The Drive

The eagerly anticipated drive to Pennsylvania finally arrived last Saturday. Due to inexplicable FOG in West Texas in MAY, hubby's parents (our other driving duo) arrived late, and so did the start of our trek. If you are from Houston, or are currently living there, you might be familiar with the Gulf Frwy/610 intersection. After a missed exit, because I called him to see where he was, hubby got stuck on on-ramps, off-ramps, and U-turns in a truck that accelerates slower than a snail. Needless to say, our drive started off on the wrong foot, and then we stubbed our toe.

Finally in the car, we hit I-10 and hoped our butts wouldn't hurt long before they went numb.

Southern Louisiana is just not pleasant and I am glad I don't have to live there. I decided on that stretch of highway that I needed to look up the difference between swamp and marsh. We headed north and saw our first night's hotel get farther and farther away. Near delirium around 1 am, we pass Chunky, MS (a place hubby said it might be nice to retire) we saw a sign, 30 miles. The longest 30 miles of my life.

After not nearly enough sleep, we were up again on Sunday for the longest day of driving, oh great, with red rimmed eyes and not enough coffee. Hubby and I drove in the truck, or rather bounced our way along the highway. Once out of Texas we enjoyed the views of hills and trees. Unfortunately, our truck nearly had a heart attack at every incline, and we might as well have been pushing for all the progress we made. I did my best to avoid the faces of those passing us.

Somewhere in Alabama we pass Eutaw, and I thought of my friends from Utah. We also stopped at a very peaceful and beautiful rest stop. I shooed us out of there as quickly as possible, no time to admire nature when you still have 10 hours to go! Some time later, we made a driver switch and hubby and I took over the car with the children (who were so good during the drive!)* and headed out ahead of the truck to check in at the next hotel. I had the last leg of driving, since dear old hubby had bounced along in the truck for 8 hours. An hour or two before our last night stop on the road we passed Hungry Mother State Park, and of course it made me hungry.

You know you've been in the car too long when a 7 hour day makes you feel relieved and you start saying things like, "So short!", "We'll be there in no time." I felt every minute of that 7 hours. We finally pull up to my mom's house, stretch our legs, start to relax and then look at the packed truck. It made me want to throw up.

Three days post drive and things are better. The kids are sleeping through the night and have adjusted to east coast time. The truck is unloaded and returned. We finally got all the pieces to our bed, with only three trips to the storage unit. I still can't find the kids' cups, bowls, and plates, and I have high hopes of unpacking before we pack for graduation in three weeks. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We made it without any car trouble, we are all healthy, and I saw 44 state license plates on the road!

*I felt bad for baby girl, I couldn't even explain to her that the drive would end. Day after day we strapped her in. At least E knew we were going somewhere! I expressed concern over L sleeping all day and not at night. I had nothing to worry about. She took her two naps, was awake in between, had a normal bedtime in the car and made the switch to the hotel like it was all normal. God's grace is so good!