Travel Times

Two weeks ago we came into Georgia from California. Now here we are, settled (to a certain degree) in the beautiful town of Kennesaw. Trees, trees and more trees. A few disgusting bugs. Mild May temperature. Long lazy roads. In short, I LOVE it!

We left Los Angeles on May 7th, with Keith driving our packed out moving truck followed by me driving the family van. We quickly fell into a travel routine that worked well for a large family that has never been on the road for longer than a half hour at a time! We would get up and get dressed when we all woke up -- We would get adjoining rooms at whatever hotel or motel looked good off of the freeway. Then, at about noon, we'd go to Denny's for breakfast, drive for about three or four hours, have lunch at a Wendy's or Dairy Queen (where we could also have ice cream!) and then drive for anothel three or four hours. Then, we'd crash at another motel off of the freeway. And that was our routine for five days of driving across the country.

Desert, high desert, cold desert, hot desert, painted dessert, canyons, flood washes, then we started to see trees that looked like God had pounded them into the ground. These short trees followed us for quite some time through the middle of the country. Then, there plains, ranches, lava rock, more trees; then the trees got taller and the weather got windier. I'll never forget how windy it was driving through Oklahoma, or the lady at Dairy Queen with her Texas accent, the thousands of trucks that passed us as we drove along Highway 40, the miles and miles of unpopulated land.

I said to the kids on more than one occasion that over population is such a HUGE problem in the United States. We all laughed. I also told them my bug joke, "What's the last thing that goes through a bug's mind when it hits the car windshield?" Answer: "Its rear end."

We were all in good spirits until the last day, when we were getting pretty tired. Keva was starting to launch things. The little kids were starting to squabble. And I was running out of patience. Still, we made it at last!