Cross country, day 2

(Reprinted from our family blog)

After a challenging few days, we are finally on the road. I think the last 10% of our stuff took longer to pack than the first 90%. We had help from several friends, and Grandpa Lyle (Jamie's dad) was a huge help. With the help of some friends, we finished up at our house at about 2 AM Thursday morning, went to my parents' house to sleep, and left Northern VA about 2 PM that afternoon.

Saying goodbye to my parents was really hard. As we all began hugging, Cash went up to Grandma Helen and said, "I'm going to miss you so much." Everyone started crying. I am so thankful for Mom and Jerry!

We drove to Wytheville, VA the first day and spent the night at a Comfort Inn. It was a nice drive--I was by myself in the Civic (well, the cat was with me), while Jamie, Grandpa Lyle and the boys were in the van. I got caught up on Mike and Mike and Stuck in the 80's podcasts.

We stopped at a rest area and played baseball; then had a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel.

I saw a beautiful sight while driving around Blacksburg. The sun was going down in the distance, the sky was full of different shades of reds and yellows. Jamie, Lyle and the boys were ahead of me in the van. At one point they were the only vehicle in my sight, driving up a hill with the sunset as background, they drove under a bridge that framed them like a beautiful piece of art.

Today we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, then hit the road. This time I was in the van with Grandpa Lyle and the boys; Jamie drove the Civic. We stopped a few times for gas and food and restrooms, and got to Nashville late in the afternoon.

We had a wonderful dinner with Grandma Dorothy and Aunt Sheila, then came back to the hotel where I took the boys swimming. Everyone is in bed; I'm going to follow soon.

Tomorrow we hope to get to Columbia, MO.