A New Adventure!

Hello Blog Friends,

Let me set the scene here by telling you this is my first post in a long time and I am writing to you from a Drury dining room in Jackson Mississippi on my way to the beach in Florida. No I am not running away from home, I am actually on a long-awaited (and much needed) vacation!!

My hope for this trip has been to relax and enjoy some "down-time" with my husband and 3 youngest children (a more "normal sized' family than the brood we are used to) and maybe find the time and inspiration to do a little blogging.

Together we raised enough money in a garage sale to cover the condo and gas money so we wouldn't have to stress over funds but unfortunately "relaxed" is not an easy or natural state for any of us. So Saturday night my husband was in a bit of a self induced panic as he was loading the car and he accidently locked it with the keys inside. Fortunately his wife (that would be me) had renewed the AAA membership so there was no need for bent clothes hangers and a crow bar.

Our plan was to leave early on Saturday morning but we got delayed by about 45 minutes as we launched an all out search for my husband's missing eyeglasses. I suggested we pretend it was Easter morning and we were trying to find that last elusive egg but nobody was buying it. Tense is not a strong enough word to describe the atmosphere at that point! Eventually of course we found the eyeglasses, right where he had set them down, and we piled in the car, pulled out of the driveway and began our adventure.....

It wasn't long before I remembered that there are two ways to take a road trip.

1) Head straight to your destination and do not be detoured!

2) Enjoy the ride and stop to smell the roses!

I am a #2 type of traveller but I am married to a #1 type of traveller.

Our first conflict came when we had to decide where to eat. He wanted a quick, franchise burger and I wanted a local culture experience. In the end we compromised; we went a few miles out of our way to eat at the world famous, Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls) but when the wait was too long we ended up eating burgers at the Pancake & Waffle house.

It was when we stopped for lunch that we discovered a problem with our Suburban. We were going to have it checked at a nearby Chevy dealership in Springfield, MO. but we "just happened" to be sitting in front of a man who is a parts & service manager for Porsche. He overheard us talking and he offered to check the car and was able to diagnose and fix it right there in the parking lot.

What are the odds of that? God's timing is perfect and he used a misplaced pair of glasses & an off-the-beaten-path restaurant to put us exactly where we would find help before we even knew it was needed!

Of course our drama didn't end there but continued when several hours later we ran out of gas on a remote highway in Mississippi.

On a positive note that gave the girls and I a chance to do a little reading.

Before AAA could arrive (for the second time in a 24 hour period) a kind Samaritan and his family came to our rescue. Come to find out he is a Christian and asked if he could pray with us so we formed a little circle and prayed on the side of the highway.

Our family sure does give God plenty of opportunity to show His glory in our lives! LOL!

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful except for while driving on a pitch black Mississippi highway we heard an "extra loud" bug hit the front of the car. When we finally reached our destination we got out to investigate and found a bat lodged in the grill.

Again though this experience divided the genders. The girls and I were totally embarrassed to be driving a car with a "dead bat" grill ornament but John and Quin are now calling our car the "Batmobile"!

I can hardly wait to see what today brings....