And We're Off to Wisconsin...Again and Again

The four of us were totally ready to leave at 4:00pm for the long journey to Wisconsin.  We’d finished our VBS week with a wrap up at church, picked up our subs from Publix, said goodbye to our favorite deli lady, packed the car full, strapped in the baby and the dog and were pulling out of the driveway.   Kim was singing a tune about how the garage door was closing because you know by now that if she didn’t, I was going to be asking ten minutes later if I remembered to close it and have to drive back to make sure.

We’d driven a whole two streets when I couldn’t feel my wallet in my back pocket.  So I went back home, looked in the house and found it in the car.  Grr.  Here we go again.  We pull out of the driveway and are on our way.    We’d gotten a whole five streets away when I couldn’t remember if we shut the garage door when I went back in to look for my wallet.

“I’m sure you did,” Kim says.

“But I’m not positive.  I have to go back,” I say.

“I figured.”

It was closed. 
“We need some gas.  Should we stop at Wal-mart?” Kim asks.
“I’d prefer to stop at the gas station heading out of town.  It’ll be faster.”

Of course once we arrived at the gas station all the pumps were covered.

“OH MY GOSH!” I scream, “Well, here we go back into town to find another gas station.  Is God telling us not to leave?” I ask.

“No!”  Kim says, really wanting to get out of town, “He is protecting us from something on the road.”

“Hmm,” I say.  Well that’s very positive.”

45 minutes after we tried to get out of town we finally did and things seemed to go fairly well from that point on.  I expected Rory to be crying for most of the trip but really he only had  
three bad fits.

“Rory please stop!” I grumble.

“He’s just overtired,” Kim says. 
“Well why won’t he fall asleep then?  I’m getting a headache, and he’s been crying for an hour!”  I whine.
“Umm, it’s only been 15 minutes.  I’ve been timing it.  And his earlier fit was for 4 minutes, then he passed out.”
“Hmm,” I ponder,  “It feels longer.”

Getting out of Florida seemed the longest, but passing through Georgia took quite a while too.  The best part was that most of our driving was through Rory’s bedtime and he just slept through everything.  My whole goal was to get through Atlanta before stopping to rest because ain’t nobody  got time for that traffic.  However, since we left so late in the day I was worried that I’d be able to stay awake and actually utilize the quiet driving time.  Luckily my friend and Pastor is a 5 Hour Energy Spokesmodel and he assured me that I’d not only physically feel awake but I’d also get the best mental clarity that you could buy for 3.50 a bottle.    I have to tell you that almost instantly after downing the sickly sweet pomegranate nectar my eyes completely focused and I was as alert as a ninja assassin.  It was so fantastic, until my chest started burning.  I texted Tim and told him something must be wrong.  He was great enough to call me back and let me know that the burning was natural and of course necessary.  In the end, he was right because we ended up sailing through Georgia and into Tennessee before I was ready to quit for the night.

“Kim will you go in and get the room?” I ask.

“Sure,” Kim says with a touch of Zombieitous near her eyes.
When the four of us pile into the room, we see it’s a decent size for 40  bucks but the bed is, and I’m being generous, a double. 
“Umm?  Did you tell them you were travelling alone?” I ask.
“Well, she didn’t ask,” Kim says sitting down on the bed.
“Did you tell them you had a husband and a dog that all sleep on the same bed?”
“Well, she didn’t ask,” Kim says laying her head back on the pillow.
“Did you tell them you had a baby and a fancy twin sized bed wasn’t going to cut it?”
“Well, she didn’t ask,” Kim slurs and then begins to snore deeply.
“I should have done it myself!” I harrumph. 

It wasn’t a good night’s sleep, but eh, we only have 13 more hours to drive the next day.