Day 46 – HOME

Miles traveled: 400
Hours on Road: 8.5
States covered: 5 – Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut

Well, we did it. We circled nearly the entire country, and we made it home safely. Forty-six days of living out of a van, and we loved every minute of it. I knew from the beginning that we were meant to be vagabonds or, in my kids’ word, hobos (one who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood). The minimalist life is not to be underrated.

The ride was uneventful. Since I woke the kids up at 5:00 a.m. to leave, they slept a good deal of the ride, which made it very peaceful for me. They were awake during our drive around Washington DC, where I finalized my decision that Parker will never get his driver’s license. He wouldn’t stop complaining that I was being passed by everyone on the road. I told him I was going the speed limit, to which he commented, to his own detriment, that “You never get anywhere going the speed limit.” Not a wise thing to tell your mom.

He also reinforced his childishness when he insisted on taking a photo of the sign that indicated Manassas, which of course, he’d read as Man asses. He also made me speed up to get photos of two cars: one had an autobot symbol on its back window and one had the license plate “Faja.” The things I do for that boy.

Near the end of our drive we decided we were so anxious to see Faja that we got off the exit in Danbury and headed to his place of work. You need to be buzzed in to the office area, so we stood outside the door and I called him:
Me: Hi, where are you?
Jeff: Why, where are you?
Me: Right outside your office door. If you come open it, we can give you hugs.
Jeff: Uh, I’m home. I got out early to surprise you.
In the back of my mind I had thought he might do that, but I had wanted so badly to surprise him that I put that thought out of my mind.

Even with that stop, we were home by 2:30. We had a relaxing afternoon, with a nice visit from Missy. Then Pam and Tiff came over, followed shortly by Brian and Ham and later by Trisha, Rod, and Liv. It was great to see everyone again. The spontaneous party reminded of why I love to be home.

There is no need to go to the corresponding photo because it is only a picture of the Manassas sign. That boy!!