What was supposed to be a 10-12 hour drive turned into a 15 hour trek. Of course we left late bc I wouldn't be me if I didn't wait until the very last minute to finish packing. Simply said, we have too much stuff. My parents were saints by coming to help the past two days finish gathering our belongings and load the trailer. When we finally hit the road around 11:15 am L and I were both in tears. I'm pretty sure we both cried until we were well past Hayden and then the tears would randomly reappear after we'd talk to a family member or saw something that reminded us of family and friends. As we crossed into TN it was ugly in the car. Tears and snot and reassurances that'd we would come back to Alabama as soon as we could. Don't get me wrong, we are excited about Denver and the possibilities that it brings. We know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity not to mention an extreme honor to have been asked and trusted by my company to go work out there. It's just that we love Birmingham so much. Okay, the tears are coming back so let me get on to explaining our drive. First, let me mention that we have no radio. Yep, that's right, we are doing this entire drive in silence. You know you are with your soulmate when you can drive 626 miles with only one another to talk to. Second, I'm a beast pulling a trailer! Seriously by the time we hit IL I was telling L how we could get a boat now bc I could tow it no problem! *as long as I never have to back it up. In KY the rain started and the temp dropped. Leaving 70 degree sunshine for 39 degree rain was definitely poor planning on our part. In IL the construction hit us. In St. Louis the crazy interstate and interchanges took us by surprise. When we finally hit 70 W we were exhausted and a little terrified. Due to the rain/construction combo there were about 215 miles where we couldn't drive more than 40mph. We stopped for one last fill up and a coffee for me and were own our way. It was around 1am at this int and we remembered that it was the end of St. Patrick's Day. A Jeep ran a red light. Thankfully we were paying attention and stopped otherwise he would've ran into the passenger side of our car. We shook that incident off and got back on the interstate. About 5 miles in I see headlights swerving from the eastbound lanes and coming towards is. I was screaming "oh shit oh shit oh shit" and pulling over as fast as you can pulling a 6x12 uHaul. L looks up just as the 18 wheeler hit the median. For a moment I thought he was going to flip. I parked the car and L ran over to check on him while I called 911... He was okay. His truck got away from him bc of the wet roads and he did a text book emergency stop. Needless to say, we were shaken up. We drove away with 78 miles left on our drive. That had to have been the longest 78 miles of our lives. MO has mile markers every .2 miles so they get your hopes up that you are close to your exit when you are barely making progress. An hour and 20 minutes later we finally got to our hotel. It was about 245am at this point and we still had to deal with the pups (who have been extremely good travelers!). Of course they had to investigate everything.... And truing to get to 65+ LB dogs in quietly so you don't wake up other guests is o easy feat. When we finally got in our room L and I were crying out of exhaustion and the dogs thought it was a party! They experienced full length mirrors for the first time and decided to talk to their two new friends. We all finally settled into sleep around 330am. I woke up this am without an alarm and am ready to go. The rest of our part of the Handley clan our getting in as much rest as they can. We have 626 miles under our belt and about 726 to go. Here is hoping that today is am uneventful drive! I will make sure that L updates later tonight when we get to Colby, KS. We love you guys and miss your more than words. Also, I apologize for any and all grammatical errors, I haven't had any coffee!
