Thanks for hanging in there — we will be back in the new year!

Ahhh. It’s so nice to be out of the car and back in the South! We arrived in Marietta late Monday night and have been very grateful to have had such a great trip. Nora was a champ for the rest of the long car drives and seems very happy that she is now free to run and play without being strapped into a carseat. Thanks again for your prayers- God was very generous and gave us a great rest of our trip!

Here’s what happened the rest of the time we were on the road:

Day Four; Saturday Night, November 27th

Just after I finished writing the last post, I was ready for a great night’s sleep. We were in a clean, new hotel and that’s a recipe for great sleep for this girl. However. First a siren went by and Nora jumped up and held her arms out for me as she wailed. It was pretty easy to calm her down after the ambulance drove away. She just said “byebye” and laid back down and went back to sleep. There were a few quiet hours until the wind storm. Our hotel backed up to another building and created some sort of wind tunnel. The wind picked up off and on during the night and reminded me of the sound effects in The Mummy every time the mummy blew into a room.

Day Five, Sunday, November 28th
Around 5 am, it really got loud and woke Nora up. We spent the rest of the morning all piled into the big bed trying to sleep through the wailing of the wind. We didn’t have much success and understood why when we packed up the car the next morning. The wind was so strong that it blew some of Nora’s clothes right out of the little laundry bag. We could even feel it blowing our car as we started driving on the freeway. Everything really is bigger in Texas.

We made a stop in Palenstine to visit Josh’s grandmother. Nora loved meeting her and entertaining her and the other residents at the home by dancing and playing peek a boo. We also drove by the famous house where the Teague kids spent some time during summer. It was so special to be able to see the place that is a huge part of the Teague family story. We also ate dinner at Little Mexico, the mexican restaurant that is also well known and talked about. I feel like a real Teague after seeing these places and getting to spend some time with Josh’s grandmother.

That night we made it to Shreveport, Louisiana. We found a place to stay and while Josh was inside booking a room, I checked some reviews online. I don’t know why I do this to myself. I saw one review that said the hotel had given him bedbugs. I tried really hard to ignore that review, especially since other people said how great and clean the hotel was and that they didn’t see any signs of bugs at all. Still, I was glad this was our last night in a hotel.

Day 6, Monday, November 29th
Our last day! Our last day! All we had to do now was get to my mom’s house. Granted, it was a few states away, but they were much smaller than Texas and California. We really hoped we could do it. We did wake up to a downpour of heavy rain. It even thundered. Nora has hardly ever heard thunder- it doesn’t happen in Seattle. She was happily playing under the desk in the hotel room while we packed up. When the thunder rolled, I gasped out of excitement since I haven’t heard that sound since we were last in the south. But gasping was probably the wrong way to express myself since it only reinforced the terror that had gripped Nora. She jumped up to run to me, forgetting she was under the desk, bonked her head, and cried even harder.

Meanwhile, Josh had gotten a luggage cart and was ready to load up the car. As we walked to the front of the hotel to check out, Remy decided that he had waited long enough and squatted on the hallway carpet to relieve himself. Josh reacted first and tried to nudge Remy out of the squatting position with his foot but it was too late. We had to clean up that mess quickly and get him outside so he could finish. But the Remster doesn’t like to go in the rain. Anyone looking at their windows must have thought we were the worst dog owners in the world because we sat in the car and kept fussing at him to hurry up and go while he looked at us like, “But it’s raining.” He really was a very low maintenance guy on the trip but even he had had enough of life on the road.

We finally gave up and let the wet guy into our car and finished loading up the bags and checking out. Then it was time to hit the road for the last time. But first we had to stop at Chick Fil A for breakfast. (The day before was Sunday, so we had taken a mandatory break.) Then we got on the road and drove through the rest of Louisiana and stopped in Mississippi for lunch. At Chick Fil A- where else? (“My pleasure”- oh, how I’ve missed that!)

The next thing we knew, we were in Alabama! That’s our neighboring state!

But first, my friends, we had to get through one last hurdle before we earned the right to be back in Georgia. We had to drive on I 20 from Birmingham to Atlanta. Or as we like to call it, “That Scary Stretch of Highway Where You Hope You Don’t Get Run Over by a Semi Being Driven by a Truck Driver Who Must be on Some Sort of Mind Altering Medication.” It didn’t help that it was raining pretty heavily. That was an interesting hour and half or so of dodging the trucks who didn’t seem to respect our decision to go the speed limit (or even dared to go below it) since it was dark and wet. But we did it. I should say, Josh did it since there was no way I could have been calm in that situation.
But the rain finally let up and we got to 285!!!

A little while later, we were pulling into our new neighborhood! We did a quick drive by our future home and saw an Under Contract sign out front. That’s from us!

Around 10 pm we pulled into my mom’s driveway and were welcomed by mom, my sisters Mandy and Annie, and my brother John who wanted to hear our big entrance via cell phone from Birmingham. It was a great reunion, even if Remy barked in terror which made Nora cry for a second. But no matter- we were finally at our destination and our long drive was done. Nora was thrilled when she saw all Gran’s toys and Remy seemed to be very much at home after doing a few laps around. He’s already accepted that this is his new home and he’s in charge of all unexpected noises and visitors.

Now we just have to realize that we are actually living here again and not on vacation. Our stuff doesn’t arrive for a few more days and my mom has been kind enough to offer the use of her garage for storage until the house is ready for us to move in to. In the meantime, it’s been great to start reconnecting with family and friends. Josh and I got to go out on a date last night and drove through midtown. Enough has changed that we do feel like we’ve been gone a few years. But enough has stayed the same that it still feels like our hometown.

And once again, thank you so much for praying for our trip. We are so grateful that God kept us safe and we were able to arrive safely. We’re back!