It has been sometime since I have driven through the night, well actually, not that long...I just completed this task a week ago when we left for Ohio to visit family. What a trek it was, but I have rediscovered the beauty of traveling as a family, especially while all the kids are nestled in their car seats with visions of sugar products dancing through their heads.
Our trip started with sideways rain here in Maine and was followed by sideways snow in Pennsylvania. We made it Ohio in a mere 17 hours and surprised the dickens out of grandma and grandpa (they did not know that we were coming!) We ate cookies, exchanged gifts, and relaxed. We took off a couple of days later and landed in the land of Cleve's (that's Cleveland for the late person) and visited some of our favorite friends and family. Again we ate cookies, exchanged gifts (one of which was a double date with my sister and her husband without children), and again relaxed. Oh, we went thrift shopping as well. You know you have entered the world of frugal (cheap to the late person) when $3.99 is too much for a pair of pants. But, boy oh boy, did I find some bargains. I now have a new wardrobe for around $40.00!
To top off our trip, my sister, my niece, and I ventured out one final time. After about nine years of "every now and then asks" (that's where you gently chip away your spouses protective layer of common sense) I was granted a very special wish...I could get an orange kitten! (because driving home through the night with three children is not challenging enough, I wanted something fluffy to meow at me). Now our family has a little orange kitty named Journey.
After all the mini-adventures in Ohio, we started the through-the-night trek back to Maine. We were greeted by a snowed in driveway that we could not make our way up (they plowed while we waited, thank goodness), a decomposing Christmas tree (I took it down before we even unpacked), and our home (I finally like coming home to it).
We are happy to be here and are tenderly dreaming about the New Year and the wonderful adventures that The Lord has in store for us. May your resolutions come true!