I called her Brother, the one who had been to visit us in Oklahoma City and told her tale. He wanted to go but couldn't do so right away. He worked on his schedule and we left on the 11th for a more-than-1300-mile trip. Yep, that's two zeroes. She was at home for the time being and Brother called to let her know we were coming.
We planned to drive straight through, but couldn't make it. Neither one of us had a good night's sleep the night before and fizzled on the outskirts of Ft Wayne, Indiana.
Thankfully, there was a Hampton just when we wanted to come to a stop, but getting to it meant going two miles out of the way, trying to figure out where to get into their parking lot. I've never checked into a hotel at midnight before; the clerk was wonderfully friendly and the room as nice as usual.
Next morning, fairly early, we were on the road again. The weather was beautiful. We had clear skies most of the time, but with welcome cloud-cover parts of the day. There was much construction along the Interstates. And traffic! It was a Monday, after all. We still managed to arrive north of Detroit in the early afternoon.
I was very glad to see Niece looking so good. We visited, mostly sitting on her front porch, or examining the garden beds in the back yard and sitting on the patio. She had quite a few tomato plants, peppers, squash, herbs, flowers and flowering shrubs. I saw her home for the first time since she moved into it about ten years ago. I could easily live there.
Steve and I had tried to visit her about 8 or 9 years ago after a trip to Wisconsin, but because of an ice storm from Chicago to most points east, we decided that we were already fatigued from the drive so far and were pushing our luck trying to get to her place. So at Grand Rapids, we turned south instead and headed to a warmer climate and clear roads. Then illnesses began to overcome several of our family here at home and I never had the opportunity to make it back to that part of the country until now. I guess it was time: her health made it imperative to go.
Nephew, Niece and I had a really good visit. She has the nicest fella and I am happy to have met him. We had grilled chicken for supper, Michigan blueberries, fresh-picked corn-on-the-cob from a nearby market, and cherry tomatoes that I picked from the plants surrounding the patio. Heaven on a plate.
About 8 o'clock in the evening, Nephew and I told her good-bye, loaded up our selves once more, found a coffee shop for him, and got back on the Interstate, heading for Oklahoma - 1300 miles away.
We drove all night, taking turns, sleeping a little in the back of the van. The thing I like about driving at night is that, many times, you're the only person on your stretch of the the road for miles and miles. There weren't even trucks that night - 99 percent of them were parked at ramps and rest areas. I didn't have to slow for road workers - just if the lane became a slot.
Coming back Monday night (actually, I guess that was Tuesday morning) I was driving about the time of the Perseid showers. I did see a shooting star - two different times - when they dropped out of the clouds, low to the horizon. Or it looked low from my viewpoint. Isn't that supposed to bring you good luck? At least it brought us a safe trip.
We arrived back at Nephew's house bone-tired and glad to be home. I went inside for a few minutes to visit and then climbed back into the van for another three hours to Midwest City.
Nephew and I had each a captive ear and had some good, introspective conversations while travelling. We both needed that.
Here are some boring statistics from our trip:
~60 hours away from home
~used 90 gallons of gasoline
~paid from $3.29 to $3.69 for gasoline
~gasoline was cheapest in Missouri, then a bit higher in Oklahoma, then Indiana, then Kansas and Illinois, and most expensive in Michigan
There's no place like home . . .
