This is just a quick note of encouragement to the young woman that I met at the Scottdale library. She was there with her friends. I teased them asking if any of them liked to read or wanted to write. When the other two pointed to her, I gave her one of my business cards hoping to encourage her in her writing. This is for her. May all of your romance stories be true, all of your mysteries be solvable, and all of your adventures be good ones. 

The Long Trip Home

We woke the campers early. The driving schedule was going to be much longer and difficult than the day before. Two of our drivers had to go to work in the morning tomorrow. While the drivers made breakfast, the campers took down the tents and loaded them into the trailer. After eating, we loaded the last few things, climbed into the vans, and we were off. It was barely light and as we drove back down the main street toward the interstate, we were joined by the kids of the town on their bicycles. They had kept their word. They came to see us off. They waved as they pedaled furiously to keep up with our vehicles. We all waved back until they disappeared in our rearview mirrors.

Hour after hour, the miles rolled by under our wheels. We stopped only for fuel, bathroom breaks, and to change drivers. Traffic ebbed and flowed around us like a river of metal and rubber on a concrete stream bed. Our course, lead us through the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Sometimes the flux of vehicles thinned and at other times we were slowed as we neared the cities of Chicago and Gary. The sun started to set as we entered Ohio. Everyone was growing tired and restless and we still had hours of driving ahead.

Not long after we entered the state of Ohio, it began to drizzle making the drive more miserable. The rain was barely more than a mist. It was just enough to make using the windshield wipers necessary. The weariness grew. Headlights, glaring though the rain speckled windows and gleaming off the wet roadway were causing the drivers to switch places more frequently as the strain of all the days of driving and travel were coming to a head.

Even though we were bleary eyed, when we crossed over into Pennsylvania everyone cheered. After one last pit stop and fuel fill-up and we would soon be home. The campers made calls to parents so they would be at the church to pick up the campers.

We pulled into the parking lot at 4:30 a.m. Parents were there to welcome home the travelers. All of the vans were left packed. Unloading could be left for a later time in the day. One of the drivers needed to be at work at 7:00 a.m. and took off immediately. I was working the afternoon shift and could get a little sleep before I had to go to work.

The trip was over and although we had seen the various and wondrous beauty of just a small part of the United States, we were happy to be home and glad to sleep in our own beds. We were glad we didn’t have to set up tents and cook in the dark. The trip was over and we were home.