On the Road

I think we were up around 6am this morning. After breakfast and the usual morning routine, we set to work on the moving van. The piano had to be loaded off, as did my queen bedframe, which were staying with my parents and not going to Florida. We acquired a desk from my parents-- this will be used as our computer desk and as an area where Jonathan can study.

Mom called around and got 3 guys from the seminary to come over to help with the piano. Clark arrived from Winston-Salem, so with 5 adult men around, loading the piano was SO much more easy than it had been in W-S. The seminary guys even hung around to help us with the re-loading of our stuff as well. Jonathan was able to get the truck more organized and he had more room to work with, so when he was done there was even a little space left in the truck. Yea!

We grabbed quick sandwiches for lunch, said goodbye to Mom (Dad had left early before we awoke) and Clark, and we were off by 11:45am. We had 3 vehicles and 6 people in our caravan. Jonathan drove the moving van and Matthew was thrilled to be in the cab with him. Al and Shirley rode in their crammed-full minivan. I drove our minivan with Colson, the cat and the goldfish.

As we pulled out I put Nichole Nordeman's Brave on in the CD player. The title track is especially meaningful to me, as I'd discovered it right around the time this whole "Grand Scheme" thing was beginning to germinate last year.

When we got to the split in the highway that gave you the choice between going on north (and therefore back to Winston) or south (and therefore on to Florida), I was really emotional. I'm so excited about the life that we're headed toward down south, but it's really hard for me to leave my beloved NC. It was a definite push-pull moment.

The rest of the day went really well. We stopped only once for Colson, as he just needed to get out and stretch his legs. We got gas and used the restrooms (my options were pretty scary as public restrooms go) and were off again. The next stop, about 30 minutes later, was a potty break for Matthew. I didn't even get out of the van for this one-- Colson was stable and I wanted to keep moving, so I circled the parking lot. Later at the Georgia state line, Shirley wanted to stop to check on hotel coupons. Again, I circled the lot. Jonathan stopped one more time for a Matthew potty break, but he rejoined me later as I kept driving. I passed the time as I drove listening to podcasts from Focus on the Family and Ebert & Roeper (movie reviews).

By dinnertime we'd just about made it to the Florida line. We stopped and stayed in a Ramada in Kingsland, GA. I was amazed at how not tired I was, especially after driving all day. This is not my usual routine. Jonathan was doing well too, and Matthew hadn't been bored at all in the big truck. Al and Shirley had been able to take turns driving. Traffic had been very light as well. A good travel day to be sure. Thank you, Lord!

Poor Colson was soaked when I got him out of the car in Georgia-- he'd been in the same diaper all day and had every manner of bodily fluid on him. I stripped him down in the parking lot of the hotel and got him cleaned up. He did so well today; I was simply amazed.

We had a quick dinner at a local Shoney's, happy to be together, safe (so far) on our journey and joyful at the fact that everything was coming together.

We got settled into our rooms, and while we unpacked I let Matthew watch 15 minutes of Meerkat Manor, a treat for him. Colson was tired, but happy to bounce on the bed behind Matthew as he watched the show. I think he missed his partner in crime today!

Soon we had Colson's bed set up in the room, and we hit the lights sometime in the 9pm hour. I didn't sleep well again tonight, mostly because of the excitement of what tomorrow would bring.