Life is a highway

I made it in record time! Apparently only stopping twice is the key to making the 800-mile drive in under 12 hours.

That’s right: I made it in less than 12 hours! Eleven hours and 52 minutes, to be exact! And I would have made it in even less time if it hadn’t been raining the ENTIRE way, if the Tennessee Titans hadn’t been playing a home game, clogging up traffic in Nashville, and if I hadn’t made a wrong turn in Indianapolis (thanks to Molly for getting me going in the right direction!). It also helped that I didn’t have the kids with me.

But even with those hiccups I made record time. We’ve never made the trip in anything other than 13 hours, no matter how quickly we made the potty breaks and gas stops.

I called Sean about 10 hours into my trip and said, “I have figured it out! No stopping, no meals, no nothing but gas, pee, and go!” He made some smart-aleck comment about needing to bring a bottle along with him next time. Hey, whatever he needs to make it work is fine with me.

The basic problem with our drive to and from Atlanta is our difference in views of the drive. The entire reason I’m in the car is to get somewhere. It’s not a Sunday drive; I’m on a mission. Get there as quickly as possible, and get out. Sean, on the other hand, thinks the drive is the beginning of the vacation, and has no qualms about taking long meal breaks and making all kinds of stops to “stretch his legs.”

I’ve got news for him: there’s room to stretch your legs between the gas and brake pedals.

Before our next trip the trick will be to convince the kids to join my mission, and seriously limit their liquid intake…