The Drive Home (7/26/08)

After counting down more than 180 days until we got to leave for our vacation, it seems impossible that it is over all ready. I was not at all ready to leave. I had quickly grown accustomed to having the beach right across the street. But, boy was I missing my puppy dog. If she'd been with us, it would have been excruciatingly painful to leave Destin.

We got up at 4:30 this morning because we were supposed to meet everyone at a parking lot close to the bridge leading out of Destin by 5:30. We did not have the van packed up due to people out and about the night before. There were still some drunk partying people out and about when we first started taking things out to the van. They quickly dissipated when they saw us and another family up already and packing to leave. I guess we were their alarm to go to bed. There was one man, though that was awake and watching us the whole time we packed. I don't think he was drunk, though, but he was kind of creepy.

We were 15 minutes late getting to the parking lot. But, so were Kelly and Jeremy. I don't think any of us were really ready to go home. It was an incredible vacation. We had so much fun, but at the same time it was very relaxing. I almost cried when we drove by our beach one more time. Caleb was crying when we first got up. He did not want to leave yet at all.

I think we were all of the same frame of mind. Put that on top of it being so early and we headed the wrong direction when we first left the parking lot of our condo. It's part of the reason we were late meeting everyone else, but not the only reason.

We were on the road by 6:00 a.m. It's a long drive from Destin to St. Charles. But, it didn't seem to bad traveling with two other cars. We didn't make our first stop until we got to Montgomery, Alabama. We stopped there a little after 8:00 a.m. to have breakfast at IHOP.

They were slow there. It took us about an hour to eat breakfast. But, it was really good. Most everyone got pancakes. I got biscuits and gravy. Michael got eggs and bacon and toast. Michaela and Caleb had the Funny Face chocolate chip pancakes. I tasted them, they were delicious.

We had to stop at an Auto Zone while we were in Montgomery. The fuse in the new plug in adapter we bought for the DVD player blew. Not surprising, as it was only 2 amps and the DVD player needs 3 amps. Michael bought some 3 amp fuses for it and those worked out well. The wires inside the plug can handle 3 amps, so no big deal.

After breakfast we only made pit stops at gas stations for gas, potty breaks and snacks. As much as we did not want vacation to be over, we also did not want to be in those cars any longer than necessary. The kids were getting a little hungry and I was ready for some food by the time we were about an hour from home, but we kept going.

Kelly and I text messaged most of the trip. It was fun talking back and forth. I think this vacation was a very good bonding experience for us all. I hope it has strengthened our relationships. I really did enjoy their company and companionship on this trip. It was nice that we were all so laid back and kind of just all went with the flow of things.

We did have some rain coming home. Mostly just in Alabama. It seemed like after we hit Birmingham, we had clear skies the rest of the way. It was sunny in Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. The sun was going down by the time we got to Missouri.

We all went our separate ways once we got close to home. Kelly and Jeremy did not come in to town on the same highway as we did because their house is closer to another highway. Once we got to St. Charles, MIL and FIL stopped at a Mexican restaurant. We just wanted to get home to our dog, though. So, we said goodbye there and came on home. It was 8:20 p.m. when we pulled into the driveway. We did pretty good time getting home considering we were stopped for an hour for breakfast and had to get through some rain storms.

Abby was waiting at the top of the steps for us. She was so happy to see us. She even played a little. We were all so happy to see her, too. Gosh, I missed that dog a lot. I really wish we could have taken her with us. But, we could not find a condo we could afford that would allow dogs. I'm not sure how she'd travel at her age anyway. Especially considering the longest car ride she's ever had was when we brought her home as a puppy and I doubt she remembers that.

We got the car unloaded. I started unpacking the foodstuff and toiletries. Michael went and got us Taco Bell because we really had nothing in the house to eat. I did not unpack clothes or souvenirs tonight. We are not going to church tomorrow so I've got most of the day to take care of that stuff. It feels good to be home, but I'm still not happy that the whole thing is over already. However, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight and so are the kids.