scenes from a long drive home

Yesterday was a very long day. We got up about 4:30, packed everything up, took out the garbage and bagged up our sheets and towels and tidied up the cottage, loaded up the last few things we had left, turned in our keys, and headed for the ferry. We had to be there at 6:00, so it ended up being kind of a mad rush. Hurry up and wait, as they say, since we spent the next few hours hanging out on the ferry to Swan Quarter. On the plus side, Mike finally got to see the sun rise over Ocracoke.

We finally got to the mainland and on the road around 9:30, and from that point on it was just drive, drive, drive. We were determined to get home, partly because we all just wanted to be done with traveling and sleep in our own beds, and partly because we had a one-hour window this morning in which we could pick up Charlie from the kennel (otherwise he would have to stay there until Tuesday because of the holiday). Anyway, the first part of the drive was a different route than the one we took going down, so we saw some new and exciting things. Pilot Mountain made us all gasp when we came up over a hill and it was suddenly there. We drove through mountain tunnels in Virginia, which was very exciting for the boys except they wished the walls were made of glass so they could "see the inside of the mountain," and no amount of explaining on our part could make them understand that all they would see was dirt and rock. We also availed ourselves of some very fancy rest areas in Virginia.

Then it was on to West Virginia, where Henry had a bathroom emergency and we stopped at the sketchiest convenience store ever. It made "dirty" seem appealing by comparison. The less said about that, the better. Trust me. And of course it turned out that once we got back on the highway, there was a clean, well-lit, maintained rest area only five miles up the road. Sigh. So we stopped there for dinner, and then it was on to Ohio. And more of Ohio. And yet more of Ohio. Seriously, Ohio just seemed never-ending. The only highlight of the whole state for us was that the giant windmill farms we had seen during the day on the way down, we saw at night on the way back. Each windmill (and there were hundreds of them!) had a red light that flashed on and off, and they were all synchronized with each other. The boys were long asleep by this time (it was just before midnight), but Mike and I were mesmerized. I tried to take some pictures through the window, but they didn't turn out. Anyway, we finally made it home at 1:15 this morning. That's 19 hours and 15 minutes traveling, if you're keeping track. We hustled the boys straight up to bed, greeted the cats, unpacked the essentials, reveled in being home for a few minutes, and hit the sack.

This morning, we let Mike sleep in (he insisted on doing all the driving on the way back). Liam and I unloaded the van, then we went to pick up Charlie. I swear Liam's eyes were suspiciously bright as we waited for them to bring our dog up front, and there was never a reunion more enthusiastic (or slobbery) as theirs. It was a sweet ending to a sweet, sweet week.