The Road Trip.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  I sure did.  Spending time with family and loved ones while praising Jesus is the best feeling in the world.

It's a ten hour drive from my university to my home, which is an agonizingly dull and long drive when you're by yourself.  However, my friend Stephanie lives only a couple of hours away from me, so we decided to drive together to try to make the ride a bit easier with each other's company.  I didn't bring my car.  My little sister is fifteen, so she can't drive yet.  However, she got a car about a month ago and I've been driving her little Mustang the last week or two.

Stephanie arrived at my dorm bright and early (7:30 in the morning!) so we could pack my things into her car and leave in time to make dinner at her house.  I left the remaining perishables in my fridge in front of some guy friends' door and we were ready to leave by 8:15.

Stephanie and I tend to spend many waking hours together during the week, but we somehow always manage to have enough to say that we can still talk for hours on end.  Although it was early in the morning (and I got less than five hours of sleep), we were eager and ready to begin our road trip. 

December 14 was a warm, rainy, sleepy day.  Although it was about seventy degrees outside, rain pounded against the windshield for the first five or six hours of our trip.  I adore rain, but it's definitely sleepy weather.

We were glad to have each other to stay awake.

As the first hour passed, we chatted about our high school proms, what it would be like if colleges had proms, and about terrible and funny dating experiences.  We laughed, cringed at awkward moments, and then turned on some Christmas Disney and Veggie Tales music.

After a few hours of driving, we stopped in a small town known for its amazing Dr. Peppers that are made with actual cane sugar.  Delicious!  Of course we had to stop at a gas station and purchase a couple.  They were sweet and tasted wonderful.

When we pulled into the gas station, a small circle of old men watched us intently from the window.  When we walked in, their eyes followed us wherever we went... they spoke to us when we left (and then again when we came back in to get someone to help us open our drinks).  At first, we were a little creeped out by the men, but the youngest was probably in his late seventies, so I think they probably wait all day long to say hello to a stranger.

After lunch, we were ready to continue our road trip, but the effects of drowsiness were finally taking their toll.  A warm lunch, a short break, sleepy weather, and little sleep were causing us to become a bit tired.  Without each other, I don't know what we would have done!  We talked about boys (like always) and about movies, and we worked through the sleepiness together.

Another hour passed and the rain began to fade a little, but the sky started to look increasingly... strange.

I'm guessing it was all the dust in the air (that's Texas, for you) and the storm combined that turned the sky an awful brown color, but it was bizarre to watch.  "Ahh, it can't be the end of the world before we get home to see our families!"

We stopped in another small town to grab gas and a snack (Sour Patch Watermelon candy and Coca-Cola).

Semi trucks were everywhere at this particular rest stop.  In fact, they filled up the road so much that it was hard to pull out of the gas station.  This made us pretty FURIOUS (joking, joking).  No one messes with Stephanie's car.  NO ONE.  Not even an 18-wheeler.

About an hour later, we arrived at Stephanie's house!  We were greeted with a warm welcome and I was able to meet Stephanie's brothers for the first time.  We were so excited to be out of the car after an 8/9 hour road trip!  We had to dance a little... of course.

About half an hour later, my parents and little brother arrived.  Stephanie's sweet mom made a delicious dinner for everyone and we sat and ate together.  It was so, so wonderful to see our families, but Stephanie and I grew a little dismal at the idea of leaving each other for an entire month.  I mean, this girl and I spend time together EVERY DAY.  How could we go an entire month without each other?!

After a few hours of conversation, food, and fun, my parents finally began to nudge us towards the door... after all, we still had two more hours left on the road before I was home.

Only a month, only a month, only a month. ;)  This is why Christmas break is a little bittersweet in some ways.  It's SO NICE to be back home with family and old friends, but there will always be that niggle of longing when I think of my precious friends from college.

I miss Stephanie so much already!  (But guess who is coming on Wednesday?) :)

We got to my house a little after nine in the evening.  My little sister was waiting for me, along with three very excited dogs.  One puppy in particular seemed especially excited to see me.

It felt so nice to be home.

Road trips are so much fun.  If you've never been on one, I highly recommend it.  (Be sure to bring a friend.)