Finally Made it to Maryland!!!

Oh my goodness 2400 miles is a very VERY very, oh did I say VERY long drive? At some points it seemed like the drive was NEVER coming to an end....

The final leg of the trip started with us leaving Arizona on the 20th as soon as we could after Frank graduated from his class and we headed out. With the kids in total excitement to get the trip underway they were so hyper.

Our trip was mostly uneventful with the exception of Frank witnessing a roll-over accident which allowed him to stop and with Celidah's assistance administer 1st aid, I started the 911 call, which Frank finished as I truly had NOT a clue where we were. We stayed there until the paramedics left with the accident victim.

Once back on the road again (nearly 2 am by this point) everyone was so wide awake that getting the kids back to sleep was a challenege. However, Celidah discovered that accident scenes facinate her and are not scary. She also loved the adriniline rush of helping. Again she was amazed with the calmness of her father and how he handled the situation.

Jairon argued with his father over whether or not he was a hero. According to Jairon his father is a hero because he fights for and defends his country to keep us safe, and helps others in needs when he sees a need. Well, according to Frank he is not a hero because as an enlisted officer in the military this is what he is trained to do. When he stopped to assist the accident victim he was only doing his job. He told Jairon he is an NCO for the military ALL the time whether working or not. Poor Jairon was so cunfused. To him, his daddy is a hero, yet to Frank he is not a hero, but jsut doing his job, how can that be?

The next situation we saw and once again everyone on the freeway was GREATLY blessed, happened when a deer jumped out across the freeway during the day time. At this point we were drivng alongside 3 semi-trucks, and 8 other vehicles. SOMEHOW, the car that hit the deer in the middle lane was able to slow down enough to pull off the freeway (visibly shaken and nerves raw), the deer got up and ran off the freeway without a limp...

The rest of cars slowed, moved around, off to the sides, almost like a dance, and there was NO wreck at all. How a major accident was avoided I feel was with the aid of guardian angels gently guiding the cars  and trucks in various directions.

We stopped at rest areas, and the kids had adventures on playgrounds, made leaf piles to run and jumps in, several allowed us to use an extension cord to use our griddle to cook food and have a hot meal. The kids gathered and hunted acorns, played hide and seek and sardines with their father.

I made it until around the last 700-ish miles without having to take my pain meds. However, had I just stuck with the boost drinks and and gatorade I may have been able to go longer. Borded from only liquids I decided to try some solid foods and paid the price BIG time for that decidion. The pain became to much and I had to break down leaving Frank with the final bit of driving.

This decision while neccessary left us with more stops during the final leg of the trip. However these stops while neccessary for Frank to sleep, were also needed for the kids to get the end of the trip wiggles out. The last bit is always the hardest because are we there yet, is so close yet at the same time SO far away...

We finally pulled into base this morning just before midnight, found and got into the army lodging just after midnight. Frank and I were asleep before the kids as they were "starving" as kids always are. We simply instructed them to stay as quiet as possible and then head off to bed...

Today is day one of in-processing and starting towards getting our house, the travel money for the move. We are also working on getting the kids registered for school, lining up our household goods delivery. The nice thing is Frank is off work until Nov 1st...