May 10th, 2015
We departed at 8:00 am to finally pick up our third member, Haley. We picked her up at the hotel that she was staying at with her family. They were celebrating her brother's recent graduation and his pharmacy doctorate degree! Congrats to him!
We hopped into the MINI (after careful packing that even included bongos) and started our three person journey! The GPS gave us an 11 hour and 40 minute trip... Yikes.
I took the first 7 hours, but we stopped for coffee, pens, and food occasionally. Haley and Karen slept most of the way, but as I type this, I'm reminded of how much sleep they got that I missed out on. They're having a sing along party in the car, and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.... Guess 6 hours of sleep really effect your enjoyment of Taylor Swift. Luckily, I'm not driving, so I can rest.
Almost 12 hours in a car gives you time to really take in life. I kept trying to figure out why exactly I'm on this trip.
Sure, I want pictures. Sure, I want to see America. But it's much more than that, of course. I'm excited to see how three individuals react to 100 hours and 24 days inside a little car. I'm excited to see how many hard surfaces my body can be okay with sleeping on. I'm excited for the challenges. I'm excited to see what I'm capable of and what I'm not. There are so many unfathomable challenges that I have yet to think about or experience. But this trip... I hope it can give me a better understanding of the world and the person I want to be.
Maybe I am not the type of person that enjoys Taylor Swift (at all), but I want to be the type of person that can listen to her on blast on the 10th hour of the day's drive while two energetic young women yell/sing along.
Workin' on being breezy after so many years of not <3
Happy Mother's Day to my mom, who lovingly let me go on this trip even though I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with her this year. Thanks for all you've done over the years. You didn't just do the usual stuff; you did it so well. Thanks for the hard lessons, the time out chair, the hugs, and for making sure I didn't grow up to be a villian (yet). Love you, Mom.