On the Road

I'm a planner. I think it comes naturally with being a mom, and those skills are honed when you become a special needs mom. A few weeks before the summer started, I carefully crafted a calendar to keep our days busy and packed so that we all wouldn't go crazy.

Well, my summer plans didn't start out exactly as we wanted.

Unfortunately my father passed away the first week of June, so it meant a family trip to Michigan. My father and I had a complicated relationship, but it was important to be there for my mom and the rest of my family.

It wasn't even our original plan for all of us to go to the funeral, but my husband gauged my mood and decided the entire family needed to go. So with a four prep time, I packed and loaded everyone in the car for an epic road trip across country.

It took us only a few days to get there, because we pushed hard. The kids were troopers. What did we do without Kindles and car DVD players in the past?

All in all, we were away from home for 11 days - three to get there, three in Michigan, and five days home. We took our time and spent the night close to friends on the way home to make it easier on the kids. And because we had been planning on going on a long camping vacation that week anyway. So that turned out conveniently for my husband work-wise.

Although we were in Michigan for sad reasons, it was nice to see the family and my friends. I even got to stop into my brother's new comic book shop. Rad Raptor Comics is in Adrian, Michigan, and you should check it out. I'm so proud of him.

I will probably blog later about some of our experiences on the road, however I just wanted to point out that no matter what we plan, God is always going to throw curve balls.

And while this would not have been my choice for summer activities, I think our family grew together and bonded more living 11 days in hotels and on the road across the country.