Moving Right Along......and Whatnot

Let's continue shall we? Okay.......so with car and creature packed and ready off we go. I'm driving because I cannot drive at night. Katrina is chillin and puppy Lana is thinking that we are gong to a dog park.....BOY will she be surprised. No problems driving, a little rain, a little traffic.... it starts to get dark. Now, as previously stated I cannot drive in the dark so, Katrina and I switch places just outside of Orlando. She doesn't have a problem with this. I, however begin to panic. Yes, PANIC.....I tell her to turn around I want to go home. I'm freaking out. She does her best to calm me; but I have to work through it. Apparently I am too far from my comfort zone. I'm desperately trying to calm down....deep breathing....smacking of the head. I know it's ludacris to try and trun around now....we've come so far. Next rest area we stop. I walk the dog, (distracting), I go potty, (also distracting).....I get a hug from Katrina....all is well with the world. God bless her she knows what to do in these situations and doesn't leave my ass on the side of the road.

Finally, we get out of Florida, (longest state in the WORLD! UGH!) 3a.m. and Mobile Alabama is giving us fits....for some reason we always get turned around in Mobile. we pull off the road and ask directions to the road we need. Now, let me just give you a little history....Katrina is terrible with "directions" ie... N, S, E, W.....buit is a phenomal driver. I am the navigator extraordinaire....yes, me and my Atlas.... I have marked our path and we are sticking to it. After getting directions from the kind people at the gas station, we head back on our way. Now, just to be clear the road I chose to take us into Mississippi I thought was a highway.

Route 45, is NOT a hwy. Rte 45 is the DEVIL! A Dark, DARK devil.... Katrina somehow manages to navigate the winding, hilly, pitch black roads at evil o'clock in the morning..... we are desperate for any sign of life....another car, a porch light....ANYTHING......as I am looking at my Atlas I figure out that we can cut over to 84 and take us into Mount Olive and Magee, MS.. our savior from our last trip....however, we have to figure out how to get there from where we are. Finally a light out of the dark takes us to a gas station.....we get out, 2 women travelling with their dog ALONE....we're nervous. But I'm BRAVE and I get out of the car with my Atlas about to go into the station, when this big, dark man stops me.... "Whatch ya'll lookin fer?"
I show him my atlas and explain that we're trying to get to 84 to Laurel. He explains the directions and points the way. I thank him VERY much and get back in the car. Katrina is done pumping gas, and I tell her where we're going.

As we are pulling out of the station, the man whips is car beside us honking his horn and pulls in front of us. We assume he wants us to follow him. Mind you we are apprehensive....(SHAME on US) we follow him. I tell Katrina that if I think he's taking us somewhere we shouldn't be, we will pull off the road and head in another directions. We're both a little worried that he might be driving us somewhere to get us lost with his buddies. HOW WRONG WE WERE!!!!! Let me tell you something....whenever anyone in our family travels, my mom always says, "ANgels, Angels, Angels." Now this is if we are going to work or anywhere outside of the house. Well, ANGELS IN ACTION. This kind, kind man drove us all the way to the hwy we wanted, made sure we got on in the right direction and then made a u-turn and went back the way he came. God sent us an angel that night.

Now, at this point Katrina and I are both exhausted, we decide to find a hotel and get some sleep. No, of course we didn't make a reservation. Well, of course there are no hotel rooms to be found. We pull into a Comfort Inn Parking lot, in LAUREL, MS; find the most well lit spot and try to get some sleep. God Bless our puppy she is sooo very good. Poor Katrina is soo tired but cannot sleep. I, however, do not have this problem. No sooner do I close my eyes at 4a.m., than I am asleep. For about 1 1/2 hrs. I sleep. 5:30 rolls around and we decide to just bite the bullet and get going. I take over driving because during the day is the only time that I can. I want Katrina to sleep, poor thing.

We get to RT 49 which takes us to I-20 in Jackson...YEAH!!! We will be on I-20 for a while. All the way to Shreveport where we'll catch U.S. 71.....YIppee which will takes us right into Mena, Arkansas. I'm loving the changing leaves, the wonderful Fall colors....I'm so happy. Katrina is able to get a little sleep....and I drive for the next 5 hours. We switch 3/4 of the way there, because I'm starting to tense up. I just want to get there. Trink gets behind the wheel and off we go.Finally, at about 2p.m. Saturday afternoon we arrive at mom's house.....OH THANK GOD!!!


At this point all we can think of is sleep. It's funny, no one locks their door in Mena, it's so safe....we let Lana out, who is so excited she doesn't know what to do with herself....I can hear her little doggy mind....(This is the BEST DOG PARK EVER!!!) My mom lives on 5 acres on a mountain top. We go inside to let my grandma know we're here.....she's soo excited. We unpack the car and just as we're about to lay down...... up pulls my sisters, Heather and Chelsea. We didn't stop to see my little brother Todd on the way in because we're so tired....but the girls show up because they need to use the phone. I'm so tired....we chat with them and then I tell em they got to go because we need to sleep.

We didn't sleep, we couldn't we were full of adrenaline. We tried....boy did we try. Nothing doing. My family comes home from the wedding they were at....and hugs and kisses ensue. YEAH we made it safely!!! WHAT A Trip!! But wait......it can't be that easy.....can it?

Not if you're me and Trink.......(to be con't)