Drive, part 6- the last

Day Four on the Road was barely even mentionable.  For goodness sake I didn’t even leave til noon.  And then I had to stop at Chick Fil A.  I have been wanting Chick Fil A for MONTHS and I was not passing it by (the closes Chick Fil A to my apartment in Colorado is two hours away).  But I only had to get to Lebanon, Tennessee, but a hop, skip, a jump and three and a half hours away.  I did stop for a nap at a rest stop, which was when I realized that it was the first time in this whole production that I was sleepy on the road.  That’s unusual for me, I usually am sleepy a LOT when I’m driving.  Maybe it was the fear of plummeting to a fiery death, but I hadn’t had any trouble with drowsiness til that day.  Anyway. We all had a lovely nap and arrived in Lebanon around 4:30.  I stayed there two nights, saw some friends, drank yummy Wallaby Darns at Outback, and was finally ready to approach the finish line.

I should say that, had my trip been a week later, I would not have even made it to Lebanon.  The flooding closed down I-40 and has wreaked havoc in Nashville.  I am grateful that I was able to avoid consequences of the flood and my thoughts are with those who could not.

Day Five arrived and for the last time I corralled the two fat cats into their carrier, coaxed Max into the back seat, and took off for my final destination.  It was mostly a familiar drive, one I made from Memphis many times to visit my parents when they lived in Asheville.  Much of the drive went by in a blur of familiar and unrecognized, old and new (and one more trip to Chick Fil A).  And then I was here.

I’ve been here just over a week now (at the time of writing, not publishing), and this is the first time I’ve put my hands on the keyboard to do what I came here to do.  As if the weight of the decision to come here made actually approaching the task too difficult.  Or too important and therefore dangerous.  Or too real, and actually trying would make me vulnerable to failure.  But it’s always possible it was just laziness.

And I know I lived in it for 32 years, but people I must have blocked out the memory like a woman who inexplicably agrees to give birth a second time.  It’s HOT here. And humid.  My hair is freaking out about my choice of location, let me tell you. It’s much bigger, wavier (nearly curly), and stays cleaner longer.

I’ve gotten a job doing contract work so I can pay my bills, feed my pets, keep beer in the fridge and highlights in my hair.  Work was definitely be easier to come by here, and I will likely be able to take a bite out of my debt and bank some savings.

So.  As predicted, the drive did change my life.  But I suspect it will be a while before we know how, and to what end.