We
work hard every day, take care of our families, and some of us cannot afford to
travel. It’s not that we don’t want to go because there is sometimes I would
like nothing more than to put my family in our car and drive far, far away. But
Jim being a teacher, we don’t always have extra money. We can’t take the money
that’s meant for food, utilities, car payments, etc. to go on a
vacation.
We
had not, as a family, been back to see our family in Idaho for exactly 10 years this
summer. 10 years!
But
this summer – Ah, yes, this summer was different for our family!
Our
oldest son got married last week in Idaho, and we decided that we were going.
The drive from Texas was about 1700 miles… a long drive, for sure, but
it was so worth it. And my bosses let me off for the week with short notice.
What a blessing!
Our
oldest kids couldn’t go with us, so it was just us and the younger three.
The
first day, we drove to Farmington, New Mexico and stayed in the Holiday Inn
Express there. It was a very nice hotel, great pool, and an interesting
restaurant called Blake’s Lotaburger was located in the parking lot. We were
eating hamburgers at 10:00 mountain time, 11:00pm central time, our normal time
zone. Of course, vacation time is different than our “normal” time.
It
seems every time we leave Texas, my allergies kick up, and this time was no
different. I think I took Excedrin Migraine almost every day we were gone.
Our
second day, we drove through the scenic areas of NM, CO, UT and ID. The mountains
were crazy-cool, the Indian Reservation areas were – well, there are no words.
We made it to Jim’s brother’s house around 10:30pm. When we drove into the
wrong driveway, he was sitting outside laughing at us. It was so funny!
My
mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s, and she is in a very nice home. Seeing her was
our first mission on our first day in Idaho.
And
we also had to visit Taco Time. If you haven’t been there before, make sure you
do it!
I
won’t go through and tell every single thing we did, but I will say this: We
had a wonderful time! The family took time out of their normal schedules to
hang out with us and make sure that we had a good time.
We have some friends we met when we lived in Oklahoma, 20+ years ago. How strange is it that of all the cities in all the states - they would move to the same town Jim's family lives in? It was awesome to see them, too!
We were able to spend time with Connor and Krista at their house, too. It was great meeting her for the first time and getting to know her. She's our daughter-in-love now!
Connor
and Krista were married on Saturday in a field in rural Idaho. It was simple
and beautiful, and Jim was asked to do part of the ceremony. We hated to leave,
but we knew we had to get home.
It was hard to say goodbye to these people we love. We are hoping that 10 years doesn't have to pass for us to see them again.
So,
we drove straight through to Texas this time.
I
am the usual driver because I get carsickness. When it came to a point where I
just couldn’t go any longer, Jim took over. There wasn’t really a time where
both of us couldn’t go on, so that was great. And we went home straight freeway
– Boise to Salt Lake City to Cheyenne to Denver to Wichita. And that’s where we
met up with my parents and sister for lunch. We spent a couple of hours with
them, and then we started the drive home back to north Texas. When we were
getting close to the border, it seemed it was taking FOREVER. But then we were
in our house, and when we hit our bed… Ahhhh… You never know how much you appreciate
your bed until you try to sleep in a car and only manage a couple of hours of
sleep in 36 hours.
I
slept almost 11 hours straight and hardly moved at all.
And
then it was over.
I
have to say, though, it was just marvelous. My desire to get in the car and
drive away is gone, and we have these fantastic memories to last forever.
The
whole trip cost about $1,000. I thought it would be so much more than that, but
when you take food in your car, and you can make PB&J sandwiches driving
down the highway instead of eating out constantly, it can really save you
money.
I’ve
had a new attitude this week, although I was exhausted the first few days. The
word “grateful” describes how I feel.
