Current mileage: 769 miles
Current location: Dayton, OH
Day # 5 of the no expectation vacation
Ten hours after driving thru Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, I finally made it to the West Virginia state line. I spent most of my trip home riding with Paula Harris, Renee, Joel, and my cuz Amber (they were not actually in my car, but I listened to their Cd's and belted out some of their song choices at the top of my lungs) and of course the chickens. The trip had a late start due to my lack of knowledge about my bike rack, which than put me in Atlanta rush hour traffic, and I still had the chicken pick-up. Nonetheless I made it to WV quite a bit later than I wanted, but I reminded myself "Katie, this is the no expectation vacation!" I can tell ya, there is no feeling like pulling up to your parents house, even after all these years. It's a strange mix of emotions and I am not quite sure I can even properly describe them; happiness, sadness, longing, but also a strange sense like I have never left. At this point it had been almost five months since I had been on Teays Lane, and I can still say, there is no place like home!
So the only thing that I did know was the fact when I arrived home I was going to make an effort to spend some quality time with the people that matter most, so as soon as I walked in the front door I hopped into the shower and headed to Hayes Jr.High to watch a soccer match of my best guy friend to this day. Only problem, Chad is not playing now days, he is coaching....Man I feel old! A little history about Chad and I. We grew up on the same street, became friends around the age of two?? And we attended the same preschool, grade school, Jr. High, High School, and even ended up graduating from the same college. He really has been a huge part of my life, and I love him like a brother.
 |
| Chad, Ms.Pretty (our grade school gym teacher), and myself 9/15/10 |
My mother ended up going to the game with me and afterwards we went to see my brother and his girlfriend which are now living in a house that Chad and I used to play in as children. I only saw it fit to invite Chad, pick up some Husson's pizza, and spend some quality time with friends and family that evening. Great start to my first day home!
The next two days were spent the same way. I actually tried to relax while I was home and just spend quality time with my family. Besides a dentist appoint while I was there (I know I know, I go all the way to WV to go to the dentist, I can hear the jokes now) my trip was great while I was home. I met my cousin for coffee, went to see my father's 1969 Ford Falcon Ranchero which is his passion,then we went to Shoney's for lunch. Quite a bit of history about Shoney's for my father and I . It was the place my father learned about girls, hot rods, and onion rings. It was the place my mother and I first waitress, so it only seemed right to have the salad bar and onion rings! The rest of the evening was spent my two nephews Tyler an Matt-man. I somehow talked Tyler into spending quality time with his aunt Katie and in doing that we accomplished washing and waxing of the Jeep for the big trip! Matthew helped Aunt Katie gather gear for camping and we set up the tent to make sure all the pieces were there. Would hate to get all the way West and realize I am missing some pieces to my home! Evening was completed with a home cooked meal!
 |
| Nephew Tyler |
 |
| Nephew Matt-man |
 |
| Papa Jack getting my camping gear |
Ten hours after driving thru Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, I finally made it to the West Virginia state line. I spent most of my trip home riding with Paula Harris, Renee, Joel, and my cuz Amber (they were not actually in my car, but I listened to their Cd's and belted out some of their song choices at the top of my lungs) and of course the chickens. The trip had a late start due to my lack of knowledge about my bike rack, which than put me in Atlanta rush hour traffic, and I still had the chicken pick-up. Nonetheless I made it to WV quite a bit later than I wanted, but I reminded myself "Katie, this is the no expectation vacation!" I can tell ya, there is no feeling like pulling up to your parents house, even after all these years. It's a strange mix of emotions and I am not quite sure I can even properly describe them; happiness, sadness, longing, but also a strange sense like I have never left. At this point it had been almost five months since I had been on Teays Lane, and I can still say, there is no place like home!
So the only thing that I did know was the fact when I arrived home I was going to make an effort to spend some quality time with the people that matter most, so as soon as I walked in the front door I hopped into the shower and headed to Hayes Jr.High to watch a soccer match of my best guy friend to this day. Only problem, Chad is not playing now days, he is coaching....Man I feel old! A little history about Chad and I. We grew up on the same street, became friends around the age of two?? And we attended the same preschool, grade school, Jr. High, High School, and even ended up graduating from the same college. He really has been a huge part of my life, and I love him like a brother.
The next two days were spent the same way. I actually tried to relax while I was home and just spend quality time with my family. Besides a dentist appoint while I was there (I know I know, I go all the way to WV to go to the dentist, I can hear the jokes now) my trip was great while I was home. I met my cousin for coffee, went to see my father's 1969 Ford Falcon Ranchero which is his passion,then we went to Shoney's for lunch. Quite a bit of history about Shoney's for my father and I . It was the place my father learned about girls, hot rods, and onion rings. It was the place my mother and I first waitress, so it only seemed right to have the salad bar and onion rings! The rest of the evening was spent my two nephews Tyler an Matt-man. I somehow talked Tyler into spending quality time with his aunt Katie and in doing that we accomplished washing and waxing of the Jeep for the big trip! Matthew helped Aunt Katie gather gear for camping and we set up the tent to make sure all the pieces were there. Would hate to get all the way West and realize I am missing some pieces to my home! Evening was completed with a home cooked meal!
No comments:
Post a Comment