"Winter Trees"
How do you describe a journey which transforms your life? The journey that began last Wednesday is not yet complete, however my life today is radically different in so many ways than before. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with but one step, so I guess I should start at the beginning...
When last I posted, it was early on in the morning of my birthday. After a few hours sleep, I arose to get the process started to get the van ready for the trip up north. I could do a whole post on the trials and tribulations of that little escapade, but suffice it to say the van was not ready to go until late in the afternoon (and $125 later). So I did not get on the road until about 6:45. The van once prepared, performed beautifully and thank the travel gods for cruise control, the drive was not difficult at all. The route up is all interstate until you get off the toll road in Topeka, KS and switch over to US75 to cut a swath through the heartland of America to the banks of the Missouri River at its confluence with the Platte. In the darkness there was not much to see, and at times it seemed I was the only person on the planet and God had turned out the lights and gone to bed. I was on the cell phone with Will to while a way the hours and miles, but I was in the boonies and the signal kept disappearing. We called each other probably a dozen times over a couple of hours there to get in 20 minutes of conversation. As the sun began to rise I was on the outskirts of Omaha and I arrived at Will's apartment around 6:45 AM making the drive of 665 miles in exactly my estimate of 12 hours.
The first sight of Will in nearly a year brought joy to my heart and a big smile to my face. We sat a round for a bit before gong out for breakfast, returning to his place for a well needed nap. iI brought my camera along to take some photos but I got the "death stare" from Will every time I pointed it at him. I quickly gave up and chose the wiser course of action by returning the camera to my backpack. My little nap lasted around 5 hours, then I got up to help Will with some last minute errands. We stopped for lunch at the Dragon Cafe in La Vista which is one of the highest rated Chinese restaurants in the nation. We both had Teriyaki Chicken with fried rice although Will got the large portion and I got the small. The food was excellent and the service very efficient and sufficiently understated to make for a pleasant dining experience. On the way back to Will's apartment, the tension, suspense, excitement and nervousness of the whole adventure caught up with him and he pretty much wasted an excellent meal on the parking lot of the Wendy's on 72nd street. This is a major change for Will after the disappointing turn of events with his former employer and the injury to his knee. It is natural for him to be apprehensive which in his case messes with his digestive tract in a bad way. By the time we got back to his place , he was feeling better and his color had returned. We got his things packed in the van in such a way as to allow him to lay on his bed and sleep for a lot of the journey. He had gone on a mini marathon of sleeplessness making preparations for the move and thus needed to catch up on his sleep a little. After stopping by his bank and then gassing up the van, we headed back to Texas around 5:30 PM.
As it was still light out, I got to see the scenery I missed on the drive up. It was like driving through a Norman Rockwell painting. Lush rolling farmland as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road with spring plantings starting to sprout all around. Will was asleep so I just pent the miles smiling to myself and enjoying the scenery. It was growing dark as we neared the interstate and Will woke up to keep me company for while. The rest of the journey was basically uneventful until I dropped my wallet in the van and I could not find all the contents in the dark, even with the cabin light on, I found the last card after arriving back in Texas. Interstate travel at night is basically boring so I am glad Will was there to keep me from drifting too far off the path. The return trip was almost a duplicate of the trip up in that we arrived at my place almost exactly 12 hours after leaving Will's in Omaha. We got all his things moved upstairs and I could finally stop for a minute after the marathon of driving up and back in around 36 hours all told. The travel portion of the trip was over, but really the journey was just beginning. But more about that tomorrow. For now, scroll on down and have a look see at today's collection of Monday's Undies to get your heart racing and your blood pumping . Until next time as always, Enjoy!
When last I posted, it was early on in the morning of my birthday. After a few hours sleep, I arose to get the process started to get the van ready for the trip up north. I could do a whole post on the trials and tribulations of that little escapade, but suffice it to say the van was not ready to go until late in the afternoon (and $125 later). So I did not get on the road until about 6:45. The van once prepared, performed beautifully and thank the travel gods for cruise control, the drive was not difficult at all. The route up is all interstate until you get off the toll road in Topeka, KS and switch over to US75 to cut a swath through the heartland of America to the banks of the Missouri River at its confluence with the Platte. In the darkness there was not much to see, and at times it seemed I was the only person on the planet and God had turned out the lights and gone to bed. I was on the cell phone with Will to while a way the hours and miles, but I was in the boonies and the signal kept disappearing. We called each other probably a dozen times over a couple of hours there to get in 20 minutes of conversation. As the sun began to rise I was on the outskirts of Omaha and I arrived at Will's apartment around 6:45 AM making the drive of 665 miles in exactly my estimate of 12 hours.
The first sight of Will in nearly a year brought joy to my heart and a big smile to my face. We sat a round for a bit before gong out for breakfast, returning to his place for a well needed nap. iI brought my camera along to take some photos but I got the "death stare" from Will every time I pointed it at him. I quickly gave up and chose the wiser course of action by returning the camera to my backpack. My little nap lasted around 5 hours, then I got up to help Will with some last minute errands. We stopped for lunch at the Dragon Cafe in La Vista which is one of the highest rated Chinese restaurants in the nation. We both had Teriyaki Chicken with fried rice although Will got the large portion and I got the small. The food was excellent and the service very efficient and sufficiently understated to make for a pleasant dining experience. On the way back to Will's apartment, the tension, suspense, excitement and nervousness of the whole adventure caught up with him and he pretty much wasted an excellent meal on the parking lot of the Wendy's on 72nd street. This is a major change for Will after the disappointing turn of events with his former employer and the injury to his knee. It is natural for him to be apprehensive which in his case messes with his digestive tract in a bad way. By the time we got back to his place , he was feeling better and his color had returned. We got his things packed in the van in such a way as to allow him to lay on his bed and sleep for a lot of the journey. He had gone on a mini marathon of sleeplessness making preparations for the move and thus needed to catch up on his sleep a little. After stopping by his bank and then gassing up the van, we headed back to Texas around 5:30 PM.
As it was still light out, I got to see the scenery I missed on the drive up. It was like driving through a Norman Rockwell painting. Lush rolling farmland as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road with spring plantings starting to sprout all around. Will was asleep so I just pent the miles smiling to myself and enjoying the scenery. It was growing dark as we neared the interstate and Will woke up to keep me company for while. The rest of the journey was basically uneventful until I dropped my wallet in the van and I could not find all the contents in the dark, even with the cabin light on, I found the last card after arriving back in Texas. Interstate travel at night is basically boring so I am glad Will was there to keep me from drifting too far off the path. The return trip was almost a duplicate of the trip up in that we arrived at my place almost exactly 12 hours after leaving Will's in Omaha. We got all his things moved upstairs and I could finally stop for a minute after the marathon of driving up and back in around 36 hours all told. The travel portion of the trip was over, but really the journey was just beginning. But more about that tomorrow. For now, scroll on down and have a look see at today's collection of Monday's Undies to get your heart racing and your blood pumping . Until next time as always, Enjoy!
One last technical note: I tried to upload the June Man of the Month but Blogger was having issues in its layout editor. No matter what I tried, the image would not upload. As soon as I can resolve this issue, you will have a new Man of the Month.
1 comment:
So glad y'all are safe and home...
We so need to get together and
have lunch...
LOVE YOU UNCLE!!!!
TACKLE YOU HUGS!!!!!!!
Laurie
Post a Comment