Giant Road Trip of 2013 -- Part One

Sunday night Hubby and I returned from what I dubbed Giant Road Trip of 2013.

3,301 miles and thirteen states to be exact. I think that qualifies as Giant, don't you?

Our destination was the beach in North Carolina. My sister and brother-in-law own a house on the beach and my extended family was gathering there for parts of the first two weeks of July. We debated about flying out there, but decided on driving and stopping to see friends along the way.

As I look through my list of Facebook friends, sometimes I have to stop and think about which "life" do I know that person from. Was it College? Childhood? Family? When we lived in Iowa? Kansas? Missouri? Singapore? Minnesota? Needless to say, we have friends and family spread out all over the country.

Hubby mapped out a few possible routes, we thought about who we knew where and sent out emails to college friends, family and old friends. Only one visit didn't work out because of a special family outing they had planned for their special needs son. (We thought it was best to let the family have their time with him.)

So the last Friday in June, we hit the road and drove until quite late that night. We "waved" at our parents as we drove through their towns (we'd see them later), and made a stop at my (other) sister's house to use the clean non-public bathroom. ;)

Saturday we were up at at 'em and on the road to our destination to western Pennsylvania to visit our best friends from college whom we hadn't seen for 10 years. He was Hubby's roommate and a groomsman in our wedding and she was a very close friend and my personal attendant for our wedding. We were all four very good friends in college.

I can't even describe how good it was to see these people! So encouraging to see how God has built our marriages, how our faith has grown and what our kids are up to.

After a delicious dinner, we said goodbye way too soon and headed on down the road for our second night in a hotel.

The next day took us through Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia and North Carolina. This mid-westerner finds it a little crazy to drive through so many states in one day. And can I say that the traffic through the DC area is more than a bit nuts? We were thankful to have GPS that kept us up to date on the traffic patterns. We also spent time listening to one of our favorite CDs that is full of hymns. Selah - Greatest Hymns. So appropriate for a Sunday on the road.

In order to maximize our time on the road and to avoid fast food, we packed a cooler full of sandwich fixings and snacks. That worked out very well. I must say, Hubby is a master at driving and munching on a sandwich.

That evening we ended up in the Raleigh, NC area to see some friends from the town we lived in before here. These friends moved away seven years ago and five years ago their beloved daughter was killed in a car accident. We have longed to see them for such a long time. They treated us to yummy North Carolina barbecue. We were so encouraged to be with them and to hear about the journey they have been on. 

Sadly, we forgot all about getting a picture of all of us. 

Trip story to be continued....