The road home is the straightest, narrow road, winding through the tempest heat of Florida orange groves.
The road home is just around the corner, but it is also the road I'm on.
In the blur of 70 mph down the interstate, the two words I can think of after 10 hours is "tunnel vision." It's an odd feeling, your vision is accute and aware of all things in front of you, and it's like a sixth sense of what is beside and even behind you, but you don't consciously see it, or care to, you just know. I'm having a moment -I've had lots of moments over the past 4 months, but this one is the strongest. I have a renewed sense of self and purpose. I chose to step back in the fog of the tunnel and see what is racing by. I am keenly aware of all things past, present and future. As I step back from just me and my circumstance, I now see a new perspective.
Perhaps I heard the most meaningful quote ever uttered in a movie. I'm not a movie junky, so I know there are famous quotes, but this one struck a cord... "sometimes we are looking too close at what is in front of us, but if we step back we see the big picture, we gain a new perspective." -Soul Surfer was the best movie I have watched in a while. The youth minister is showing pictures of these close ups of objects and the youth are guessing what they are, and of course they can't tell. So, the moral of the story is of course, the quote.
So, what am I saying in all this? Touch, but don't suffocate. Glow, but don't burn up.
~Where we've been~
April 7 Garyville, LA to Selma, AL -337 miles
April 8 to April 9 Athens, AL to New York, New York - 952 miles
April 11 to April 12 Bronx, NY to Hobe Sound, FL -1239 miles
April 13 Fort Myers, FL to Orlando, FL -194 miles
April 14 to April 15 Orlando, FL to Atlanta, GA -446 miles
April 15 to April 16 Pell City, AL to Utica, MI -770 miles
April 16 to April 18 Utica, MI to Grand Rapids MI -189 miles
April 18 to April 19 Benton Harbor, MI to Strasburg, VA -607 miles
April 19-21 Baltimore, MD to Groveport, OH -413 miles
New York, New York -I would have to say the epitomy of all things large. City blocks were lego size in comparison to the skyscrapers that towered over them. Massive amounts of skyscrapers, one after the other in Manhattan. People were everywhere, and yellow taxi cabs about matched their number. I felt like we were driving Shamoo in the midst of a whole lot of Nemos!
The George Washington and Broklyn Bridges are architectural miracles. As much traffic that crosses them daily, it really amazes me that it is in such good of shape. Don't get me wrong, the roads in New York are crazy. By the time we got back to New Jersey, our truck needed two new front shocks, a wheel alignment, and a new right tire. But it was an experience. We ate at deli's in New Jersey. Completely a New England thing - the only other deli's in the south and heartland are in the fancy grocery stores. But they pale in comparison to the locally owned Italian Deli's of New Jersey.
Hobe Sound, FL. A beautiful place of serenity right on the eastern coast of Florida around Jupiter Island. We delivered to a construction sight here. This 80 year old man who owned an elite shipping company was having a house built in a very prestigious neighborhood -one road down from Tiger Woods' house. Well, this was the third time he had the construction company knock down his house and rebuild it, because it still wasn't up to his impecable standards. The ocean was one road away, as was the yacht club. I felt like a Desparate Housewife movie star imagining a daily life that was so rich and exotic. Pinch.
Orlando, FL. We were right by the exits to Sea World, Disney World, and Epcot Center. Of course we didn't get to stop, but the childhood princess again manifested as I imagined getting my picture taken with Cinderella and Goofy. Lol, prolly a good characature to hang beside our wedding pictures . . .
I am purely in love with Florida. From the waves upon waves that crash against the sandy ocean shore to the smell of orange blossoms and oranges in the hundreds of miles of orange groves. I love the flat roads and how there are bike trails everywhere. I love the sunshine and the heat and the salt and the tans. . .
Michigan was cold and snowy. I don't like cold, I don't like snowy. My personality took a dive with the temperatures. I was miserable. So, I hid under the blankets like a child on a snow day. Lol. I did gain a few pounds because we ate two meals at this awesome truck stop. I usually don't like truck stop food, but the best Tex Mex I've ever ate was at this Roady's Truck Stop in Michigan.
Then, we went to the big city of Baltimore. What a historic area, and the buildings are preserved magnificintly. Right outside of Baltimore is Grantsville, MD. and the Lighthouse to the World Church -it is a lighthouse that sits on top of a mountain ridge. Truly a beacon of hope. The green ridge mountains in Cumberland, MD and Flintstone, MD were breathtaking. The redbuds, with the pine, and red / black flint was a beauty to behold.
Now we're back in the heartland with miles of farmland being planted and prepared for spring/summer. Barns painted and shored up to withstand another year.
Truly is a grand country. What a privilege just to touch the surface of the splendor.
~Pictures~
New York, New York!
Manhattan
China Town -people shopping at the market on Saturday morning
Nemos
Hobe Sound -The road was lined with these low trees -we had to go really slow...
A great day in Tampa Bay!
Cumberland MD from I-68 (the National Freeway)
Cumberland MD
Green Ridge Mtns (photo courtesy of Google)
Green Ridge Mtns in Maryland (photo courtesy of google)
