Day Two: Cruisin into the Windy City

Aaaahhh....the Chicago skyline. Friday morning after what only seemed like a quick nap (the double energy pack from Starbuck's was still working), this was the only thing I could think of. I woke up at 3:00 a.m., took a quick shower, loaded up the minivan, awoke the children and we were back on the highway by 3:30 a.m. Part of this was because of my new executive decision, "Embrace the darkness when travelling with children. " The children instantly feel back asleep and I achieved about 4 hours of peace and harmony...with the pleasure of listening to adult music cds and making plans for my "retreat" in Chicago. My thoughts ranged from, "Should I fast while I'm there? Should I do yoga once or twice a day? Maybe I should do the Daniel Fast that I attempted at Lent again? Should I take this time to hone my cooking skills or become attached to a new hobby? " I made no decisions on the road, I simply pondered the possibilities and left myself open to the acceptance of my new life.

An interesting thing did occur that I'm dying to share with other road-trippers. When I driving Friday morning, after a couple of hours, I became really, really drowsy. Once the kids awoke and we stopped to get breakfast and some gas, I decided to turn the GPS device off. After all, at this point I knew where I was going and "Mandy's voice" was starting to get on my nerves. Once Many went bye-bye, I felt refreshed again...and now I'm wondering if watching that winding road on the gps screen had an affect on me. If you've had this experience, let me know...I'm interested in what others say about this theory. Don't get me wrong, I still love my TomTom, I just think it tried to hypnotize me.

Oh! One last travel tip that I wasn't aware of...the Red Roof Inn has recently undergone major renovations at all of their hotels. We have stayed there a lot over the past year and our experience in West Memphis was phenomenal. If you're looking for a family-friendly hotel with an affordable price tag, check them out.

We made it to my parent's house about noon on Friday...and for the next two days, I slept!