MommaVenture: Blue Skies

Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds all day long.
-- ROD STEWART

**WARNING** These next few posts will be extremely picture heavy. But you will enjoy them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just one day after returning home from the mayhem of the raccoons, we packed up the "fami-wy car" with all of our kid essentials, a bag full of DVDs and CDs, Daddy's ipod, books galore, and all kinds of dollar-store gadget. Rubber met the road and northward bound we were. The kids were so excited to see Gramma and Boppa, yet had no idea how long the ride would be. They settled into the car, ready to rumble, with their toys at hand, smiles dressed their faces, and joy filled their hearts. All they knew is, they were going to Michigan. Maps make no sense. Miles are foreign. Time moves as fast or as slow as they want it to.

Instead of taking the boring one-shot, no-turns drive up I-75 from our front door to theirs, I was able to convince Andy to take a slight detour through Indianapolis to meet Lori and Teddy, which we have only dreamed of up until this point. The little detour only added one hour of time to our entire trip, distance-wise, yet Lori and family were generous to offer us a place to stay over night. Trade that off with a few rounds of golf of his choice, and Andy is game for my crazy and relentless wish. What we didn't realize was how beautiful a drive going up I-65 would be, rather than the typical I-75.

We lucked out with all of the rest stops that we took, which was fantastic, considering we stopped on average every 3 hours. And that adds a lot of time to an already 16-hour trip. The kids were incredible. They treated each little 30-minute break like their destination. Cari would hop out of the car and run like mad singing and squealing like we had driven this long just to get to this little picnic at a potty stop. I frequently wish I was filled with the amount of joy in a day that she exudes in just one single breath.

And Chad, well, he's happy whenever he's wherever Mommy is. He's simple.

It wasn't long into our trip when we started seeing miles of cars pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. It took us a good 7 to 8 miles of it before we realized what was going on. Yes, we were driving right through the middle of Bonnaroo 2010 traffic. It was about the point when we noticed the traffic coming to standstills when the truckers would slow down to eye the girls on the side of the highway who had been sitting for hours on end that we agreed our children will not be attending Bonnaroo. Looked like tons of fun. Not for our kids. Cars had their hoods up, people were out of gas, boys were throwing ball. Those cars were not getting there today. Maybe not tomorrow.

We began clocking the traffic. Bumper to bumper, ignitions off. From the point where we started clocking it, the cars were lined up for 18+ miles. And that was only going northbound. Yes, the southbound traffic did not have an exit to the venue. They had to drive 2+ past the end of the line of traffic, exit the interstate, and get back on, to get in this line of traffic. So those cars on the left are going south, and clocking the distance of traffic they must sit in going south and then returning north. And yet, they are STILL sitting there. Bonaroo must be good. Not for our kids.

It was also about that time that Cari realized she was hungry for lunch. Sorry, honey, there are no stops. Watching her eyelids droop down and her eyelashes lay on her little soft cheeks, then popping open in an instant, I knew her naptime was around the corner. We opted for lunch in the car. Once again, Cari thought it was a fantastic idea. She has fun everywhere she goes.

Chad obviously didn't mind a bit. He was well equipped with many toys to pass the time.

And his sister's sunglasses that she so sweetly and adamently wanted to share with him.

We continued to drive through gorgeous countryside, only to wonder, if it is this beautiful adjoining the interstate, just imagine what is way beyond the horizon, so secretely hidden and tucked away.

We awed at the wheat so gently leaning in the breeze, covering the earth in a rich golden butter.

Before long, naptime befell us; the kids snoozed with dreams afloat and we enjoyed quiet, quality conversation without answering questions, solving problems, kissing boo-boos or singing the alphabet in between half-finished thoughts.

When the kids woke, it was time for another pitstop. What better place in the country to stop, than to sit on the porch of Cracker Barrel, rocking in any chair of your desire, and playing a quick game of checkers....er....checker towers.

Cari was so proud of her tower. So proud. And I might say, this picture warms my heart.

Surprisingly, or not, when you put two Civil Engineers together in a car, on a long road trip, you are bound to have some amazement of bridges. Driving into Louisville was a bit exciting, if I may say. Double feature.

Do you see why this is so cool? We both got cricks in our necks from craning them so hard to see where each of the beams were going, how they were connected, which ones were in compression, tension, and how much of it was just for looks. :)

And, finally, Indiana. We're getting closer, Lori, we're getting closer.

But first, one more picnic.

Are you watching, Sunshine?

And........we meet! Lori and Danny are the sweetest, just as we had known. Three years of knowing each other without ever meeting, and when we met, it was just like we had been friends forever. We started right into conversation, carrying on as if we had just seen each other last week.

Teddy and Cari were immediately best buddies, vrroooooming Teddy's cars around and trading choo-choo trains. Teddy tried to teach Cari how to hit a 3-run homer and Cari showed Teddy how to hit a golf ball.

Thank you so much for having us over. We're so glad we got to stay. Chad enjoyed himself as well. Please make a trip to the south sometime soon!

It was such a short visit, but on the road, we must continue. For our last pitstop before reaching Gramma and Boppa's house, we found the best little park next to a rundown filling station. There was nothing else on the exit, but the little private park could not have been better. Once again, Cari ran in excitement as if we had driven two days to get to this little picnic spot. The weather was a perfect cool-in-the-shade, warm-in-the-sun.