On The Road Again...

I wonder if I've used that title before? Most likely, but I'm not going to take the time to go back and check. The truth is, when I used to take a LOT of road trips with Youth Ministries, there was one particular summer where Jeff, who is now a pastor in Florida, would have us sing that song every single time we got back into the car. That's right, every single time. Without fail. We also did the arm actions to "YMCA" out the windows. (You had to think about being the driver or passenger when it came to spelling out the letters.) I'm thinking especially of a trip to New Jersey with many cars caravaning together... Hmmmm... a walk down memory lane... To be honest, now anytime I'm on a road trip, I start humming "On the Road Again" (at least the first line or two) every time I get back into the car. Thanks, Jeff!

Well, I'll start singing that song tomorrow. As I said in my last blog, there are still so many things I'd like to post about, but I've wrapped up all my work for the night and I plan on waking up in just a few hours to take off, so I'm not going to take the time for blogging much tonight.

I want to ask you to pray for me as I'm driving to Arizona. Please pray for safety, good road conditions, and that my car runs smoothly.

I think it should be a pretty great drive, as I'm not squeezing in too many miles each day as is sometimes my habit. If all goes according to plan (and yes, I finally did come up with a plan -thanks to Danny!) I'll leave Burnsville in the morning and go as far as Wichita, KS, which is 620 miles. I usually drive more than that on a road trip day, so if I'm pretty wide awake when I get there I think I might keep going. On Thursday morning I'll head to Oklahoma City (if I'm not already there) and I'd like to see the memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing. Then I'll head west and stay in Albuquerque that night (a 704 or 543 mile day depending on where I stay). Then on Friday, it's only 480 miles to Mesa so I should arrive there without any problems. If everything runs smoothly, I'd like to take Oak Creek Canyon down from Flagstaff so I can enjoy one of my favorite drives in the country, and see the red rocks of Sedona along the way. We'll see what time allows...

I've gotten to see 43 of the 50 states, and Oklahoma and Texas are two that have eluded me. I'm SOOO excited to get to see them! I've always driven to Phoenix via Denver, and while that's a nice drive, I'm really looking forward to seeing a few new things! Mapquest suggested I take a very similar route to the one I'm taking, but it had me cut across the smallest little corner of Oklahoma. It didn't seem right to say "I've been to OK or TX" when it would be about an hour in OK and 1.5 hours in TX. So, I decided that going to Oklahoma City, getting out and doing something, and then driving across on I-40 sounds like a much better plan.

I'm assuming I'll have the internet at my hotels each night, so check back for updates to see how it's going! Or, better yet, give me a call while I'm driving! I'll have all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday without much going on (except driving, of course!) so will have plenty of time to chat. My cell phone and headset are fully charged and if you've ever gotten an email from me, you'll see that number at the bottom. I'd love to hear from you!

Audiobook update: THANK YOU so much for your suggestions! I actually looked into each of them (except for Ted Dekker -those suggestions were after I made my purchase, but because I'm so intrigued now, I'll either be picking up those books or listening to them in 7 weeks on my way back!) but finally made my decision. A friend emailed me the suggestion of Jane Eyre and the interesting thing is, that's actually the classic book I was considering when I wrote last night's post! After her saying it was a book she could read and re-read, I knew it was an easy decision. It turns out that iTunes has the unabridged version for $50-60 so I decided to go with the abridged version. That's never my choice, but I couldn't justify the cost. Especially since I have the book here and have just never read it... Since it's a shorter version, I decided to follow Aunt Marilyn's suggestion and also bought "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw. That's a book I've been very interested in reading, so I'm now looking forward to both of my selections!

I really better get to bed, but thanks for praying for me as I'm driving!

To whet your appetite, I have really great pictures of David that I'm excited to show you. Maybe tomorrow night??