The Trip Yesterday

Sometimes, I have to giggle just thinking about how I’ll compose a blog post because . . I don’t know but it seems like life around here can be terribly weird sometimes; so weird that it’s almost hard to believe it happen the way it happens.

The Night Before a Trip

I didn’t used to be this way but now, the night before a trip, I cannot sleep. I always sleep! I always go to sleep almost the instant I get in bed and I rarely ever wake up during the night . . except for the night before a trip. I know you’ll think I’m crazy but it used to happen just before along trip but now, if Vince says “Let’s get up and go to Walmart early tomorrow”, then I can’t sleep. Walmart! What about a trip to Walmart keeps me awake?

I knew I was leaving Sunday morning to drive to Missouri so I got up really early Saturday morning thinking I’d be so tired, I’d go right to sleep. Oh, yes! I was exhausted . . til I got in bed. I tossed and turned and at 2 a.m., I had not gone to sleep. That is so miserable. I grabbed the Kindle, thinking that would put me to sleep. It always does. Nope. The last time I looked at the clock was 3:15 a.m. My alarm went off at 6:15. That’s three hours sleep. I reset the alarm for 6:45 and went back to sleep . . like half an hour was really going to help. I took my time and didn’t end up leaving til 8.

The Truck:

Vince does not like driving a pickup. He realizes we need a pickup but it will never be his only vehicle, nor does it need to be a new pickup. We’ll use it for hauling things to the dump, for picking up lumber for projects, etc.

The old S-10 isn’t going to make the move (or, that’s what he says now). It really does need a lot of work, is a 96 or 97 model and just not worth us keeping it.

I wasn’t even out of Texas yet. Chad called. “Mom! There’s an auction here today. I went by to preview the stuff and there’s a pickup there – PERFECT for y’all.”

I told Chad . . that is between you and Vince. Call him, talk to him and y’all work it out.

Then Vince called and he was actually excited about the pickup (because he thought it was a bargain).

Chad has a friend who is really good at working on older Chevrolet and GMC vehicles. Chad called him, he went by the auction location and looked at it and thought it was a great deal.

Then Vince called back and said “Can you drive to Nevada and pay for it if Chad wins the auction?” WHAT? I’m driving nine hours already. Add an hour there, time spent getting the pickup to Chad’s house, an hour back and that’s turning this into a 12 hour day for me, not to mention driving back to the MO house after dark on a deer infested highway! But, Vince was home packing for a move I wanted to make so I said sure . . I’ll go pay for it.

Honestly, all day, it was either Chad or Vince calling about that truck.

Speeding Up The Trip:

Seriously, I do not speed. If the speed limit is 75 (and most of the way it is), my cruise is set on 75. GPS was telling me I’d be in Nevada, MO by 6:15 p.m., add three hours to that and I’d be getting home at 9:15 p.m. There was at least an hour’s worth of unloading my car that had to be done as soon as I got home. I was not looking forward to the extra time on the road but both Chad and Vince were so excited that I had to go along.

My trip to MO, I usually stop first in Graham, Texas, which is only two hours from home but I don’t always leave with a full tank of gas (no gas stations near my house or on the way out of town). I don’t drink coffee so I usually have my first Dr. Pepper about 30 miles from Graham so I can stop there and go to the bathroom and get gas.

Yesterday, I didn’t have the Dr. Pepper, I had left home with a full tank of gas because it was just 6 days ago that we drove home from MO and filled up when we got back to Texas. So, I skipped the stop at Graham.

The next stop I usually make is at Walters, OK. That’s the first place where the gas/food are out in the median. That’s a couple of hours from Graham (I think) but then I don’t usually stop again til another median stop between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Yesterday I looked at my gas gauge, looked at Rita sleeping and said “I can make it to Chickasha!” I did. Stopped there, got gas, took Rita for a walk, fed her, went to the restroom, grabbed the sandwich Vince had made me and a Dr. Pepper and was back on the road.

I had planned to stop at the McDonald’s between OKC and Tulsa but when I got there, I said “I think I can make it to Big Cabin), which is not far before I get into MO, so I kept driving.

When I got to Big Cabin, I said “I think I can make it home!” I did a bit of calculating in my head and knew I had enough gas. By now, Chad had already called and told me he didn’t get the truck . . the bid went way higher than he thought was reasonable.

So, instead of stopping three or four times for gas, I stopped ONE time. Instead of drinking three (or more) Dr. Peppers along the way, I had ONE! Rita went to the bathroom ONE time.

It’s actually 568 miles from the Texas house to the MO house but I forgot to reset the tripometer til I was almost out of Brownwood.

You can see that I had over a quarter tank of gas left. I think that’s weird that I only stopped once for gas and still have that much left. You can also see that my maintenance light came on so I need to find an oil change place in Joplin and get that done. I also need to make an appointment at Discount Tire to have my tires looked at. I feel something that’s not quite right.

So, I let home at 8:00, drove 568 miles with hardly any stops, got to the MO house at 4:50 and it was 90 degrees! It truly felt like Texas weather but the high today is going to be in the mid to upper 70’s. No complaining about that.

Made the trip in 8 hours, 50 minutes. It usually takes about 9-1/2 hours if I’m driving by myself; 15 hours if Vince is driving. That man has to stop at every place along the way. Go to the bathroom. Get a map (that we never use). Get a snack (that I bring from home). He thinks Rita needs to walk.

I’m sorry Vince didn’t get the truck he was excited about but so happy I didn’t have to drive down there to pay for it.