Agitation Turned To Laughter

So Colleen and I set sail from Madison, Wisconsin on November 30. Our first destination was Lincoln, NE. We shipped most of our things to Mesa, AZ but packed the balance of them in our truck. With a little bit of creative packing, we were able to make it all fit (thank God for many hours of playing Tetris in my younger years). The weather was mild and the first day of driving was pleasant. Colleen and I were sharing thoughts about the adventure on the way. Due to a late start, we stopped in Cedar Rapids, IA that night. Since I did not check the weather, I had no idea something was blowing in. As Colleen and I were getting settled for the night I realized that although I packed everything to fit in the truck, my strategic placing of essentials was lacking. As the temperatures were dropping and rain started to fall, I found myself shuffling through bins in the bed of the truck. Here is where my attitude started to alter.

This unpleasantness would continue the next day as we made our way toward Lincoln. It was 37 and rain nearly the entire way. Every stop we were getting wetter and colder. The cold was making its way to the bone. For most of this day, I cannot describe my mood as “centered”. I was a little less than serene. The ice cream topper came when we stopped in Omaha for dinner. We pulled off an exit toward a mall thinking we could find something that both of us could eat close by. We did not find a restaurant, however we did observe the gun show that was closing for the day. This in itself is not unique, however the gun show was being held inside the mall. Driving our F350 Diesel we at least had the appearance to fit in.

So we did find a Cajun restaurant online that would be adequate for us to eat at. So I plugged the address in the GPS and off we went. As we are drawing closer to the city I am praying that it is not downtown. It is not that I mind driving in big cities, however driving half a Sherman Tank poses a special challenge. We stand nearly 7’ tall and 21’ long. Parking garages and parallel parking are not 2 of our friends. As Murphy would have it, the restaurant is smack in the middle of downtown. We probably would have found another place however as we learned our specific diets do not mesh with most of the restaurant fare in Nebraska. Interestingly enough the parking near the restaurant in downtown Omaha is diagonal and is right on the street. So Im thinking “We can do this”. I chose a spot that had open spaces on either side. We proceed to the restaurant and Colleen loved the food.  I was happy for that.  We head back to the truck and of course the spot on the passenger side is now occupied. There is no room to open the door wide enough to get Colleen inside never mind operating her lift. As we are sitting there in the cold rain, I am trying to weigh our options. Our only play was to ask Colleen to sit with the dogs in the crew part of the cab. So I carried Colleen to the truck and loaded her into the back. At this point agitation turned to laughter. How could you not laugh at this? She was packed back there like a sardine. Colleen would never say anything, but it sure looked uncomfortable. The dogs certainly enjoyed the company. Loading her chair in back was another joy.  The traffic was literally feet from the tailgate.  As we got ready to go, I simply ignored the backp alarm and prayed drivers were practicing defensive driving.  Fortunately someone let us out.  As soon as we got to a safe area, Colleen resumed her copilot position.

This day was a good lesson as we continue on this adventure. There will be many days like this. When things start to get challenging, try to laugh and not take life too seriously.