When I get where I'm going...

We spent the last 4 days in, and on our way to and from, Oklahoma, to bid goodbye to my uncle who passed away very unexpectedly in an accident. I'm not going to talk about it because I think that feelings about the death of a loved one are precious, and several of my loved ones read this blog. I want to preserve their emotions and memories, as well as my own, and keep them sacred. At least for right now. We shared our grief together, as well as the happiness that comes when families are gathered -- even for a sad occassion -- and it's time to continue our lives now, knowing we've grieved well and celebrated his full, rich, exceptional life.

The trip, itself, was an interesting adventure. :) My DH likes to take long road trips. He and his best friend drove from Georgia to Denver in 1998, a couple of years before they each met their respective future wives, and they still talk about those long nights running on nothing but Spree and Mountain Dew, with the fondest of memories. They drove across the huge, open prairies and vast nothingness that seems to be the center of our country, at least from the Interstate Highway view. We did a lot of that this week. ...Of course it's a whole lot different with a toddler in the backseat. AJ was very good for the most part, and got his brain sufficiently fried with the 6 DVDs that he owns, times 60 apiece. Needless to say we are now on a TV-free week at our house. The DVD-in-the-car debate has already been done. I used to think, disdainfully, "Well, when we walked uphill both ways to school were little, WE read books and played Twenty Questions on road trips; kids don't need TVs in the car, they're just spoiled rotten." Now I just wonder how anyone gets along without one in this carseat era, for car trips, mind you, not for an afternoon of errands.

So, fifteen hours out there and two day-trips of 7 hours apiece on the way home. Whew. My poor car is dusty and road-weary. And next time, I think I'll buy an atlas. We managed to go 2,020 miles on jotted-down Mapquest notes. (We got lost once or four times.) We bought a lot of petrol.

We are glad to be home.


P.S. Driving through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and being with my relatives and friends from Small-Town, Texas definitely got me thinking, a lot, and again, about small-town life. I hope to find time/inclination to research and write more about that.