Road Trips: "I'm Already There!"

     I'm writing this as I sit in the passenger seat of our family's full size van with one leg curled up under the other, shoes kicked off, and my seat belt strapped across my chest. I have four still sleepy boys in tow, and a man in the driver's seat next to me with an A-Capella addiction he openly forces on his unsuspecting children via Pandora on his cell phone connected to the van's radio system.

     As on most road trips, I've brought along what seems to be an interesting book or two to read for when it's daylight, as the next three and a half hours promise to be. After the first couple pages, I knew it was hopeless, I couldn't concentrate between the distractions of beat boxing, vocal harmonies, and scenic views of the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

     Most road trips, if I'm given advance notice, which is not always, but usually, I spend the day before washing a ridiculous amount of laundry searching desperately for enough pairs of matching socks for each child to last however many days we are supposed to be gone from home.

     This trip I knew about several days ago, and still, I decided to procrastinate. I'll get up at seven a.m. I promised myself. After listening to the alarm far longer than I thought it would keep going off, I got up and hit snooze at 7:53 a.m. Rise and shine, all my handsome little men! Mama's got seven minutes to pack so we can leave on schedule at 8:00 a.m.

     Breakfast consisted of McDonald's drive thru sausage egg burritos, and a large sweet tea, our first “stop” before leaving town at 9:25 a.m. Our next stop, almost two hours later, is at a thankfully, large and clean, gas station for the customary restroom break. The GPS kept telling us to make a U-turn to get back onto the interstate. Which can not and will not happen until we get the three year old (wearing big boy underwear for the first time on an actual road trip) into the bathroom. My hubby emerges with our toddler now dressed in clothes pajamas, after I've reminded him not to buy bug juices or any other juice drinks that make said toddler car sick.  On the road again!

     And so the miles go ever on. Past lakes, hills, flat fields with perfectly plowed rows that look like green rays of sunshine springing past my window, pastures of little yellow flowers with grazing cows, toll booths (Yes we're in Oklahoma now!), small towns, and road signs providing the boys with an opportunity to engage in a battle of the old standby “Alphabet Game”.

     Our phone is no longer picking up a signal, so we've switched to the regular car radio. Which, surprisingly, is picking up a nice Christian station playing older style hymns that are both soothing and relaxing. Who knows how long until the station fades, but we will enjoy it while it lasts. The boys are on letter Q in their game. They might be stuck for a while!

     But that's OK, because if I were going to be stuck somewhere, I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be than in this van with my family. We are together, and that is always a good thing. Moments like this I know I will miss the most when my children are grown. My mother's heart will always wish they were in that backseat calling out letters and asking, “When's the next stop?”, “Can I have a drink now?” and “Are we there yet?” Yes, I think to myself. I'm already there. Right where I want to be. Right beside the man who looks over every now and then and smiles at me that smile that says he's thinking the same thing.

      With my feet propped up on the dash and my seat leaned back on the way home I sit and think, "This is really what love is." as my husband reaches over across the distance between our two van seats and still holds my hand after twelve years of marriage. With his Pandora working again as we get closer to home, he sings love songs to me while I sleep on and off between stops. I'm tired. He's tired. The kids are tired. It's been a long trip, but a good one. It's a good kind of tired. It's a road trip kind of tired. We're almost home. I'm already there. I'll always be there when home is wherever these people I love the most are.