then I put the dogs around my waist. Yeah. So your arms are free. You can pump those arms this year. Yeah i need to yeah okay we want to thank you so much for coming and sharing this harrowing tale uh we love you very much and we really appreciate it absolutely happy to be here bye kristen thank you bye guys bye left martha's vineyard and you boarded a boat dockcked in on the mainland of Massachusetts In the little town of Woods Hole And you drove on up to Boston
Starting point is 01:11:13 Though the traffic had you afraid And you made it there with time to spare It was your flight that was delayed Looks like you're sleeping in Boston You're sleeping on the floor right there at the gate You're straight up sleeping in Logan Well isn't this just freaking great But the TSS has no way
Starting point is 01:11:48 Despite the pillows you just bought They say that you can stay baggage clean Then you have a thought. What about that place in Wellesley? And now the flight attendant comes out Has some intel she can share We got a ten plus hour turnaround This plane ain't going nowhere
Starting point is 01:12:35 That's when recognition kicks in She says, I think that I know you She says, is it your name, Kristen? You say, yeah, your name's Kristen, too. So you head out to Wellesley. Head out to Wellesley. Staying with some strangers some guy Larry knows. And now you're sleeping in Wellesley.
Starting point is 01:12:59 Sleeping in Wellesley. Sleeping in a super cozy home. Yeah, you're sleeping in Wellesley. Sleeping in Wellesley sleeping in a super cozy home yeah you're sleeping in Wellesley with a couple of nice dogs who gave you a bark sleeping in Wellesley sleeping in Wellesley fit in the morning take them
Starting point is 01:13:18 to the park left Martha's Vineyard early that day Ended up in an attic in Wesley, Mass What a wonderful place to stay Turns out that the folks up in Wesley, Mass Are nicer than the TSA Thank you.

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