We Made It!!!

Miami... We're here. Finally. We drove for 22 hours and didn't even kill each other! It's a feat that deserves some praise. No, not really. But we did do quite well on a very long trip together and we only each got cranky once,so that's a good thing. We stayed in a couple of funny little hotels. Well, one sketchy uncomfortable hotel and one funny little comfortable hotel. There's so much to say about the trip, I'm just going to list some of the best parts.

We stopped in VA and had dinner with my folks. My mom made my favorite meal and it was great - chicken tetrazzini. Yummy times. I got to see my brother. He got home from work about half an hour before we had to leave. Actually he got there about an hour and a half after we should have left, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave too quickly. I don't think I'll be in that house for quite some time, so I was kind of relishing the moments, I guess. It was good to see my family. I don't get to see them that often these days and even when they drive me crazy I miss them.

Got stuck behind this pick-up truck at one point that I was convinced said "Steverado" on the tailgate. It had this goofy decal lettering across it that was kind of cursive graffiti looking stuff, so I really thought that's what it said. Turns out it said "Silverado" - the make of the truck. Duh, Melissa. So, I felt a bit silly, and from then on whenever we'd see a Silverado the man would point it out and say, "Look, it's Steverado!". Hey, I design clothes, I'm no brain surgeon.

We got to see the launching of the space shuttle Discovery this morning from Cape Canaveral. It was awesome! I've watched every launch since I can remember and to see one in person was just fantastic. Everyone on the beach was facing the same direction, waiting for the red glow of the boosters' trail through the blue, cloudless sky. I don't think the conditions could have been better. It was an absolutely gorgeous summer day. We planned out the last leg of the trip to coincide with the launch so we could see it. We were both very glad that the launch went as scheduled. If Discovery didn't get into orbit today the whole mission would have been scrubbed and we really wanted to see it. Plus, we ended up driving an extra half a day so we could witness it. And after spending 2 days in a car if we wouldn't have been able to have that extra half a day made worthwhile we would have been 2 very cranky Floridians. (wow, dude, I'm a Floridian. Well, I'm a Floridian/New Yorker, but still... that's weird)

Last night we stayed just north of Daytona beach at this little place called the Scottish Inn that's run by a Pakistani couple. That struck me as funny. The sign was all Celtic looking, but the office was decorated with embroidered wall hangings and little Urdu plaques. The bed was comfortable and the shower was normal sized (the night before we stayed at this place right off of 95 that had a horrible bed and a shower meant for midgets. Even I had to bend my knees to get my head wet, and I'm certainly no giantess), so the man was happy about that, being the tall hunk o' lovin' that he is. The Scottish/Pakistani Inn was right across the street from the beach, so we walked along the beach last night and got our feet wet. The sand felt great and the water was so warm. I picked up a bunch of shells that I'm going to make into a necklace. I felt like a little kid - walking around and squatting in the sand, digging to find the best shells. Made me think of all the times I did that at the Outer Banks as a little girl. It was a nice memory for me.

Typical road trip type stuff... ate at Waffle House and loved it, got slurpees from 7-11, listened to 80s music and sang along to almost every song, cursed out bad drivers as if they could hear us, complained about how uncomfortable we were (P.S. don't buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The new ones are pretty crappy. Little things were broken all over the interior and the handling was bad - felt like I was driving a semi and that's not from the size), ate beef jerky (thanks to my fabulous now former coworker, Sara, who supplied us with enough dried beef to feed a small village) and hallah (I know it's a strange combination, but my roommate, Shira, made us a goodie bag full of really great, healthy food for the trip - including tomatoes from the garden and man oh man were they tasty. Those of you who think grape tomatoes are a strange road trip food don't know what you're missing), took a few wrong turns but always found our way back. That's life, though, isn't it? Waffle House, beef jerky and wrong turns. That's life, my friends.

I have so much more to say about the trip and about the fabulous BBQ that we had on Saturday before we left for the drive down here, but for now I need to go take a walk around the block. I feel as if my legs have atrophied slightly and I need to shock them back into an active state before they go on strike for good. I'll write more later once we have the truck unpacked and I have my thoughts together.

I'm home. It feels pretty damn good.