Two 12-hour car trips back to back? Just like with having a baby, Kate neither felt "ready" nor "unready". And just like with having a baby, the unexpected was bound to happen...
27. Road Trip, Part 1 (May 2013)
Kate did sleep, for a few hours, and awoke a
few minutes before Mister came back to knock on the door. She still felt stuffy
and angular all over her face, but she was refreshed for the present. “Where is
everyone else?” she asked as he stepped in bearing a small plate of goodies.
“Did you
not get my message? Everyone else is at the reception. I called to see if you
wanted to come join us.”
Kate shook
her head. Her phone had never rung. It was probably just as well, though. She
had already said goodbye to everyone at the apartment, and she knew the
reception would be a madhouse. So Kate and Mister gathered their few things
from the Miller’s hotel room and made a quiet departure from Hillsdale in the
pouring rain.
The drive
was about twelve hours, but it was fast and there was little traffic, even in
the construction areas. Add a half hour for quick stops, and a half hour for
when both Kate and Mister were too tired to drive and had to nap at a rest
stop, and the couple arrived at the Wills’ Watertown residence between six and
seven in the morning.
Kate’s
brother, James Wills, was awake and greeted them at the door with hugs and
whispers. Two little girls, Kate and Rose, trotted in his wake. Kate, the
5-year-old, gave them discreet hugs and a whispered welcome then added, “Do you
want to play a game?” Kate gave a weary laugh and declined, “Maybe later.”
Rose, the precocious 3-year-old
also spoke in whispers, not from a respect for the bone-tired travelers, nor
from the earliness of the morning, but from the excitement and importance of
what she had to say. Her eyes flashed and her face had the look of one
revealing a deep, dark secret, “We’re going to Canada
 |
| "James Jr.": "What? Socks? Never heard of them." |
And so was
the plan. But later. For the present, Kate and Mister stumbled to the back room
and collapsed on the spare bed, which Kate pronounced the most comfortable bed she had ever touched…and then instantly
fell asleep. A few more hours of repose, and the couple was up again for a late
breakfast, the hurried sorting of things, and the packing of the van. The Wills
had a 7-passenger van, and the crew would take up every seat!
“James,
jugga-bugga-BOO!” little Kate sang as she danced around her brother. “Are you
ready to go to Canada ?!”
James Jr. was to have his first birthday during their stay up north, and was
sitting ready in his car seat, contentedly pulling off his socks and waving
them around as he watched everyone go back and forth.
Never were two little girls more
excited about going to Canada .
They helped pack and transport things, and then got in the open car and played
for a full hour before the grown-ups were ready to leave.
 |
| ready to go to "Pin Severed Island!" |
Rose crawled into the driver’s seat and yelled
to the world, “We’re going to see Anne
in Pin Severed Island
“Rose,”
corrected her sister, “It’s Prince Severed Island Island .”
Kelsey
Wills set some snack bags in the car and laughed at both her daughters, “It’s
actually Prince Edward Island , girls.”
Kate wasn’t really sure how it
happened, but eventually everyone and everything
was in the car and, after a travel prayer, they were on their way! She and
Mister were taking the first driving shift and were sitting up front, with the
Wills crew crammed in back. Everything seemed fine and pleasant so far.
Beethoven’s 9th was playing, James and Kelsey were chatting, the
girls were reading. They had been driving about an hour and a half. Kate looked
at the map and exclaimed, “This is the bridge into Maine ! I’ve never been to Maine before.”
Mister
grinned back at her, but his grin quickly faded. “Do you smell that?” he asked.
Miss some of the earlier Kate Miller episodes and want to find out what happened 6 months ago? Here are some links to the first 5 posts:
1: A Day in the Life
2. The Longest Line
3. Ice Cream and Elephants
4. A Norwegian Paradise
5. Nassau, Bahamas
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