The Journey

In order to actually take a journey, one has to travel.  There is a beginning point and a destination.  Then of course, you have the stops, sights, or reference points along the way.  Movement of some kind is involved, or else one will go nowhere.

We left the house around 5:30 am yesterday morning.  Richard had put all the bags in the car top carrier and in the minivan Friday night so we'd be ready to go after a few hours sleep.  We woke up a little after 4, got ready, and loaded up the kids.  We traveled for a couple hours before stopping for breakfast and had a fairly uneventful beginning, not withstanding the key issue I mentioned Friday night.

We stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast, a place that all regular road trip travelers should try at least once in their lifetime.  It's friendly, yummy, and you can get hash browns any way you like them: scattered, smothered (in onions), covered (with cheese), diced (with tomatoes), capped (with mushrooms), chunked (with ham), peppered (with jalepenos), topped (with chili), or country (with gravy).  Everyone had waffles, the kids got to move around a bit, and we got to watch the children marvel at the cooks behind the counter.

For the next part of the journey, the kids watched videos while Richard and I got a chance to talk.  I think it was the first time we got to talk for more than 15 minutes with kids in tow and awake without being interrupted for years, literally.  It was quite refreshing.  We had a chance to bond over things we hadn't had the opportunity to discuss in quite a while.

Then we hit Mississippi and Louisiana.  Construction for 27 miles at 35 mph or less, 3 accidents, more construction with lane shifts and cement pylons, and lane closings made that part of the trip seem endless.  But the kicker came after all that.  I kid you not when I say it took us an hour and a half to get past the last 10 miles to the border of Texas.  10 miles before the border, we hit a lane closing due to construction.  At 8 miles, police sped by traffic that was just about ready to move again, and traffic stopped again.

At mile 7, an hour later, 5 police vehicles, including state, county, and local police were parked on the side of the road with a pickup, a semi, and  one man on his knees surrounded by 4 officers.  I'm guessing it was either a coyote or drug smuggler, as nobody appeared injured, and no emergency vehicles were on their way.  Then we almost got to travel at regular speed.  Mile 5, at the home stretch, we saw bright orange diamond signs posted road work for the next 3 miles.  Uggh!  Would this construction insanity never end?

Then, we were on the bridge!  At last!  Nyssa clapped her hands excitedly as she read the Texas state line sign and we all rejoiced along with her.  Thankfully, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing, and the children fell asleep for the last 45 minutes of the drive.

Life is such an adventure.  Some parts we are aware of; we know we are going to pass through specific points, such as potty training, school, and jobs.  Other aspects seem to be roadblocks keeping us from our journey, making it more difficult, such as sickness or loss of a loved one.  Then we have construction.  None of us is perfect, and we could all use some repair work every now and then.  The actions of someone else may even bring us to a complete halt for a while, but eventually we go on.

Then, if we have followed the right directions, we find ourselves crossing the bride in excitement, ready for the destination.  The rest of the trials are all but forgotten.  We look towards the house and the loved ones.  We look toward the prize.  We lay back and close our eyes, knowing that all is well and that we will soon be there.