Back from Trip

Tuesday I drove the kids down to Missouri to visit my parents, with my sore back and all still.  The drive went ok, but was beastly hot, 97-99 degrees after a downpour, for 9 hours, with my old van AC that is barely hanging in there.   The air conditioning works fine as long as I'm going along at a good speed, but as soon as the car is idling it starts putting out barely cool air.  I had four dogs in the car so it was impossible to stop and turn the car off. 

Anyway, the trip was as good as can be expected, and I got to see my parents and brother, sister in law and two nieces.  I don't get to see the latter family very often at all, so that was really fun.  One is 3 and the other 9.   The older one is crazy about horses and was signed up for horse riding camp all week.  The rest of us alternately puttered around the farm or went out to eat to try to keep cool.   Heat and being unable to cool down is my nemesis.   I didn't sleep very well and on Thursday I came down with a cold.  On the plus side, my back was finally better.   I wasn't sure if I'd be able to drive back Friday as planned, but left it to be determined by how I felt in the morning.  Master did not want me to drive if I was too sick to be safe. 

Friday morning I woke up sharp at 5:30 without an alarm, and I decided this was my sign to go, since I wanted to be on the road at 6 to avoid traffic driving through St. Louis.   I made some coffee, loaded up the dogs and took off.  The kids would say with their grandparents for a few weeks as they do every summer, first one set and then the other, who don't live far away.

 I put in an audiobook, The Gift of Fear, which was really interesting and made the miles fly by.  It may have been one of the shortest seeming 9 hour drives I have made.  I didn't get to finish it, but I think I'm going to seek out a paper copy so I can finish reading at home.

I got home in the early afternoon and was able to unpack, shower and make dinner before Master got home.  I had cooked him a steak with mushrooms and onions, not something I eat (steak or mushrooms), while I had something else.  It was really good to be home.