Road Trip – J.I.L.L.

Little Touch Follow-Up

First, if you don’t already use a navigation app like Waze or Google Maps when you drive, I highly recommend it. I am a fan of Waze, which will update your route based on real time traffic data. Also, users can share information like when there is a car on the side of the road, debris on the road, or a police car up ahead.

Granted, short drives don’t really warrant using a navigation app. Long distance drives, trips during high traffic times, and driving in unfamiliar places are great for using Waze.

Anyway, one of my favorite features is that you can choose different navigation voices. I like using one of the UK English voices. It became a favorite of mine when it pronounced Lititz Pike (“lit-its”) as “le tits” pike.

My sister uses the Boy Band voice option. It sings the navigation. “🎶In a quarter of a mile, go leeeeft🎶.” It’s so silly. And so simple. And just adds a little touch of joy to driving, which could otherwise be mundane, frustrating, etc.

I hope you notice and appreciate the little touches in the world around you. And if you don’t see enough, consider adding some of your own. Like changing up the voice on your navigation app.

🙂 Love you my friends!

Vero Beach, FL

We made it!!!

8+ hours and we’re finally in Vero Beach, FL! We had another leisurely start to the day, especially because of turning the clocks back.

Our first stop was at Buc-ees. Holy crap. What an experience. Steve told us we should stop there if possible – that it’s like a Cracker Barrel combined with a Sheetz on steroids – and boy was he right! It was an experience in and of itself.

It was another lovely day for a drive. Traffic was okay most of the time. Waze took us another way than we had planned, saying it was 24 minutes shorter, and it worked out okay. I’ve learned to trust Waze. It’s a pretty great app. About an hour after I told BA people don’t really abuse the app to put incorrect alerts out, we started getting a bunch of nonsense alerts. Oh well…

We tried stopping at Cracker Barrel. Waited 20 minutes for a table. Then, after about 3 minutes at the table, we decided to leave. It was super busy, one table near us was complaining to the manager, and another table near us was sitting waiting for their waitress (and had been seated ten minutes before us). Although it was a shame to waste half an hour, we were glad we left and didn’t waste any more time.

Three and a half hours later, we made it to Vero and clinked our glasses:)

We had a nice (and crazy) dinner with family and now we’re settling in at my mom’s place. She and BA are getting along swimmingly:)

Plans for tomorrow… mimosas and the beach!!!

Atlanta, Georgia

We started our day a little leisurely, waking up without an alarm. Even so, we were on the road around 9 am. We skipped breakfast so BA had a few Wilbur Buds to hold her over (thanks Kim!).

About two hours down the road, we decided it was a frappe Saturday so we stopped and got ourselves medium caramel frappes and fries at McDonalds. I also filled up the car and cleaned the windshield and rear window. My car got 40 mpg again, which is great (especially given how heavy the car is now that it’s packed full).

Shortly thereafter, we crossed into Georgia; and, as has been the case all along the way so far, I said “Welcome to Georgia, BA!” To which she said thank you and promptly texted her brother that we just crossed the line into Georgia. Not even five minutes later, we passed a sign that said “Welcome to Tennessee!” We were a little confused but we went with it. I asked BA if she was going to text her brother that we were back in Tennessee now and she said, “Nope.”

Traffic today was noticeably heavier and less patient than the past two days. I may have dropped several expletives, which I was delighted to find BA completely agreed with.

A couple hours later we made it to Atlanta and BA’s brother’s home. We had a nice introductory conversation and then he kindly took us on a driving tour of parts of Atlanta. We saw Emory University (fun fact: Emory was the only place I applied to in high school – and, no, I didn’t get accepted), the Governor’s mansion, parts of Buckhead, and Peachtree Rd, along with several other sights. Atlanta is hillier than I expected and is lush with beautiful mature trees.

Upon returning home, we quickly dove into some day drinking and chatting while dinner was cooking. What a delightful time chatting with BA and David! Dinner was a delicious fall-themed meal and the great conversation continued. I talked with them about the 5 Love Languages – you know what a fan I am of that – and really enjoyed the whole visit so far because I am a quality time kind of person.

