thoughts on traveling...

It's been a good few days....relatively speaking.

We left Manhattan around 3:30 p.m., after picking up the kids from school. We'd had our final inspection at our duplex at 1:30. Man, she picked the place apart and looked it over carefully. Thankfully, we'd waived carpet cleaning when we first moved in, so they can not charge us to clean the carpet. It really wasn't bad; there was some traffic marking from 2 1/2 years of our living there. The downstairs carpet took a beating with the movers in and out, but Scott did a good job trying to get it clean. They are charging us for painting...which stinks, really. We DID live there for 2 1/2 years. We were told that after 3 years, they won't charge...you think they'd give a military family a break, seeing as we did plan to stay there.

Anyhooo...we had some time to kill, so we (Scott and I) went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee before getting the kids and heading out. I went up to Amanda Arnold ES at 3:00 p.m. to get Hannah, then headed to College Hill Preschool to get Scotty. On my way to meet Scott, I realized I didn't have my purse! I knew I had it at Starbucks, so I called the school, in case I'd left it there. I was almost to Starbucks, so I figured if the school didn't have it, it would be there. And amazingly enough, it was on the back of the chair, right where I'd left it. Can you even IMAGINE what that would have been like, knowing that I didn't have my purse...what if I hadn't discovered it before then? Yikes!!!

Anyway - we hit the road yesterday. As we got to the toll booth near Kansas City, there was the most amazing and spectacular sunset...we'd not seen the sun much, but the clouds were on FIRE. I thought it was an appropriate exit...one last Kansas sunset for us. We stopped in Kansas City for the night. We'd hoped to go down to the Plaza area and see the lights, but by the time we got there, we were all exhausted; the kids were coughing and sniffling (man, I HATE colds!). So we decided against it and put the kiddos to bed early. Both crashed right away. We did too...but unfortunately, Scotty's coughing woke us all up and he was pretty restless for several hours. I was pretty darned tired...as was Scott, so we slept an hour later than we had planned.

In the morning, we got out about 7:30 a.m. Not too bad, all things considered. We stopped in a small town called Boonville at a truckstop called Love's. We got gas and went in for a bathroom break and water. As we were headed out, I saw a familiar face! It was Traci Haworth, from Westview Community Church! Her husband Rick is a pastor at Westview. How neat it was that I would meet someone I knew! Just a good God reminder to me that I made some wonderful friends in Manhattan. They were heading in the same direction as us, too. But they left Manhattan early this a.m. I know we wouldn't have met them had we left as planned.

Anyway...some random thoughts about today's trip.

*No matter how loud or obnoxious the kids can be, driving the "other" car all alone is rather lonely...but not necessarily bad!

*If Rod Blagojevich took as much interest in the state of his highways in Illinois as he did in selling a senate seat, the trip through IL would have been much nicer.

*People have no respect for "personal safety space"...seriously. I tried to leave a cushion between Scott and I (he was in the lead), but people just kept jamming themselves in that space.

*There needs to be a law about how to merge onto a highway. At least 3 times, I was almost sideswiped by people flying down a ramp, expecting me to move over...when there was no place for me to go (car on the left, folks!).

*Indiana seems to be where people lose luggage...at least that's what I am guessing by all the clothing I saw scattered along the interstate. I was saddened to see a few kids' toys and a stuffed panda there too.

*$170 is NOT a bargain for a DVD player for the car. We have one, but it skips so much and buffers...and locks up. Thank goodness for the Nintendo DS and Lego Star Wars Complete Saga...that entertained the kids for a long time.

*No matter what you pay, the hotel is never as comfortable as you'd like.

*Kids always seem to get sick just before you travel.

*I'm bone tired...and will be until we finally settle in to a home in South Carolina. That could be a while...I might just sleep for several days.


Anyway - I'm really going to miss all my friends in Manhattan (that's a general term, meaning all the surrounding areas too). This last week was tough...I wanted to say one last goodbye to everyone, and I didn't get a chance to. I felt pulled in a million directions. But it's all good. My neighbor LaShawn will be in South Carolina in June...my friend Jo is thinking of coming to Ft. Bragg in the summer...Jodi and Dustin and thinking of a roadtrip...and I know that Jodi's going to be home in VA for part of the summer. And of course, there's the knowledge that I'll be meeting new (but old) friends in Suzanne Balvanz and Renn....and a few others.

So...I bid a fond farewell, and adieu to my little bit of time in KS...even if I never see most of my friends here again, I know I'll see you all in heaven!