A Long Trip Home...............Literally

Image one: Julia at MF new house---Image Two: The cutest baby ever----Image Three: Thanksgiving sandwiches at MF'S----Image Four: View from the car ride-----Image Five: Lafa preparing for the long drive

This past week Lafa and I decided to drive the 17 hours to C-ville to spend Thanksgiving with the folks. At the time it seemed like the reasonable option, since flights were going to cost us 1000 dollars apiece and the two of us always enjoy car rides. But, after making the trip to C-ville I can say....without any hesitation, that this choice should have been thoroughly researched (by moi) prior to jumping onto the Lafa wagon of long holiday car adventures (a.k.a. time spent with a close relation in a very tight, sometimes suffocating space).

I will say that I did learn several interesting things about myself on the journey and that my eyes were opened to the slowly developing Tommy A. tendencies in my aging sibling. This could be seen the 5 times Lafa felt it was appropriate to lean over from the passenger seat and adjust the wind shield wipers to a speed that was more to her liking. Even after suggesting that this was not appreciated and could she please stop--she continued to do it FOUR MORE TIMES!!!!

The trip started on Tuesday evening, after I had worked 9 hours. All seemed fine with Lafa. She had taken most of the day off work to run errands, purchasing the needed essentials for a long trip (including a large bag of M&Ms, a sandwich from one of our favorite spots, and music that would set the tone for the passing landscape). This relaxing disposition was soon lost when Lafa exploded with the craziness one can only have from the swarming of holiday shoppers and the developing belief that no matter how long you wait to back out your car there is never going to be a chance because, "People suck, Thanksgiving sucks, and if that old hag with the Christmas sweater doesn't move her crippled, elderly husband out of my---I might scream!!!!"*

Oh, how I love the spirit of the holidays.

The first day we drove 6 hours to Huntington, West Virginia were we spent the night at a relatively nice/clean motel that dotted highway 64. The next morning our hopes of a smooth drive were soon lost when we discovered that we had forgotten about the large bag of trash that we had left in the trunk of the car. You may be questioning why we had a large bag of trash in the back of our car--well we thought it would have been much better to dump the trash somewhere along our trip home then leave it in our apartment. So when we opened the doors to the car at 5:30 a.m. to drive another 11 hours to C-ville we were shocked to discover the smells of rot and frankly a moist rank that made my eyes water. Too nervous to take the trash out at the motel...Lafa insisted that we drive another hour before we could dump the bag in a dumpster at a rest area.**

The next 7 hours of the drive went pretty smoothly except that we only stopped once and I was having some issues with my legs cramping. Things only started to go bad when we hit St. Louis, which is when the interstate traffic slowed and Lafa and I decided that we should just take back roads home. This mistake of ours would lead to an extra hour of driving and a small mental breakdown by Lafa who realized that she may have ingested a much too large amount of chocolate which was causing her to lose her hearing and have dryness in her mouth. Upon realizing this she decided she needed to pull over and have me drive, but I insisted that she buck-up and take one for the team.*** We did finally arrive in C-ville and I can't tell you how relieved I was.

Unfortunately our visit ends tomorrow, Sunday, when we will drive back to Virginia. I can only imagine that the drive back will hold hours of excitement and stories that I might find humor in.......well, maybe in a few years :).

Next weekend Lafa and I head to Arkansas to be dates for two of Lafa's college friends. I will keep you posted on what goes down. You must know that there is a huge chance that a lot might go down because I found out that my dates ex-girlfriend will be attending the wedding and the maid of honor apparently hates Lafa's date. My plan is to lay low and if that includes nabbing cake, a bottle of wine and heading to the bathroom....I am willing to do it.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

*This might not have been Lafa's exact words, but close enough for you to get the right idea

**I understand this piece of evidence might be incriminating, but if this is one of the worst things that I do as an adult...I am willing to take on the shame that goes with it.

***I also recognized this as one of Lafa's manipulating moves to get out of driving...and I was not going to fall for it.