4 years 9 days

Day 1469. This morning I could set the alarm for 9:15 am, as breakfast was served until 10 am. It was about 7:45, when Sammy was the first one to already wake up, way too early. Three days earlier that would have been 5:45 am! We stayed in bed, and at some point the others also woke up. We then all got up before my alarm ever went off and went to the breakfast room.

We were the only ones in the breakfast room; the whole hotel actually seemed pretty empty. We enjoyed our breakfast together, especially since they had more options than most of the hotels we stay at. Then we returned to the room, where I finished packing, then Randy loaded everything back into the car, while the kids were watching TV until he was done.

It was nearly 11 am, when we drove off to hit the road again, for the fourth day in a row, and we had nearly 400 miles ahead of us to cover. And today it was not all interstate, but smaller roads, which is more tiring for Randy. For much of the time we were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around anywhere. Some of the little towns/villages we passed through looked run down with not much life going on. It soon became clear that we were not gonna be able to stop to eat somewhere. We stopped at a gas station, where Randy bought some food, but they didn't have any fresh sandwiches. So we stopped at a Dairy Queen, when we happend to drive by. I got some food there and took it to the car. Only later did it occur to me that we could have gone inside to eat. Oh well. Everyone ate in the car, and no one had a nap. I preferred having them tired at bed time tonight.

And so we drove and drove and never stopped, expect when someone needed a bathroom. One time we stopped at a gas station, a bee stung Randy into his belly after it got caught unter his shirt, but thankfully it doesn't look too bad.

Yesterday was the worst driving day; thankfully today everything was back to normal, without any drama in the car. At 6:20 we pulled up at our friends' house in Waco, Texas.

It was great to see my friend again that I've known for nearly 20 years. She had told us in advance that they have a dog, and Sammy had been saying the dog's name in the car on the way. The dog was really excited to see the kids, and so were the kids. Emmy was a little fearful at first and didn't want to get out of the car, so my friend let him climb on her back. We all went inside, and the kids kept playing with the dog. Sammy kept trying to pet him, but the dog was moving all the time, making it hard.

Soon we all sat down to eat together and were having a great time of fellowship. As usual, the kids were not eating much. Sammy just wanted to down to go pet the dog, who was hoping to get scraps from the table. I was having such a great time catching up with my friend, while Randy was talking to her husband. The kids went outside with him for a few minutes, then came back inside as a storm was approaching. The kids actually saw lightning and were all excited about it.

They had some yoghurt and strawberries, and it was after 8:30 pm, when we finally stopped talking to get them bathed and ready for bed. It was nearly 9:30 before they were all in bed. I prayed for them, but did not read them a bed time story. The boys were sharing a bed, while Tammy was in our bed. I turned my computer on, sitting on the same bed, and sang to them. Soon they were falling asleep. Eventually I moved from our room to the living room, where I could sit comfortably while working. Now it's going on midnight, and I'll soon go to bed after getting a little more work done.