Pedal to the Metal

So here it is. I need to get out of this house, off of this base and out of this town before I lose what little sanity I have left. I can't stand my neighborhood, the worthless parents that allow their children (mostly under 6) to run the streets, the constant dogs barking and feeling like we are all packed into our houses like sardines. Claustrophobic people couldn't live on my block. Our houses are tighter than Richard Simons' spandex. We are all lined up like dominos and the only thing that sets most neighbors apart is who yells the loudest when swearing at their children. I am definitely ready for some change of scenery and seeing as Chris is in and out of the range for the next two months and then in advanced mortar school in July...looks like the kids and I might be taking a road trip by ourselves.

The problem is this...I honestly don't know if I can force myself to take the painfully boring trip to Ohio again when I have seen it and driven it so many times alone already. Unless I take a WAY different route from NC to OH, I might be forced to lock myself in my house to ignore the ignorance around me until fall.

Soooo...I started typing some ideas into mapquest. Miami, FL is only 12 hours away, Myrtle Beach is only two and a half, Texas is 20, Washington is 44 (yikes!) and we know Toledo is 12. I don't mind traveling with my kiddos and I am VERY thankful that Christian doesn't yet know the words to "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" but it doesn't feel right going too far and leaving my husband behind. This is his first summer that he is not deployed in three years so should we stay here and wait for him to have time to spend with us between all of his trainings?? I miss my family, my friends, having fun with Christian when we do crazy things in the car and I miss, miss, miss taking road trips and seeing places previously unseen.

I want my kids (mostly Christian because Grace is still young) to have the memories that I had of taking yearly summer vacations, packed in the car with my family. Sometimes the trip was more fun than the destination.


Either way, I want to enjoy these years while I have them. I can pack our bags, put my kids in the car, tell them where we are going and they can't tell me no. How many more years of that do I really have left??