The Most Unfortunate Day of Driving

July 29, 2013

The Most Unfortunate Day of Driving

Well...we're back. That's more of an accomplishment than I thought it would be.

First of, we had the best time at Cal's grandma and grandpa's house. It rained most of Saturday, and other than venturing outside to pick blueberries, we spent the weekend inside eating, playing Scrabble, talking, and...eating. I think we had a dessert with every meal. What are grandparents for after all?

And then came Sunday at 3pm. We hugged them goodbye, and got into the car - little did I know how soon I'd be thankful Cal was driving! I put our audiobook on, and drifted in and out for the first 45 minutes...until we hit traffic. And when I say hit traffic, I mean hit it bad. We were by exit 174 on I-40, and we knew exit 180 was closed. We did not know everyone and their brother was on I-40, too. We spent the next 2 and a half hours (yes, HOURS) getting off of the highway onto the detour, only to re-enter on the highway. We only went a little crazy, thinking we saw a naked couple driving in a convertible (turns out it was two topless men), eating a gigantic peach, taking silly pictures, trying to guess the end of our book, and dreaming of dinner. Oh, and joking about stoppig there and moving to themiddleofnowhere so that we didn't have to drive any longer. It was truly tempting. Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa gave us peaches, blueberries, cucumbers, not-quite-ripe tomatoes, and jalapeños. At least we knew we wouldn't starve.

Finally, FINALLY, we got back on the highway around 7...and it started to rain. And by rain, I mean pour. Did I mention we were supposed to end our 3 and a half hour drive around 6:30? And we'd barely gotten anywhere? And now, we were spending the next umpteen miles going 25 miles an hour, scared we were going to hit the shaky driver in front of us.

I started half cackling, half crying. "Are we EVER going to get home?!" Side note: this is why I was glad Cal drove. I get highly emotional (read: absolutely fuming or depressingly sad) in high traffic/dangerous weather situations.

"At least we're not them," Cal pointed out a couple on a motorcycle, just drenched, waiting out the storm. That perspective pulled me out of my crazy stupor.

We survived through the crazy lightning storm, finished our audiobook, and still had about an hour and some to go. We used ALL of our willpower to not stop for fast food (that's what happens when you get married...you eat your leftovers). I may have bitten Cal's finger and joked about eating a jalapeño...both very un characteristically of me. But hey, I was hungry. We actually stopped in Chapel Hill (ew. If not for the puttering sound of my emptying tank, we would have waited until we arrived in the golden land of Raleigh) for gas, and I got a bag of salt and vinegar chips. Cal surely must have regretted his decision to marry my crazy butt at least a little bit, because I inhaled that big in 5.3 seconds and then teared up a little because of my pure happiness. Eh em, has anyone ever told you your wife has a lot of hormones? I proceeded to belt out every song on the radio for the rest of the 30 minutes home. I blame the new found energy from the chips. I was told by my super sweet husband that when I'm tired/hungry I act like I've had a drink or ~~two~~ fifteen.

We made it home around 9, and may have eaten 2 meals (each) and a milkshake. Y'know, cause that's much healthier than a fast food meal. Here's some pictures of our mostly relaxing weekend: