Road Trip!

Recently, I set out to attend our 4th annual cousins reunion down in Alabama.  It is a lot of fun and something that all of us look forward to during the year.

The first day is the longest!  When I am driving from point A to point B, my only focus is just to get there.  I drove 12 hours through five major cities and logged just under 700 miles.  Ugh!  I entertained myself with satellite radio and sending silly text messages to my cousin, Rita!  It is a game, but it also lets Rita track my whereabouts should the unthinkable happen.

"Closing in on Cleveland,"
"Just had a nice breakfast here at the hotel, it's still dark, time for another cup of coffee before I start out,"
"the little old lady from Rochester is in Tennessee!"
"zipping right along, closing in on BAMA!"
"less than 125 miles to go!"

The following pictures show what my day was all about!  Wish I could say the traffic was always this light, but then when I was in heavy, slow moving traffic, I wouldn't be holding a camera in front of me!!!

After 19 hours of driving over two days, I arrived in the small rural Alabama town where we hold the reunion.  Stopping at the welcome center in Alabama was a sense of relief.  My long drive was almost over and I was thankful the trip had been uneventful.

Here are a couple of scenes from the welcome station.  When I left Rochester, the   tulips and daffodils were in bloom but the other blooming plants are still 6 to 8 weeks or more away.  So it was a joy to see flowers in bloom and trees covered in leaves.

I was the first to arrive.  Driving through the last large city, I got a call from Pam.  "Where are you?"

"Almost there," I said.  "I'll be there in about a half hour."

There are 6 of us the first two nights.  We had a great time, lots of laughs, and then we were all tired from our travels so it was time for bed.

Watch for more posts soon on the rest of the trip.