Day 2538. It was 2 am before I went to bed. The kids were up so early that I thought it was much later by the time I got up at 8 am. I started packing right away, and only once everything was packed did I sit down to have breakfast. That way Randy was able to start loading up the car. The kids were eager to go over to our friends' house to spend a few more minutes with them but we then all went over there together. Sammy was eager to say good-bye to the dogs. Our friend finished making these shells for all of us which was really special.
Then we all went outside and to our car. Tammy wanted to say good-bye to the goats. We then strapped them into their car seats and waved good-bye to our friends. It was 9:45 am by the time we left.
We had 8.5 hours of driving ahead of us. In fact, we were not taking the shortest route. We decided to drive west along the coast to take our chances and make a surprise visit to a church that is also in Randy Clark's network like us. It was 90 minutes to get there, right outside Destin, Florida. It was a long shot but Randy said it was a scenic drive so it was worth it, no matter what. He was thinking back to the memories of his childhood when they'd come there on holiday.
We pulled up at the church, and I got out and rang the bell but nobody answered. So I wrote a note and left it with my book and a brochure. I'm curious whether they'll email me. It was disappointing but that's life.
We continued on our way. It was close to noon, and the kids were hungry so we pulled into the next Wendy's where I went inside by myself to pick up the food I had ordered with my phone. We then ate while driving. We drove through Pensacola, then stopped at the Alabama Welcome Center for a bathroom break. Back on the road we drove through Mobile, Alabama, where we went through a tunnel under the river flowing into the ocean, then we turned north to drive straight up to Mississippi. I finally got a much-needed nap in. At 5 pm we had another bathroom break.
At 8:15 pm we drove up to the house that Randy had built and that his youngest adult daughter lives in. Sammy was the most excited but all three kids were excited to see their half-sister and nieces and started playing right away. We were all hungry so we sat down to eat dinner; people had been so nice to bring food for us since everyone knows that Randy's Mom had broken her thigh bone and was still recovering, having only just returned to her home.
After we had eaten, Randy brought in the luggage, and I arranged everything and got the kids' beds ready. It was after 9 pm by the time I called them to come and go to bed. We had to tell all the kids that they'd have all day tomorrow to play with each other. It was 9:45 pm by the time they were finally all in bed, and they quickly fell asleep. I turned my computer on and started working. Now it's 1:30 am and time for me to also go to bed.
