Road Trip

Eight days and a little over 2200 miles later, I'm back home. The past few years, I've taken the first week in May and gone to visit my parents in Florida. My mother was raised there in a small town, northeast of Pensacola named Baker. The first weekend in May is the family reunion for my mother's side of the family. This was the 24th year for the event, which has dwindled in size because of several factors: many of the family have died and quite a few have moved away from the hometown. I was one of only five cousins in our generation that made it to the reunion. One woman in attendance was over 90 years old!

It was good to see everyone--and as usual at those types of things, if you left hungry, it was your own fault. I hadn't seen one of my uncles since I was in Junior High. He traveled from Houston to be there. He has the beginning stages of Alzheimers, but he has such a positive attitude. He said something like: "This is what I have. I know what I'm up against. I'm grateful for the time I have left." Pretty powerful and humbling words.

When I've gone to my parent's lately, I've gone by myself. The time of year I go would mean the rest of the family missing work and/or school. Also, there's really not a lot to do there since they live in a pretty remote area, mainly agriculutural--not all of Florida is BEACH. They live about 30 minutes above the Fort Walton-Destin beach area, but I really don't care that much for the beach. So, I make the 14+ hour trip by myself, although this year, my younger brother flew in a few days after I arrived and we rode back home together. I like road trips like this because:

• I like to sing real loud. When I travel by myself, I can crank up the sound and sing real loud. I am hopelessly stuck in the 70's and Dana isn't real fond of some of my musical tastes, so this is the opportunity to rack up the volume! Great "road songs" are anything by The Eagles or The Doobie Brothers--especially Rockin' Down the Highway. The route I take doesn't have a lot of decent (my opinion) radio stations, so I usually take the iPod and plug it into the auxiliary jack. My own personal "road mix" at max volume. Dana would hate it.
• John MacArthur sermons. I have tons of MacArthur sermons on CD, so I will grab a handful and listen to those for several hours of the trip. Strange mix, eh? JM and 70's classic rock. This time, I took quite a few of the sermons he preached through the book of Luke. Good stuff. Also, a couple of sermons on the importance of expositional preaching. This is definitely one of those things you can't do with my whole family in the car.
• Short and infrequent pit stops. I don't like to stop once I get on the road, but Dana can't go more than an hour or two without "going" (know what I mean?). Me? I'm a "urine camel;" I can hold it for a long time if I have to. When I finally do stop, it's run in--run out, back on the road. I don't stop to eat either, i.e. dine in. I zip through the drive-thru and get right back on the road. No need to waste time. Mental note: Pizza and tacos are hard to eat while you're driving.
• No griping or complaining. There is no one asking: "Are we there yet?" or "How much further?" No one says: "This is boring. Why do we have to drive so long? Why can't we fly? Why does Grammy live so far away? When are we gonna eat (again)?" AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!
• Time to reflect. For part of the trip, I turn the radio off and just reflect on my life, the blessings God has given me. I pray, thanking God for the incredible family he has given me. I ask God to grant me a safe trip. I ask God to watch over Dana and the boys while I'm gone. I think about the projects I have going on at work and at home. I take the uninterrupted time to mentally work through some things that have been on my mind lately. I've got 14 hours behind the wheel--there's plenty of time and plenty to think about.

It was a good trip. My brother and I got to spend some quality time during the week working on my parent's house--they're hoping to sell it and move back to Oklahoma. I also got to see my youngest brother that I hadn't seen in several years; he lives in Alabama. And I sang REAL LOUD...a lot!!!! And no one complained.

Gone Fishing

Actually, I'm headed to Florida to visit my parents. They have a dial-up connection (yep, people still have those), so I won't be posting for a week or so.

I'm going down to do help with some clean up around their place and to attend a family reunion. One of my uncles will be there that I haven't seen since Junior High. He is in the first stages of Alzheimers, so this will somewhat of a bittersweet time for the family. Should be good though. I'll take a couple of books with me; also just spend time visiting with the folks. They are both in the their seventies--Mom's in pretty good health, but Dad has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He's fought it off twice, but he doesn't have near the energy he used to.

Ya'll behave while I'm gone.

Friday Photos

I mentioned yesterday that I had been in Florida visiting my parents. When you tell people "I'm going to Florida," they most always respond, "Are you going to the beach?" I'm not really a beach person. I've been to Florida and the beach more times than I can count. It's really no big deal to me, but when Dana and the boys go with me (they didn't go this time), we HAVE to go to the beach, which is usully Fort Walton or Destin, two of the most beautiful beaches you'll see in Florida. The "sugar sand" --as some people refer to it-- is so white, it's blinding to look at on a sunny day.

Florida looks much different where my parents live; they live near the town in the panhandle where my mother grew up. The area is primarily agricultural with large fields of wheat, cotton and LOTS of trees. My parent's property sits right next to a state forest, which is beautiful, especially in the early morning. My parents have a room at the back of their home that is dominated by windows which makes it a great place to sit and drink a cup of coffee and just soak in the scenery. This is basically the view from the "Florida Room."

Friday Photos
These pictures represent more of what people think of as "Florida." The first one is a crane that was sitting on the pier at Ft Walton. The second photo was taken from the end of the pier looking back toward the beach. I liked the different colored frames around the windows. You can view all of my Florida pics here.