The Return Home (Saturday, 11/28/09)

The alarm went off at 7:30... time to get up and at 'em! We got the kids dressed and got everything else together. The plan was to meet at McDonald's at 8. So we did! The cool part was that it had an indoor play-place for the kids. That meant they were able to wear out a bit before we hit the road. Lydia and I also gave the theirDramamine medicine too, and knew it would kick in about the time we packed in the car. Sure enough, after our goodbyes and farewells, we loaded up and the kids went to sleep!Ahhhh... quiet!

The entire way home we drove as a caravan, my parents in front, Sam and Abigail in his truck following, and our car bringing up the rear. I drove most of the trip, and Lydia tried to catch up on sleep.. We stopped several times when Malachi said he had to go to potty, which was fine with us! However, there was one time when we passed one of the many cow farms that Lydia asked the kids if they needed to go, thinking it was one of them and forgetting about the cow I had just pointed out. Well, that made Malachi say he had to go, so off to find a gas station we went!

For lunch we stopped at Subway... we were around the halfway point of our trip. While we were waiting in line for the food, I tried to update myfacebook status. Ugh! No bars! That was frustrating. After we ate, we took the kids outside (since it was soooo nice) and let them run around and play for a few minutes in the field behind Subway. As soon as we stepped back there, my phone started receiving texts... full bars! Go figure! We ran and chased each other around until we were wore out. We loaded into the car and off we went.

Not even two miles down the road, I noticed I had lost my bluetooth earpiece for my cell. Great....! I told Sam, and we turned around to quickly find it. My fear was that it was somewhere lost in the field. When we reached the parking spaces at Subway, Sam almost ran over it! It must have fallen  of me when I was loading Malachi in the car. Whew!

On and on we drove. Past cotton fields, cattle farms, and small towns. As it started getting dark, we knew we were drawing close to home. We stopped at the McDonald's inCoffeeville , Kansas for a bathroom break and some shakes. We were two hours away from home! Lydia was willing to drive, but I told her I'd let her take over on the last hour of the trip, Joplin. And that's what we did. That gave me an hour power-nap so that I'd be charged a bit to unload the car when we reached home.

When finally home, Lydia gave the kids showers and I took everything out of our car. It wasn't easy, but I finally got it done. Lydia and I both crashed! What a trip!

~Matt


Why they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?