The adventure chapter one
Our great adventure started on Friday in the pouring rain. I picked the girls up at there houses and we set off for our Next stop to some how cram Mel and her bag in the van with all of our stuff. I was wondering at that point how we where going to fit the luggage of four women going to a wedding and the 4 women in the car. We some how managed it but I don't think the girls feet touched the floor of the car at any point in the drive.
As we headed up to I95 we realized that in the rainy haste to get everything in the car we did not stop and pray. We prayed at that point for a safe and fun trip knowing it that our plans may not work exactly as we planned them but that God's plan for our time would work out perfectly. I think we all relaxed after we talked to God. We all sort of had that edge of the seat look about us when we started out, but after our prayer time we all relaxed and enjoyed the journey knowing it was in God's hands.
Holiday weekend and pouring rain equals back up on GWB and on NJ Tpk. The girls and I sat for 2 hours waiting to get over the bridge then another hour to travel 10 miles on the pike. Most in the cars around us looked bored or rather annoyed. Not us, we put a Disney CD in the player and sang at the top of our lungs. Laughing all the way. Laughter was not something we ever ran short on. Six hours after we left home we arrived in at Mel's only three hours after we planned to get there. Not tooo bad.
Once we where past the cities traffic lightened up and we didn't hit another huge back up the rest of the trip. Wooo Hoo! Nashville Here we come!
We waited patiently for Mel to be in the car to listen to some of the little surprises I had downloaded onto my Ipod for our adventure. Now that we had Mel with us we turned up the laughter by listening to Chonda Pierce a Christian comedian. All I have to say is "I said stiff sheets NOT a stiff in the sheets" Sorry to the rest it is an inside joke, you will have to listen to Chonda talk about her hotel adventure to understand it.
The miles passed and the girls napped in the back. Until we had one minor problem with the car. It stalled while Mel was driving. I was dozing in the passenger seat and Mel calmly says to me "The steering is stiff" I sort of wake up and look over at the console seeing the oil light on I sat up wide awake now. God was with us because we where at the entrance of an open rest area. Mel was able to pull in and cost into a parking spot. We popped the hood and looked at the engine. I could see nothing wrong right off so I asked Mel to grabbed my cell phone. The church organist and her family also made the journey at pretty much the same time and on the same route so we had exchanged numbers. I called to see where they where (about an hour behind us) and let them know we might need a help. I think we had too much running. Used more care the rest of the trip and no further problems. Our problem was really not a problem and we where on the road again after a brief rest stop. We kept in touch the rest of the journey checking in on each other it was good fun! I personally think Mel and I deserve an award for our acting that night. We both had thoughts of this is NOT good running through our heads but, our panic did not show. We just calmly looked for the solution. B didn't even know we had stalled until the next morning, she slept through the entire thing. Hat Tip to Dad for teaching me more about cars then the average girl learns. When I looked under the hood and under the car I knew it all was as it should be. There are a good many things that could have been wrong and I was prepared to handle many of them.
In the wee hours of the morning I insisted that the drivers change every hour something about the 2-5am hours on the road no matter how rested you are make your eyes go bonkers. We got out moved and sort of rebooted the brain before the point of the eyes going bonkers.
At 5 we stopped for breakfast. Broke out the coolers bought some coffee and sat in a rest stop munching away watching the sun peek over the Smoky Mts. It was a beautiful sight. It was also a rather damp time. Some how in the span of ten minutes we all managed to spill something on our pants.
The first and by far the funniest. I was checking the cooler to see how much water was in it. The cooler sort of slipped and about a gallon of water spewed out on the pavement. I looked up to see the path the water was taking it was heading right for B. I was relieved to see that B was squatting rather then sitting and opened my mouth to teller her to stand up and pick another place to finish her breakfast. As I opened my mouth B started to sit down. I tried to get a warning out of my mouth but I was not fast enough. She had a puzzled look on her face as she heard my warning then a shocked look on her face as the cold wet feeling registered. She squealed loudly and jumped up.
The laughter ring out from our little area of the quite rest stop drew all eyes on us. B resettled herself and I started to make my breakfast when S knocked cranberry juice on Mel's pants more laughter peeled out from our corner of the rest stop. S then spilled her coffee on her pants again the laughter. We repacked the car ready to head out. I grabbed a Sprite to bring up front with me. I turned the cap and you guessed it. The soda sprayed out all over my pants. I think it took a good five minutes to regain control from our fit of laughter at the point. Forever more we will call that rest stop the damp pants place.
The journey continued without event. I loved the 70mph speed limit, I think it is going to take me a few days to break that habit. It didn't take me long to get use to driving 70 it became normal very quickly. I noticed on the ride home when it said 55 I had a hard time obeying. 70 felt normal not 55 ;-)
The speed limit was not the only thing to rise. The temp was rapidly shooting up as well. It felt like mid August not Memorial Day weekend. It was such a wonderful feeling the sun beating down on me like that. There is nothing better then a hot sun warming your to the bone after a long winter of freezing them. :-)
We arrived in Nashville at 2pm there time just about 24 hours from the time we left. The girls headed to the pool and I headed to the shower. Then to get the lay of the land. Found some of the family and where we needed to be and when. We where ready for the next leg of the adventure or so I thought.
