I guess I should explain my second absence from blogging & my not very descriptive posts.

Back when I was trying to decide what to do with my summer my dad brought up the idea of a road trip.

It was on.

It was off.

On again.

Off again.

I changed the dates.

My dad made the plan.

I had to change the plan.

Somehow we made it through & had an awesome time.

In less than a week we traveled to 4 cities, through ten states (or more), in 2 time zones, spent countless hours in the car, slept in 4 different beds, used 2 showers, been to Disney World, seen the Gulf Of Mexico in someone’s back yard, and so much more.

It was like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but with my dad.

If I had to pick a theme for this road trip it would have to be, “Get busy living or get busy dying,” because that’s basically what I did.

I never really considered this trip to be my “last hurrah” before surgery but that doesn’t mean it didn’t turn out that way.

I walked though an airport for the first time by myself. Something I never thought I’d do, especially now. Typically I’m using my wheelchair and/or I’m with someone else. This time I wasn’t AND I walked though the metal detector without it beeping, which was my biggest concern believe it or not.

I had to pack my medications and send it down with my dad, never really taking into account how much medication I could need to take on a daily basis; that is until I tried to fit it all into a zip lock bag. How did I become such an old person? One more drug I’ll need a bigger bag.

My trip started with a very early flight to the hometown of The Mouse to visit my cousin & his dog Sammy. My cousin also just bought his first house so it was fun to check out his new digs. My aunt & uncle were also visiting on their own trip but our excursions crossed for a couple of days. I’m going to visit again for sure. I love spending time with Sammy!

Then we road tripped it to the panhandle to visit another aunt, uncle, and cousin. And I can’t forget their 2 dogs. Would you believe my uncle has a dog that’s 17 years old (that’s 119 in dog years)? Harley’s pretty awesome. Shadow and I have some work to do on our relationship.

The last 2 stops were to see 2 more cousins and their families in their respective states. Their dogs and one of the cats are cool. The other cat, well, I’m not sure there’s much hope for her and her relationship with anybody.

The moral of the story?

You can get a lot done in less than a week if you try hard enough (or not).

I have to say the most surprising thing about the whole trip was not needing any of my medication for any of the trip (with the exception of ibuprofen which is as much of a necessity as food & water is to me at this point). No sleeping pills, or pain killers, or side effect remedies. My allergies didn’t even bother me.

The hardest part of the trip was bypassing DC completely. As much as I wish I could’ve seen some friends I stay away from there in everyway possible around the fourth of July, and most other major events. I’m no dummy.

To say this trip allowed me to feel almost normal for the first time in nearly a year wouldn’t be an understatement or tall tale.

I came home with awesome memories, and enough dirty laundry to match, unfortunately.

Tomorrow I go back to work. I have to be honest; I’m not really looking forward to it. I’m still tired out from my multi state adventure and wish I could just keep sleeping the days away, at least for a few more days. Besides who wants to go back to work after having a week off to do whatever you damn well please?