Road Trip

Susanne was so excited for the trip today. She and the bug were going to surprise his daddy. Scott thought that they were coming down on Wednesday. She had not set an exact date in mind since Paxton was recently released from the hospital. She wanted to make sure that he was completely recovered before they traveled six hours away from his doctors and the hospital that knew him so well. Now that Paxton was close to normal, she was ready to head south. She had done something totally different this time than she had in the past. She actually tried to pack ahead of time instead of the evening before her trip. She was always so last minute and such a procrastinator with everything. She decided to try a new approach to see if she could tell the difference.

She thought that with her being so organized this time before she traveled that she would be able to leave a lot earlier to get on the road. Her goal time was 9:00am because she wanted to make it to her destination with plenty of daylight left. If there was one thing that she knew, it was that she did not like to drive at night. Unfortunately, even though she had packed as much stuff as she could in the car the day before, there was still a thousand other things she had to get done. She had to set up the cats for a few days, pack enough breast milk for the trip, prepare enough of a feeding for Paxton to last half of the trip, ransack the refrigerator and pantry for any items that she may need for the food she was making for Thanksgiving, pack his medications, shower, pump, and put together the last little odds and ends. Even though she had been up since 6:00am, she still didn't get on the road until 11:00am. What took her FIVE HOURS???? She tried not to stress about it. She tried to think positively. She thought about how much later she would have been on the road if she had not packed the other stuff in the car yesterday.

Not even thirty minutes into the drive, Paxton started to cry. He absolutely hated being in the car and even moreso his car seat. Susanne knew he would probably settle down once he exhausted himself out. Her limit for this car trip was the same as the last. If he didn't let up after five to ten minutes, then she would pull over. It still broke her heart that she couldn't do anything about his unhappiness. She tried talking to him, stroking his hair while the other hand was on the wheel, turning the radio on, singing to him, and even making silly sounds. Nothing worked. Luckily, he settled down within a reasonable amount of time. He slept for just a short time before the cycle started all over.

When she got halfway through her trip, she decided to pull off at an exit that she thought had a lot of options for food. She had only had a handful of chips, an apple, and water thus far. She was starving. Unfortunately, she must have pulled off on the wrong exit because the only places she saw were a couple of gas stations. This meant no lunch for her, but she decided to stop anyway. She needed to walk James, change Paxton, and give him a little TLC. She also had to go to the bathroom herself, but she was disgusted at the thought of putting Paxton's car seat on the floor in a gas station bathroom. She decided that she would just hold him and leave the car seat in the car. She did everything else one handed so why would this be any different? At the end of it all, it was the better choice. She was even able to wash her one free hand. This might top the chart as far as her talents went.

The pit stop went by too quickly for Paxton. She hated the thought of putting him back in the car seat because he hated it so much. If he only knew that the faster they got back on the road, the faster he would be able to get out of the car for good. She set him up with the next half of his continuous feeding for the trip and gave him the medication that was due. He slept for most of the rest of the trip. It was only when they were about forty five minutes away from the destination that he really let Susanne know what he thought about the six hour drive. If only there had been a direct flight from Virginia to North Carolina, it would have made things a lot easier.

Susanne eventually made it in one piece. She could not believe that with as many times as she had traveled this way, that it was not second nature by now. She was so thankful for her GPS. It may not take her the fastest, most direct way, but it would get her to where she needed to go even if she made a wrong turn.

Susanne called Poppy thirty minutes before she got to the house. He was an important piece to the surprise. Scott and Poppy walked Jack, Susanne's parents' dog, together everynight. He left for the walk so that Susanne would have enough time to get there and in the driveway before they returned. Susanne called Poppy once she was in position so he would know it was safe to turn around. He didn't pick up the phone, but the vibration from the call was the secret code. Once Scott got to the top of the driveway, he noticed Susanne and Paxton waiting anxiously for his arrival. He was beyond shocked. He couldn't believe that they had come three days earlier than they were supposed to. After the shock wore off, he was able to express how happy he was to have his family back together again. It just felt right.

The night ended with a movie. Scott and Susanne were out of practice with their old routine so they decided to dive right in and end the night with snuggling on the couch in front of the TV together.