Friday, October 15, 2010

On the Road Again

Thank god for free wireless at Panera!!!

I'm sitting in Panera in Kansas City waiting for Jeff to get done with the networking event that brought us down here. I accidentally left my book in the car along with my knitting. The only thing I grabbed in the rush to get him there on time was his computer. So here I sit, happily typing while watching the people go by. I have an hour and a half before he's done and I couldn't be happier. I have a coffee and a cookie, and life is good.

After this we're heading east, to St. Louis to see family for the weekend. We were last there in May and we both decided that it would be good to get into town sometime before the winter. Once winter hits, I get a lot more leery of traveling. And I've been missing my in-laws. It's time for a road trip.

Jeff and I used to travel a lot in the winter. In fact it seemed that the moment the snow started flying we started getting cabin fever and would head out of town. I've driven through blizzards and freezing rain. We've slid off roads and almost gotten stranded a couple of times. One trip back from Minneapolis, sent us back up to the Cities after they closed the Interstate. We even had one horrific five hour drive back from Iowa City where we had to use the rumble strips just to get some traction. We've traveled in the winter and sometimes paid the price.

But as I've gotten older, I've become a bit more cautious. I'm less likely to throw my bag in the car and head out of town when there is threat of snow. I'm not my old college self who would travel in anything. I check weather reports (some would say obsessively) and prepare for the worst. So this year I think we'll stay home this winter. After last year I'm still a bit gun shy of even walking on ice. Driving will be nerve-wracking. So we'll stay home and deal with cabin fever in other ways. Of course I say this now. We'll see what happens when the snow flies. Most likely we'll be back on the road again.

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