After all the excitement of Monday morning, I got home around 2:00pm, started a load in the dryer that had our two beach towels in it and began putting things together for our trip. Husband came home shortly thereafter, and until the dryer heralded the end of its work, we scurried about (in a somewhat leisurely fashion) getting ready to go. I consider this something of a personal triumph - to pack for a trip in under an hour - for I used to make lists weeks in advance and spend at least one whole evening packing anything and everything I might need, in the most optimal way possible. I did make a short list (on Sunday) of various thing I might forget unless I wrote them down, and so packed very speedily. I think, too, it helps to have a laid-back husband whose general travel motto is to - if something is forgotten - do without or get it at Wal-Mart.
Of course, the flurry of getting ready was only enhanced by the knowledge that we were about to take a road trip! I love road trips! The thought of something fresh, something out of the pattern of daily life, a chance to go and do and see! The last time the Steward and I went on a road trip was for our honeymoon to the mountains of Tennessee, and I was filled with the same bubbling excitement for this one - doubly so because of the improbability of it, being nearly 37 weeks pregnant and all that comes with that, and with the possible blood clot issue playing out the very morning of our possible departure day... just imagine my excitement being given the go ahead!
So, we headed to Wilmington! We stopped at a Huddle House (there were no Waffle Houses! O.o) for dinner, and eventually met with the rest of Husband's family at the hotel. The girls were out shopping, Ma was working in her room (the whole reason for the trip being that she had a meeting to attend on Wednesday), and we ended up in the boys' room watching tv (mostly the newest James Bond movie) and waiting for the girls to return (as they were bringing back Cook-Out milkshakes.) Actually, it worked out that Husband and I stayed in the boys' room - and with free access to either room, being a woman married, I shall say that it was a good reminder to me as to the differences of men and women. The rooms even smell different. :P
It was great fun to be altogether, all on vacation time, nothing to do but enjoy the moments.
We all slept as long as possible the next morning, only getting up before the hotel's breakfast would end. It was a merry time of fetching coffee, eating good food that we didn't have to prepare, greeting family as they appeared, unhurried gathering together for our beach excursion, last-minute research for a cheaper beach at which to park (they had paid $2/hr the past day at Wrightsville Beach) and a two-car caravan to Kure Beach Pier (which has free parking!)
We spent a good bit of the day there, playing in the surf, reading, walking, eating snacks, enjoying that sunshine and God's beautiful creation. It got to be very windy toward the afternoon, the sand slowly covering our blanket and whipping our legs as we walked. So we headed back to the hotel and took our showers. Ma worked some more, and the boys slept while the girls went out shopping. We went to Goodwill and Ross, and each of us found something we liked. Goodwill was the most fun, because there were quite a few pretty clothes, and many of our favorites fit one or other of us.
Husband and I said our goodbyes and headed back home when we girls returned from shopping, as he had to be at work early this morning. We stopped at a Chick-fil-A on our way out of town, using the the coupons I have been saving for such a time as we were out together and hungry (and not on a Sunday, when they are closed) - more than a year I've been saving those coupons! After that, Husband drove straight home and I slept and dozed.
We both got a bit of sun. I tried, using my sunscreen liberally and making sure to reapply it after I came out of the water. But husband ran off before I could put any on him, and he never did get any. So both of us are achy and sleepy. He has it worst, though, for he had to get up and go to work while I slept in. But it was worth it! Husband enjoyed the short break from normal, and so did I. And it was good to swim in ocean water and sit in bright sunlight, to visit and play with family, and to simply be together, traveling.
I thoroughly enjoyed this whole trip. I think of it as a rather daring thing, too, being so close to due time - and a sort of last hurrah before two become three, with all the joys and responsibilities that will bring. God is good.
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