I particularly enjoyed the banter between BA and David. Here’s a nugget you’ll have to ask her about sometime. Check out the horse in the picture below. It wasn’t originally designed to have a removable tail. Yet, now it does…

We get an extra hour to sleep tonight. Perhaps we’ll actually make it past 10 pm! Good night y’all!

Bristol, Virginia

Well, we are on our way! We left Pennsylvania today and crossed through Maryland (very briefly) and West Virginia to land in Bristol, Virginia. Fun fact, Bristol is on the state line so half of it is in Virginia and the other half is in Tennessee.

What a beautiful day for a drive! It was sunny with happy clouds and the trees in lovely fall colors. We listened to 70’s Light Rock on Pandora. Traffic was relatively light and although BA used the holy sh!t handle a few times and offered to flip somebody off, there were no serious curse words, no true a-holes on the road, and my driving was solid.

We started off only a smidge rough. We had to return for some forgotten snacks, forgot to ask someone to take a picture of us, and forgot to take a picture of the car. Fortunately, it only took a few moments for us to realize this. So we stopped on a random street in Palmyra to snap a selfie. There was a light up goat decoration in the yard where we stopped. Seemed perfect!

The quote of the day: “You see, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know” (courtesy of BA) and followed up later by the caveat, “but I do know hot buns.” We had delicious hot buns, Cesar salad, steaks, and sweet potatoes at Texas Road House. Can you guess whose drink is who’s?

Now we’re settling into our room to get a good night’s sleep. Good night! Thank you for the prayers and well wishes! I’ll share more tomorrow!

Plans

Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. Yep. How often are we reminded of that wise saying?! And I guess one of the best (and most cliché) responses to that is, if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Now, I don’t think you can always turn things around so far as to make lemonade. However, you can certainly just accept the lemons for being lemons (and not the end of the world). Maybe squeeze them into a glass of water? Or zest them around the room for some clean fresh fragrance? Or use them to keep your avocado from turning brown?

I say this because my car is in the shop with a screw in the shoulder of one tire. Yes, two days before our big road trip and not only do I need to get a new tire but I’m also without my car for over a day, ruining my practice packing plans. What to do?

Well, I’m grateful the tire place could get me in today. And I’m grateful they can get me new tires in time for our planned departure. And I got some bonus extra time with a friend who helped me drop off my car. Plus, I got to eat fresh hot Chick-fil-A tonight instead of 20-minute old Chick-fil-A.

These are all good things. So much for my plans! Things are turning out differently and just fine anyway.

The Big Move is Almost Here

I am going to start posting updates on my journey to a new state and a new life.

Including today, I have only five days left at work. And, one week from tomorrow, I hit the road to FL. I still can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I am super excited yet super sad, and can switch between those emotions from one moment to the next.

Between now and next Thursday, I need to figure out exactly how much stuff I can fit in my car, so I can decide exactly what will go with me now and what will go into storage with all my furniture and other home goods. One of the many lessons I have learned so far through this process is the importance of letting go of material things. What do I really need versus what do I just want?

Regardless of what you call it – decluttering, simplifying, organizing, minimalism, essentialism, etc. – I highly recommend you look into purging some material clutter from your life. The process of sorting through all my belongings has given me a sense of freedom I did not anticipate. It makes me think of the movie Labyrinth, where one character literally carried on her back all of the belongings she cherished. This kept her from going out and experiencing life. Scary metaphor, huh?

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
     ~Matthew 6:33, NLT

I also need to figure out the actual route I will drive to FL. My good friend and former secretary, Betty Anne (BA), is making the trek with me. We are going to make a fun trip of it, stopping at several places along the way. Many people are likening us to Thelma and Louise. I hope we don’t get into nearly as much trouble as those ladies; however, I hope that, thanks to BA’s company, this drive to FL will be an adventure in and of itself!

“Well, we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but we can see it from here.” ~Louise Sawyer, ‘Thelma And Louise’