On the road again…

“On the road again
I just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again
And I can’t wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Like a band o’ gypsies, we go down the highway
We’re the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turning our way
And our way

Is on the road again”

-Willie Nelson

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Hello from the open road! 🙂

This was a busy week and I haven’t had much time to blog, much less write my usual overly detailed monthly recap of July. I’ll try to get it to eventually!

Monday I got a haircut after work, Tuesday we went out for dinner with Asher while E was at the Brewer’s game, and Wednesday I scheduled a long overdue pedicure right after work. Thursday Charlie had a grooming appointment in the morning, so I had to run him there and pick him up around meetings. Ivan also cut Ethan’s too-shaggy hair after work on Thursday and I first started packing for our trip at like, 7 pm. A neighbor lady who will take care of my plants also stopped over for “instructions”. 🙂

Packing wasn’t too terrible this time- mostly just casual beachwear and no real space confines as we’re driving- but no matter what, I always seem to manage to turn packing into a big production. 😆 We also need a few extras on this trip like beach towels, the boogie boards, etc.

Work was nuts this week too, wrapping up a big project and my brain was absolutely fried by the time I logged off at ~12:45 yesterday (Friday). In the morning I’d also had to pack up Charlie for the boarding place and drop him there before a 9 am meeting.

Ivan also cut out of work early yesterday and got home by 1:00 or so. We finished loading the car and hit the road by about 1:50!

I drove the first hour while Ivan dealt with a mini work crisis on the phone, and then we met up with my parents about an hour south at a gas station and started our caravan to Florida!

Driving was thankfully mostly uneventful, minus a LOT of road construction. ‘Tis the season…

Quintessential flat Midwest/Illinois landscape… 😉

Made it to our planned stop of Paducah, Kentucky by maybe 9:30 pm or so? Got checked in at our Hampton Inn for the night and hit up the only place still serving food, a nearby Buffalo Wild Wings.

We didn’t get there until after 10, and ended up getting chatty, I guess, because we glanced at our watches and it somehow was after midnight before we left! Whoops. lol.

Slept until around 7 this morning and enjoyed a nice free hot hotel breakfast of eggs, maple sausage, breakfast potatoes and fruit.

And now, on the road again! Next stop Panama City Beach! (Well, next stop probably a rest stop, gas station, and eventually lunch. Lol.)

We have a total of under 9 hours to drive today; we did about 7 yesterday. Doing the math, it’s about 16 hours from our house to Panama City Beach. (We have always done this trip as a road trip! There’s no great airport super close there so flights are wonky and overpriced and inconvenient, and anyway, we use our cars and especially when kids were little, we packed lots of beach toys and noodles and sand toys etc… plus it’s much cheaper for us to all drive! The driving part is kinda part of the tradition at this point too. :))

Ivan and I counted the other day- this is our 6th time taking the boys to PCB, though our last trip was 5 years ago now! (The boys have been begging to go back for a few years now but it just hadn’t really fit in recently.)

The place we always used to stay (like, for YEARS, even when I was a kid and my parents stayed there before I was born!) underwent an ownership change and it sounded… different now and not necessarily in a good way.

So we’re trying a new place nearby- a beachfront condo this time. I’m a little nervous I’ll be disappointed that it won’t be “the same” as what we knew and loved, but trying to keep an open mind. Anyway, the main point of this trip is just to chill, relax, be together, eat, read and enjoy the beach and ocean! 🙂

That’s all for now! Enjoying sunny blue skies – great driving weather- and music playing (currently listening to a Juanes station with a mix of some great Spanish music… last night we did my Classic Rock and Country station on my free Pandora account. I’m 100 years old and don’t have Spotify or other modern music streaming services. 🤣)

Have a good weekend, all!

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for clear driving weather. No one likes to drive in rain… (or God forbid, snow).