Loving the road!

Chicago: check.

Iowa: check.

Nebraska: check.

Next stop: Windsor, Colorado! We'll be there through next Sunday evening.

Reflections from the road (so far):

1. I still love road trips. (Check back with me on this a month from now.)
2.  I’m thankful to my parents for taking me on so many road trips as a kid (and making them enjoyable), as I know this has a lot to do with my ongoing appreciation for being on the road.
3. My daughter may be inflexible (particular? high-maintenance? ridiculous?) in some areas, but she is an amazing traveler. I’m consistently impressed by how relatively little stress she experiences/creates on our many trips (minus that one overnight flight to London when she was 11 months old and refused to sleep).
4. It occurs to me that I may be instilling the same comfort with/appreciation for road trips in my daughter that my parents instilled in me. That makes me happy.
5.  I love that even on cross-country road trips, my family still found time to check out a neighborhood garage sale.
6. Sensing a theme here…I’m grateful that my parents instilled in me a love for garage sales and bargain-hunting.
7. I realize that I am intentionally cultivating the same love for garage sales and bargain-hunting in my daughter. Score! (She’ll thank me later too, I’m sure. Right??)
8. I.love.Cheezits.
9.  Road trips while pregnant involve almost constant snacking to keep carsickness away.
10.  I.love.Cheezits! (And granola bars and wheat thins and Annabel’s juice boxes.)
11. When it comes to road trips (and driving in general), we’re a talking family and not a music family. I’ve begun to realize this is a bit unique (weird? extreme?). So far we’ve had three long days of driving and have spent approximately 20 minutes (maybe) with the radio on. We like it this way.
12. Yesterday a dear friend prayed that our time actually in the car would feel almost like vacation. So far, that has totally been the case. I’m still loving being on the road and find myself actually looking forward to our hours of driving. Crazy? Yes. God being present and active in this trip (already)? Double yes.
13. Grateful. For so many, many things, including all of the above, I am super grateful right now. On the list of things to be grateful for is my gratitude itself. I’ve had my moments of bad attitude on this trip already, but right now, I’m just feeling grateful, and it’s a nice place to be.