As promised, here is finally my post on our recent trip to Texas. This story actually goes back to a couple months ago. My car was having several major issues. We took it in to get evaluated, and it was going to be an exorbitant amount to fix, so we started looking for a cheaper, reliable shop to possibly have the car repaired at. (Side note, if you'd like to buy a fabulous little gray Volkswagen Beetle, I could probably make that dream come true for you.)
Fast forward a couple days. Loren called me on his way home from school saying that his car was making horrible noises and he hoped he would make it home. We knew it needed an oil change, so I went ahead and scheduled that appointment for him first thing the next morning, knowing that we would also get a diagnostic on what else was wrong. Turns out, he needed some immediate work done so that the car was even driveable. He went ahead and had the necessary fix done and we were set back a little further with the repairs my car needed (his car still needed other repairs). Since we both require cars to drive our separate ways to work/school, we prayed and discussed several possible solutions that would be the wisest. In the end we decided to sell my car and find a good, cheap car in the area. We didn't really know what to look for and who to trust, but we slowly started into that process anyway.
Then, a few weeks ago, my sister in Mexico messaged and asked if any of us sisters stateside needed a car, as they had to buy a new one in Mexico and wanted to give away their current one. All we had to do was buy one-way flights to Texas to pick up the car, and it was ours! Talk about perfect timing! So long story short, Heather found some amazingly cheap one-way flights to TX and the next week, we found ourselves on a plane. And since we were picking up the car from Heather & Jason, naturally we got to see them and the niece and nephew. :)
I was super excited for several reasons, but especially because I love flying and this was the first time I got to fly with Loren AND we were getting to see family AND we were going to take a very long road trip.
Unfortunately, Heather & the kids were sick, and I didn't get very many pictures of our time with them (I really need to work on this. New Year’s Resolution?), but we still had a fantastic time seeing them.
Fast forward a couple days. Loren called me on his way home from school saying that his car was making horrible noises and he hoped he would make it home. We knew it needed an oil change, so I went ahead and scheduled that appointment for him first thing the next morning, knowing that we would also get a diagnostic on what else was wrong. Turns out, he needed some immediate work done so that the car was even driveable. He went ahead and had the necessary fix done and we were set back a little further with the repairs my car needed (his car still needed other repairs). Since we both require cars to drive our separate ways to work/school, we prayed and discussed several possible solutions that would be the wisest. In the end we decided to sell my car and find a good, cheap car in the area. We didn't really know what to look for and who to trust, but we slowly started into that process anyway.
Then, a few weeks ago, my sister in Mexico messaged and asked if any of us sisters stateside needed a car, as they had to buy a new one in Mexico and wanted to give away their current one. All we had to do was buy one-way flights to Texas to pick up the car, and it was ours! Talk about perfect timing! So long story short, Heather found some amazingly cheap one-way flights to TX and the next week, we found ourselves on a plane. And since we were picking up the car from Heather & Jason, naturally we got to see them and the niece and nephew. :)
I was super excited for several reasons, but especially because I love flying and this was the first time I got to fly with Loren AND we were getting to see family AND we were going to take a very long road trip.
Unfortunately, Heather & the kids were sick, and I didn't get very many pictures of our time with them (I really need to work on this. New Year’s Resolution?), but we still had a fantastic time seeing them.
We flew down the Monday before Christmas and wanted to be back in Indy for Christmas. This meant a 23 hour road trip to get back by Christmas Eve morning. But armed with snacks, audio books, music, water, a German book for Loren to read and me to translate, and fun car games, we were up for the trip. And we made it in exactly 23 hours. The trip was actually not as hard as I thought it would be. Between the clear traffic, driver switching every 1-3 hours and activities we brought (or made up), the time flew by pretty quickly.
One way we stayed motivated was taking a selfie and a picture of the road [almost] every hour. To your relief, we didn't get a picture every hour, as we didn't start till about 2 hours in and kind of tapered off when it got dark. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let these pictures do the talking.
One way we stayed motivated was taking a selfie and a picture of the road [almost] every hour. To your relief, we didn't get a picture every hour, as we didn't start till about 2 hours in and kind of tapered off when it got dark. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let these pictures do the talking.
And that pretty sums it all up! There is so much more I could write about this, but we are SO grateful for the Lord's provision, timing and safety, as well as the generosity of family!
**I do apologize for the lower quality of pictures, courtesy of my iPad.**
**I do apologize for the lower quality of pictures, courtesy of my iPad.**