D.C. Trip ~ Day 1

Our son is in the Air Force, and when he told me a couple of months ago that he would be deploying to Iraq in July, I immediately got this "Mom feeling" in the pit of my stomoch...I WANT to see my son!  So, I explained my need to my Hubby, and we began to plan a trip to the D.C. area...the following week will give you a glimpse into that trip...it could be interesting, or boring, or weird, or funny...I'll leave that up to you...

D.C. Trip Day 1:

The night before our trip, we stayed up WAY too late watching a movie, and had to get up WAY too early…this is par for how we seem to begin vacations.


The day began early, and the plan was for me to get things ready to go during the day, Mike would come home, take me to dance class, head home and load the car, then pick me up at the studio and we'd hit the road from there.  Our total drive was calculated at about 13 hours, so we wanted to cut it down a bit this first night.  I was so anxious to get my son in my arms and kiss that face!


I sent Mikey off to work (a class actually), and began the day: laundry, packing, bake bread, bake cookies for the kid, mow lawn, water plants, talk to neighbors and take them plants, talk to Kim, walk dog, prepare dog food, prepare dog “bag”, pack our food, gather all camera equipment, straighten house, and hope I got it all together.


Mike arrived home, tired, both from lack of sleep and sitting in a classroom all day. I gave him a quick rundown of what was ‘what’ with the bags, what I’d packed for him etc. I got dressed and he drove me to class on the motorcycle. He was left with the task of getting Stormie to Susans, packing the car, shutting down the house, and grabbing any items that I didn’t pack for him.


8:00 pm. 1 ½ hours of dance completed, sweaty, hot, hungry, and tummy aching from excitement and the busyness of the day. I did my best to do a quick clean up, and changed into travel clothes. Mike arrived and we hit the road. As we traveled north, Mike recounted how difficult it was to leave the house without me there, wondering if there was something he’d forgotten, or needed to do…when he suddenly realized that he didn’t bring his tennies! He had on flip flops and had forgotten his tennies!! It was about time for a new pair anyway, so we made plans to stop and get them at some point. We’ll be doing a lot of walking on this trip, the man's gonna need shoes. :)


We planned to knock off several hours from the trip, so sleepiness was not an option. First stop was Sonny’s for some SWEET TEA, then Chik-Fil-A for quick on-the-raod dinner. So far so good on the healthy side (grilled chicken wrap, NO fries). We did have a couple of mini-peppermint patties for dessert though.


After about 2 hours of sitting in the car, I realized why it’s NOT a good idea to go immediately from a high energy dance class to sitting still for a long period. I got an extremely painful Charlie horse in my right inner thigh,…the kind that make you want to laugh and cry and scream and maybe grab and squeeze the closest person (not a good idea when that person is directing your vehicle at 70 mph). Then about 40 minutes later, my left hamstring did the SAME exact thing! Oh the pain!


We drove on through the night being 'entertained' for quite some time by an elderly gentelman who continually came inches away from the cement walls and construction barrels, crossing the center line SEVERAL times. We were a bit worried for him, but decided it was good for him to be driving at night while the roads were almost empty. He didn’t appear to be drunk, just having a hard time seeing at night…scary.


I sit next to my husband, and look over at him, when I get this overwhelming feeling that I just need to tell him I love him. So I do. I’m so thankful for my best friend, and the blessing he is in my life.  He's a good travelling buddy...so much fun to be with. :)

At just past 1:30 a.m. we decided sleep might be a good idea, so we stopped at a Days Inn near Brunswick, S.C. Having taken just over 5 hours off our trip. The room was just what we needed; shower, bed.  Exhaustion took over...you might think I fell asleep dreaming about the joy of seeing my baby boy...but I really just sank into that bed and disappeared into dreamless sleep...we'd be on the road again in the morning, I can daydream then...