Life & Ruthie 19 Feb 2007 11:34 pm
The Foreign Road
It’s a bit odd to realize that while you know where you’re going and that you know the people there, that the trip can still be wholly foreign to you is, well, disconcerting at best. I’ve known Ken and Chris for some 4.5 years and I’ve been to Florida many, many times but never to their new residence (as it exists now at any rate) and certainly not to stay there. In the mean time we’ve gone and stayed with Jan King and commuted to their property when we went and it’s been a good nine months since we last did so. That was Memorial Day, when Mike, Joy, Gigi and Larry came to visit and we sat in the sweltering heat in the land that Georgia forgot.
Since then? We’ve had a child, a building has been erected, paths have crossed and life has simply changed. Driving with a baby for some 6 hours who has barely been in the car for a few minutes at a stretch. I suppose I should have seen this next change comming. As I queried MapQuest for instructions to this strange place it suggested a different route. Not a little different, mind you. A lot. Normally we go through Florida for some 60% of our trip but this trip was some 70% in Georgia with less than 1% being in Florida itself. The route was foreign and yet I couldn’t ignore that the new route saved some 50 miles over our old route. Since our cheese was nowhere to be found I decided to take the new road. After all, what’s a bit more discomfort when you’re miles away from normal?
I have learned many things on this road
- Ruth will sleep pretty soundly as long as you’re moving
- There is a fair amount of farmland for sale in south Georgia
- This mirror is the most worthless baby product I’ve ever seen. If I were Eddie Bauer I’d sue for making such an awful product with his name on it. We had to buy a new one to replace it because it would fall down after 5 mins on the road
- Georgia has some interesting names for towns… Nashville, Enigma, Ty Ty to name a few
- The best laid plans of mice and men can often be detoured by two semis wrecking and killing the driver of one
- A minivan is in our future…
Eventually this new world will become familiar. More driving. More screaming. More 30 min feeding stops. But what a great road.
on 20 Feb 2007 at 8:56 am 1.Tia said …
I use a rear-mirror that clips onto my regular rear view mirror. Works pretty good! Suction cups never work like they should….get a used van so E can come home (sorry! Had to get that in LOL)
on 20 Feb 2007 at 11:20 am 2.Joel said …
Actually the mirror in question is one you mount on the back of the back seat so you can see a rear facing seat in the regular rear view mirror. And, yes, any van will probably be used. Have no fear
on 03 May 2007 at 1:11 pm 3.Jeff Owen said …
I can tell when Joel is writing. You crack me up! I loved the post of the trip to Florida.
Anyway, I just thought I would stop in and see how you guys are doing. We miss you guys and think about our friends to the south.
Hope you all are doing well.
Tchau,
Jeff