Reunited with my couch at last!

Yes, I made it safely to Enid! And I'm writing this while sprawled out out my couch, reveling in its awesomeness. So soft and comfy... I definitely appreciate it more now!

Even better, I'm back with Trevor, and even though it will take me a little while to adjust to living in a new place, this already feels like home, simply because he's here. I know it sounds cheesy, but it really is true.

I also really had an amazing time traveling halfway across the country by myself. Even though the weather today was less than spectacular, it was still a great day. I listened to a lot of music today, from Ray LaMontagne to Zac Brown Band to Keane to Brad Paisley, which helped balance out the grey and rainy day outside my car. It kinda felt like the car was my own personal zone, where I was in charge of what the mood was gonna be. And I guess that's really true of life in general - I may not be able to control the weather or circumstances, but I can choose to not let those things drive my attitude.

Okay, enough with the philosophizing.

Today's drive took me through St. Louis, and I took a quick detour to see the Gateway Arch. It was raining pretty hard and visibility was pretty bad, plus I had a long way to drive, so I didn't take the tram up to the top. I'd never seen the Arch before though, so it was still pretty impressive! I didn't realize how big it actually was until I was standing at the base looking up and going, "Wow!" I also got a good look at how high the Mississippi is there right now - it was flooded to the point that the walkway along the river was underwater.

After a really long and very wet day of driving, I finally made it to Enid, and got to hug my husband for the first time in two months. Totally the highlight of my day :) And Hobbes did finally decide that he was also happy to see me, after hiding under the bed for a little while. And of course my couch was very happy to see me! (or I was happy to see it... one of those two...)

I did of course remember to document my progress today with the state welcome signs. And yes, I know you can't read the Oklahoma one at all. That's okay - I could barely see the sign as I was going past it... It was raining kinda hard at that moment.

Missouri

Oklahoma

A couple of last notes about this drive... I hadn't mentioned it before, but I swear there were more miles of work zones than normal highway in most states (I think Ohio and Oklahoma must have missed the memo about that, thankfully...) And I also was very pleased to find that the speed limit increases the further west you go (extrapolating, I have come to the conclusion that the speed limit in California should be around 90mph...) But between the work zones and the high speeds and the rain and fog all day today, there were plenty of opportunities for misfortune along this drive that thankfully never became anything. I'm really grateful for God watching out for me, and for you guys praying for me, because this was a splendidly uneventful trip in regards to travel hazards. (I didn't have ANY semis try to merge into me at all! Which is a first for me...)

I wasn't sure starting out whether I was going to love or hate driving so far by myself, but it turned out to be a great way to appreciate the beauty of a lot of different kinds of scenery (from the hills of PA to the open space of Oklahoma), and to spend time reflecting on life and enjoying so many little amazing things God sent my way. So I'm going to bed tonight feeling very blessed, both because I got to have this experience, and because I'm finally home with my husband again :)

And there's now a friendly cat perched on my chest purring happily - another good gift from God :)