Road Trip Day Two 2016

Had an amazing day yesterday, despite getting off to a bit of a slow start. Didn’t have much for breakfast, and I blame Joe Rozsa for that! The only solace that I have on that front is that he was probably feeling as bad as I was and had to get up much earlier than me AND I challenged him to do his 22 pushups.

I visited some family friends, Cari and Madhu in Reynoldsburg. We went for lunch at the museum which was really amazing. Like Cari said, I think the birds were being paid to put on a show for us in the water fountain. We went back to the house and Madhu showed me all of his 3D printing projects. I have to admit, I was a little worried about driving, because on the way back from the museum, I was falling asleep in the back of the car. I had a good night’s sleep, but was going to try anyway. Didn’t hit much traffic to get out of Reynoldsburg. Nothing more than you would expect at rush hour, and it certainly wasn’t like Toronto traffic! Otherwise, it was pretty clear sailing.

My goal was to hit Lexington, Kentucky which was about where I’d have to fill up my gas tank anyway. So far, this is only the second tank I’ve had to do while I’ve been here, and it wasn’t even at warning levels yet. I’m doing pretty good with gauging my fatigue levels (and I’m happy to say I didn’t feel at all sleepy while driving, okay Mom?), hunger levels and matching them all to the tank in the car. I stopped just outside of Lexington and got gas first (Shell, naturally!) and the one thing I’ve noticed is that if you use your credit card at the pump, you have to put in your zip code, which I don’t have, so I have to go inside to pre-pay. Not a big deal, and I get why they do it. It’s just an observation. I got some food, left behind one of my cranes, which I saw one of the employees pick up as I did my video. He didn’t look to have thrown it out, but took it behind the counter. Don’t know exactly what that meant, but at least he didn’t throw it out.

I hit the highway again, and they changed. I went from being on a flat, two or three lane highway, to a single lane winding and hilly one. I had to keep the GPS on once I left Lexington, because there were so many turns, and highways, I would never have found it. At least I can cross off two more states off my list of ones I’ve never been to. i still made good time, maybe 10 minutes before I planned on it, and then realized that I went back an hour just before hitting the state line. So, technically, I got there an hour and 10 minutes earlier than expected. 😉

My mother told me before I left, when i said I needed to do this alone and be with my thoughts, that sometimes those thoughts can scare you. She’s right. But I also told her that I needed to confront them. I’ve been around people for so long that I needed to take time for myself. I can’t remember a time where I didn’t have to be somewhere, like a meetup or get something done. Don’t get me wrong, there is work to do, but it’s on my schedule. I haven’t had a vacation in years, probably since I graduated university. All the travel I’ve done over the past few years, I might be able to get a day or two at most, but they were almost all planned down to the minute and had some responsibility to it. This time, I have DAYS, not hours before my next WordCamp, and the last one of the season. I’m really looking forward to it, since I am the type of person that needs to be around people. Someone told me recently, that what I’m going through is falling in love with myself again. I corrected them: I’ve never been in love with myself, so this is like falling in love for the first time and learning to be alone, really alone, and being okay with it. So far so good. I can’t say that any of the thoughts that I’ve had have been scary at all, since they have been pretty much the ones I’ve had over the last few months. I’ve been restless, more than I can ever remember being in my life, so I needed a change. What the next few days, months or even years will hold is still a big mystery, but I’m not afraid anymore. That’s it: I’ve been afraid the last few months. Afraid of what the future holds. But now, I may not know what is out there, but I’m not afraid anymore. Even the last two days has taught me that.

Shelly is such a wonderful hostess. I got my own guest room, which is spectacular, with lava lamp and all. She has a beautiful house and I only just saw the grounds this morning as I write this, sitting outside on the deck. The temperature is about 17 with a breeze and it gives me focus. I’ve put in some good miles over the last few days, so I think I’ve earned a rest. I’m so glad that I did this trip and that I decided to come here. Not sure what’s in store next, but it looks like trouble…the good kind.