Are We There Yet?

Snacks and water? Check.
TV and movies? Check.
Full tank of gas? Check.
All the kids? Check.

Let’s rock and roll!

We hit the open road bound for South Carolina where we would visit with my grandmother, great-aunt, and parents for the day. Everyone settled in for the three hour drive. Alex played his guitar, Katie had her i-pod going, and the girls watched a movie---with headphones!

We happily sped along…..for ten minutes. And then traffic slowed to a crawl. Dave told me this is pretty typical on a weekday due to all our wonderful interstate construction. Okay. So we kept creeping ever so slowly knowing our time schedule has now been shot to pieces.

Finally, I called Dave at work to have him check the online status of the roads. He pulled it up and said, “Uh oh.”

Uh oh? That’s not good.

Nope, an accident one mile ahead of me was the cause of our issue. Yeah for me. But it was due to be cleared in fifteen minutes so yes, yeah for me.

Whew. Finally back up to speed but forty-five minutes behind schedule. And the questions start. Are we almost there? You said it would be a short trip. What does Grandma’s house look like? Can I watch another movie?

Now, my grandmother lives in assisted living. So, there was no house to describe. Or at least not one the girls would understand. Katie finally said, “it’s a hotel for old people”.

And that made sense to them. Go figure.

Three hours later, we pulled up at the center, unloaded all our stuff, and began our visit. Lunch was had, pictures shared, stories told,



yearbook poured over,



guitar strummed,



hide-and-seek and Uno played.



Katie spent time goofing with the camera…






Alas, our time had to come to an end as we still had a three hour trip home. A picture taken with great-grandmother



and grandparents



rounded out our day.

We loaded back into the car ready to make the reverse drive home. Movies, guitar, i-pod, pit stop for ice cream, and life is good.

Until we hit metro Atlanta. At rush hour. Yep, timed that one really well. Suffice it to say, we had a four hour trip home.

Eight hours in the car for a three hour visit.

Questions non stop on the drive.

Perhaps our last visit for a while.

Seeing Grandma enamored with the kids.

Priceless.