As we headed up to I95 we realized that in the rainy haste to get everything in the car we did not stop and pray. We prayed at that point for a safe and fun trip knowing it that our plans may not work exactly as we planned them but that God's plan for our time would work out perfectly. I think we all relaxed after we talked to God. We all sort of had that edge of the seat look about us when we started out, but after our prayer time we all relaxed and enjoyed the journey knowing it was in God's hands.
Holiday weekend and pouring rain equals back up on GWB and on NJ Tpk. The girls and I sat for 2 hours waiting to get over the bridge then another hour to travel 10 miles on the pike. Most in the cars around us looked bored or rather annoyed. Not us, we put a Disney CD in the player and sang at the top of our lungs. Laughing all the way. Laughter was not something we ever ran short on. Six hours after we left home we arrived in at Mel's only three hours after we planned to get there. Not tooo bad.
Once we where past the cities traffic lightened up and we didn't hit another huge back up the rest of the trip. Wooo Hoo! Nashville Here we come!
We waited patiently for Mel to be in the car to listen to some of the little surprises I had downloaded onto my Ipod for our adventure. Now that we had Mel with us we turned up the laughter by listening to Chonda Pierce a Christian comedian. All I have to say is "I said stiff sheets NOT a stiff in the sheets" Sorry to the rest it is an inside joke, you will have to listen to Chonda talk about her hotel adventure to understand it.
The miles passed and the girls napped in the back. Until we had one minor problem with the car. It stalled while Mel was driving. I was dozing in the passenger seat and Mel calmly says to me "The steering is stiff" I sort of wake up and look over at the console seeing the oil light on I sat up wide awake now. God was with us because we where at the entrance of an open rest area. Mel was able to pull in and cost into a parking spot. We popped the hood and looked at the engine. I could see nothing wrong right off so I asked Mel to grabbed my cell phone. The church organist and her family also made the journey at pretty much the same time and on the same route so we had exchanged numbers. I called to see where they where (about an hour behind us) and let them know we might need a help. I think we had too much running. Used more care the rest of the trip and no further problems. Our problem was really not a problem and we where on the road again after a brief rest stop. We kept in touch the rest of the journey checking in on each other it was good fun! I personally think Mel and I deserve an award for our acting that night. We both had thoughts of this is NOT good running through our heads but, our panic did not show. We just calmly looked for the solution. B didn't even know we had stalled until the next morning, she slept through the entire thing. Hat Tip to Dad for teaching me more about cars then the average girl learns. When I looked under the hood and under the car I knew it all was as it should be. There are a good many things that could have been wrong and I was prepared to handle many of them.
In the wee hours of the morning I insisted that the drivers change every hour something about the 2-5am hours on the road no matter how rested you are make your eyes go bonkers. We got out moved and sort of rebooted the brain before the point of the eyes going bonkers.
At 5 we stopped for breakfast. Broke out the coolers bought some coffee and sat in a rest stop munching away watching the sun peek over the Smoky Mts. It was a beautiful sight. It was also a rather damp time. Some how in the span of ten minutes we all managed to spill something on our pants.The first and by far the funniest. I was checking the cooler to see how much water was in it. The cooler sort of slipped and about a gallon of water spewed out on the pavement. I looked up to see the path the water was taking it was heading right for B. I was relieved to see that B was squatting rather then sitting and opened my mouth to teller her to stand up and pick another place to finish her breakfast. As I opened my mouth B started to sit down. I tried to get a warning out of my mouth but I was not fast enough. She had a puzzled look on her face as she heard my warning then a shocked look on her face as the cold wet feeling registered. She squealed loudly and jumped up.
The laughter ring out from our little area of the quite rest stop drew all eyes on us. B resettled herself and I started to make my breakfast when S knocked cranberry juice on Mel's pants more laughter peeled out from our corner of the rest stop. S then spilled her coffee on her pants again the laughter. We repacked the car ready to head out. I grabbed a Sprite to bring up front with me. I turned the cap and you guessed it. The soda sprayed out all over my pants. I think it took a good five minutes to regain control from our fit of laughter at the point. Forever more we will call that rest stop the damp pants place.The journey continued without event. I loved the 70mph speed limit, I think it is going to take me a few days to break that habit. It didn't take me long to get use to driving 70 it became normal very quickly. I noticed on the ride home when it said 55 I had a hard time obeying. 70 felt normal not 55 ;-)
The speed limit was not the only thing to rise. The temp was rapidly shooting up as well. It felt like mid August not Memorial Day weekend. It was such a wonderful feeling the sun beating down on me like that. There is nothing better then a hot sun warming your to the bone after a long winter of freezing them. :-)
We arrived in Nashville at 2pm there time just about 24 hours from the time we left. The girls headed to the pool and I headed to the shower. Then to get the lay of the land. Found some of the family and where we needed to be and when. We where ready for the next leg of the adventure or so I thought.
posted by Chris | 4:06 PM
|
0 comments
