Homecoming

Trip back to Maryland.

Mom and I left a bit after noon on Wednesday. The plan was to drive to Illinois and stop to have dinner with my Dad's family there. My cousin had arrived there a few days ago, and both my mom and I wanted to see him.

Yes, we made it across the Mississippi. The water hadn't reached 1993 flood levels (and yes, I was back there. I saw it. I have pictures to prove it.) and we had no problems crossing from Missouri into Illinois. Dinner was fine--we went to Applebees. Then Mom and I hopped back into the Prius and started East.

We made it as far as Terre Haute, Indiana, before we had to stop. The next day Mom was tired, so I drove most of the way. I managed to average 56.6 miles per gallon, a new personal record. We stayed that evening with Rowan, Cecilia, and Matt, in Pennsylvania. The next day Mom and I lingered a bit, then set off for Salisbury, stopping at Wegman's Grocery Store.

About fifteen minutes after we arrived in Salisbury, Mom's cell rang. We were both occupied, so neither of us answered. I went outside to tell her that she had missed a call and found her talking to someone. It was one of David's friends (remember David, our neighbor, who Mom had spent a Saturday with at the Emergency room). Well, his friend told us that David was dying. So, back in the car, this time to the nursing home where David was. We stopped in to say hello, but he wanted to be alone, so we went into the hallway to speak with his niece, who was there from California. She was feeling a bit lost, so we invited her over for tea (always tea. Tea is a good thing. I had a friend once tell me that she had been diagnosed with a disease. I offered her tea. She accepted.).

Anyway... well, David died this morning. And things are finally winding down from our trip. I had planned on going camping before heading up to Jersey, but I'm still too exhausted to even contemplate crawling back into that car. Maybe tomorrow.