Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Life's Adventures

They say there's a first time for everything.

I don't know who "they" are, but the vague pronoun doesn't completely understand the concept of "everything." After yesterday, there are things that I experienced that I never want to endure again.

Curious?

I'll give you some clue words: truck. traffic. puppy. rest stop. 1 AM.

Why we drove to Plano on Friday to get a very old but new to us Ford F150 truck is a long story. But this past week has been crazy with our selling Kyle's car and purchasing a pickup. God has really worked through mistakes, corrections, and literally 9.5 hours in a dealership to lead us to Craigslist and a small personal dealer in Plano.

We set out Friday afternoon, cash in hand, to purchase a pickup. Along for the ride was our new family addition--a 7 week old puppy named Shelby. Little Shelby curled up in my lap and slept for 95% of the trip, which was a real blessing--considering how long we would be in the car.

We hit literally every.single.traffic jam that Dallas had. Kyle blamed the GPS because of the way we were taken. I blamed Dallas. I have been down in my back for the last few days and a long car ride wasn't exactly my favorite thing to do. The GPS led us to a toll rode. Of course, we had no quarters. The GPS took us through construction. Of course, we had no more patience. We sat an extra hour in the car before we arrived to sign papers and drive our 2001 pickup away.

Because Kyle has family near Plano we decided to stop and say hello. We left a little later than we planned, no real surprise there, but  we didn't anticipate how exhausted we would be after an hour and a half of driving. Being pregnant, my exhaustion turned into nausea and Kyle, and I played phone tag between vehicles to keep each other awake. When Kyle told me he didn't think he could make the entire trip, I was thinking hotel. I knew we had early morning plans and didn't want to throw money on a hotel room, so I was trying to drive as long as I can.

He pulled off at exit 390. Hello, rest stop.

My first thought? We are going to die. 

I'm sorry if you are a trucker, I'm not giving you a stereotype, but so many huge trucks idling with mysterious sounds from beneath their hoods makes me think scary thoughts.

Kyle and I piled into the truck. He gave me the backseat and he took the back floorboard.

Kyle: "What time do you want to set the alarm for? Four AM?"
Me: "What time is it?"
Kyle: "11:30."
Me: "Oh. *As I look around in trepidation* I was thinking like one AM."  

We both laid down and tried to sleep.

I had little Shelby in my arms, and she was determined not to sleep. She climbed onto my head, laid her stomach on my ear, and went to sleep.

No, I'm not kidding.

This really happened.

I finally fell asleep, while praying the Lord would keep us from being murdered in our sleep.

Guess who woke me up......

*{sigh}*

Poor Shelby was thirsty, in need of a pee, and determined not to sleep. She did let me sleep about 45-60 minutes, bless her little heart....how generous.

I woke up desperate for air. I knew I was claustrophobic, but I was so desperate for air that I moved around to open the back window of the pickup and breathe.

The alarm went off.

I was never so grateful to hear that noise.

My poor husband was contorted into a bent position in the floorboard, completely dead to the world. He was oblivious to the truckers walking around their 18 wheelers, or the sprinklers watering the rest stop grass, or the puppy chewing on my face, my clothes, and whining because her bladder was full.

When he awoke, Kyle was a little more ready to drive on, so we went to the conveniently located bathroom and walked through the sprinklers to awaken our senses.

Next issue: the trucks that had blocked us in against the curb. . . .

Never underestimate the pregnant woman terrified of the place where she is sleeping. We backed right around those big guns and took on the next two hours of trip.

I listened to a LOT of fast music and youtube on my phone to keep me awake while Kyle and I avoided the side bumps and weaving.

By the time we pulled into our driveway I was sick, Kyle was cross-eyed, and we dropped everything into the floor and fell into bed.

Life's adventures are fun, and of course they are worth living. But I don't wanna sleep in a rest stop ever again.

The end.

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