Worst driving day ever

Yesterday will surely be chalked up as one of the worst driving days we've ever had.  By the time we left shortly after 12:30, we had had a lot of sleet and a little bit of snow.  Of course the roads had been treated with salt, but the slush was deep.  There is no way I would have dared to drive in it.  As we headed down 322 I would glance over at Dick, and way too often I would see his eyelids looking far too relaxed.  Poor guy.  He was not feeling well, but had gone to work anyway in the morning.  

Our time frame did not allow for a lot of time for stopping, but I didn't care.  We would rather be late than sorry.  So we pulled into a rest stop at the Mifflintown exit, Dick reclined his seat and was snoring within a couple of minutes.  

About half an hour later, we hit the road again, and we noticed a difference.  There wasn't slush anymore.  But as we proceeded south we got into torrential rain.  All the trucks would splash water on our windows.  Just miserable.  It should take 3 hours maximum to get to  Reading where Destiny lives, often it takes less than that.  But it was after 4:00 when we finally arrived, helping her in the rain to carry all her things in.  

We had gotten Destiny a chest of drawers off Craigslist a few weeks ago and took it to her place last weekend when we picked her up.  But there were a few loose pulls that Dick had brought the tools along to fix.  So we stayed long enough for him to do that.   I got her brother to take a picture of us before we left.  Then we said our goodbyes and hit the road.

I drove from there to our Stauffer gathering in Manheim so Dick could sleep.  It is a trip I have done countless times, usually 45 minutes.   But it was just horrible.  I do not like driving in the dark.  I do not like driving in rain.  But I was driving in the dark in heavy rain.  Add to that - all day long I was feeling an increasing tickle in my throat that I was "watering" frequently, also taking things that are usually successful in my fight against germs.  But I felt like I was losing the battle.

What a relief to arrive at Manheim BIC where the family gathering was held.  We were probably half an hour late, and the meal began right after we got there.

Even with not feeling great, it was still a wonderful time together.  Always.  I could not get the "long table" picture I always post at this gathering since we were not meeting in Grandpa's basement.  In fact, I didn't get any picture while we ate.  Here are some I took afterward.

It was very spacious and comfortable, especially since we also had use of the gym.  But if I ever were wealthy enough to have a facility to rent out for family gatherings, I would definitely put rectangular, not round, tables in it so you could push them together.  And I would also have sofas.   And maybe a bed, haha!!

Judi, on the left in the picture below, is a sister to Japheth, whose family I showed in my last post.  Their dad Bob (in Minnesota) is Dick's brother.  Judi and her husband, who live in Wisconsin, adopted a little girl a few years ago.  Last August, on the same weekend Bianca was born,  they had come to PA to adopt a baby boy.  However, when he was born his birth mother changed her mind.  Judi and Reuben were heartbroken and headed home to Wisconsin, to a house that was all ready for a new baby.  

The day after Christmas that birth mother called them to ask if they would still consider adopting him!  They were on the road to PA within 12 hours, and there he is in Judi's arms!!   

Grandpa enjoyed watching the activity.  He didn't have a very good week, so we were glad he could be there.

We left around 8 pm for the drive home.  I had taken off from my church responsibilities last Sunday for our family fondue, so I really did not want to take two Sundays off in a row.  

It was still raining hard most of the time.  After we were beyond Harrisburg and on 322 with little traffic, I took the wheel for the rest of the trip.  It actually wasn't raining much at all anymore.  I was fine until we got to Seven Mountains, about half an hour from home.  That mountain was in a thick cloud and I could hardly see a thing.  I just kept my eyes on the white line at the side, looking ahead from time to time to be sure I wasn't running into anybody.   As we neared home we noticed that there was still slush and snow.  We finally arrived at 11:00.  Whew!!!!!!!!  My shoulders and between my shoulder blades are still feeling how tense I must have been driving in that fog.  

Sorry for all the details, but they are for me to remember some day, haha!!   When we're on trips and Dick is driving, sometimes I read my old blog posts to him.  It's amazing how many things I would never have remembered if I had not written them down.

Dick is feeling better, although he has a very rough-sounding chest cough.  I was actually able to sing this morning, which totally surprised me.  My throat doesn't feel great, nor my head, but I did take a good nap this afternoon and am still trying to fight this thing away before it gets any further.  

And now I return to the mundane and probably won't have anything interesting to write about for a while.