Road Trip!!

Road Trips.

We've all been on them.

Pack the bags, corral the kids and the dog in the back seat and head out on some great, grand, wacky, wild adventure.

Maybe we head to the Grand Canyon, or the Field of Dreams, or the Mall of America, or some ball game in the 'big city', or maybe we simply take that all too familiar trip, you know, over the river and through the woods...to Grandmother's house we go.

Few would deny there is a certain thrill, a certain sense of freedom, of endless possibilities...when we stop planning, stop preparing, stop counting down the days...and we FINALLY get to actually be going.

Going.  Moving.  Doing.   Not just sitting there.  Finally the day has arrived where we finally get to go somewhere.

Anywhere but here, right?

And if the route is familiar, we know in our minds, even before we start out, where we might stop for a pee and a pop, or where that great roadside burger joint is, just 187 miles away!   World's Largest Ball of String, Check.  We trust our car will get us there, we trust the road will get us there, we trust it will be just fine.  Grandma will be there waiting for us...

And most of the time we don't even need a map (or a GPS these days)...we're at least somewhat familiar with how to get there, and as long as our sense of direction isn't totally shot, we can at least get kinda close to where were going before we might maybe..just maybe...as a LAST resort.. have to stop for directions.

Let's be honest, half the fun seems to be in the journey, not just the destination.  And sure sometimes as the miles add up we get a little restless, the kids begin to argue, 'are we there yet' is more frequent.  The engine might start to heat up, and the AC starts blowing out hot air and the fuel light comes on.  Road constructions detours you 20 miles out of your way.  But in the end you know, 99 times out of 100, you'll get there just the same, and no worse for wear.

And that's the mindset I am trying to maintain during my wait time.  Destination...New Heart.  Have fun on this adventure...anticipate a bump or two or five along the way, and just take time to enjoy the entire process of...Going.  Moving.  Doing.

But I know this is no ordinary road trip.

I really have no idea how long the trip is going to be.   For me miles are measured in weeks and months.
  2 months?
                         17 weeks?  14 months?
                                                       Tomorrow??
           Who knows?


I'm not even sure where Grandma lives anymore, and nobody else knows either.

I'm hoping my engine holds up long enough to get there, and the tires have enough tread on them, and the crack in the windshield doesn't get too much bigger, and I'll be able to get something on the radio besides talk, talk, talk,   And...and...and.    There is always another 'and'.

I hope I don't run out of gas.
I hope I don't get into some silly fender bender that will make the trip even longer, or even impossible.
I hope I know when to let someone else take over when I get too tired to drive...

But I still want to take the time to slow down and soak in all the little, and not so little quite honestly, things I've seen before, but never took the time to appreciate.  Cause I always thought I had more time...I think we all do

Everything on this trip takes a new meaning when I am stopped in my tracks at times, and I wonder if I will ever pass this way again.

I try not to dwell on that thought much, but it's there.  And it's silly to deny that it is.

I love being on this adventure, don't get me wrong, and still just keep believing that the New Heart is just around the next bend, just over the next hill.