I Am An Adventurer!

I have a phobia of some situations involving water. Shower, bath, pools and clean clear rivers fine. Don't expect me to jump in the ocean. I have tried it a few times. Hanauma Bay in Hawaii made me hyperventilate. Atlantic Ocean off Long Island and Florida not so good. Pacific Ocean in Southern California doable for some strange reason. Hate lakes mostly because of fish nipping at my toes and walking in gooey mud. Don't tell me that the fish don't bother people either because they got up close and personal with me when I went waterskiing in the American Falls reservoir. Love rafting and canoeing in rivers and streams especially when they have rocky bottoms. But, at no time do I enjoy driving over water. It took me years to feel comfortable driving over all of those bridges in Portland. The Golden Gate and Bay Bridges in California just about do me in.

So why is this relevant in my life? Well, the first couple of hours today I was driving through the great land of Texas. Wonderful. I would even move to Beaumont. Steer clear of the Wendy's in Orange. Fast food rage waiting to happen. Then it started. Almost immediately after crossing the border into Louisiana the screen on my GPS started turning blue. I thought maybe I hadn't noticed it changing colors from state to state and then I looked to my left and to my right. Water, water everywhere. Not pretty water either. Swampy tree filled lakes and bayous, muddy rough rivers and channels for almost 30 straight miles. The only thing that kept me from crying and shaking was the thought that if the kids see me freaking out they will get upset. So while they were watching 'The Bee Movie', I cranked P!nk on my iPod to keep my mind from thinking about all the possible survival scenarios if the car went over the side.

Needless to say, Louisiana is not my favorite. The traffic in Baton Rouge, which sits right on the Mississippi River, was horrible. We went 10 miles in 45 minutes. Then we hopped of the road to let KI go potty in Slidell and there was no freeway access to get back on. Thank goodness for GPS because it took some serious country road maneuvering to get on I-59 N. Now I am glad we didn't go to New Orleans. Not many states have me excited to drive right on out but Louisiana is one!

I wasn't expecting much from Mississippi. In my mind I had a vision of hill billies, moonshine, and lack of self-respect. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. This place is great. With all of the trees it reminds me of the mountains just flatter. Golf courses, nice houses and very clean. We are staying in Hattiesburg and it is a great little town. About 50,000 friendly people in a pretty and happy place. I think I could have a vacation place here and be darn excited about it. Ross, my buddy here at the Courtyard, gave me good directions to get here last night. The address was wrong on the Internet and I couldn't get mapquest to jive with the Marriott website so I called. He set me straight and then today about 20 minutes out of town I called the hotel and he answered. I asked for a local pizza place and he set us up. Our pizza was delivered while we were checking in. We are master travelers now.

I can't believe we left Houston without a picture of the kids with my sister. Oh well. There is always Myspace:) Wendy's boyfriend, Chris, was really great to let us stay with them. It is a totally different mind set to go from having no kids or at least older kids to having three young Sorensen's. Especially Dane. Youza. Chris's dad, Jim, is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He was raised in Brooklyn, NY and had a lot of great stories. He has done a lot of interesting things. Most of the time I didn't even remember that he is suffering from MS and spends his time in a wheelchair. He is so peaceful and content that it made me want to be a more grateful person. And so funny. Not many people are quick enough to tease my sister. Our lives are definitely blessed because we got to know him.

While we were at Wendy's I had one of those moments that makes all of the crazy times on these trips worth it. The kids were talking to Jim and they were telling him some of the places they have been and some of the things they have seen on our different trips . Jim said, "Wow. You guys have been all over." Kale piped up and said, "Ya. Our mom is an adventurer." I'm not sure why but I think that is the greatest compliment he could have paid me. I am an adventurer. That alone over shadows the days I don't wear make-up or do my hair. It out shines the fact that I am overweight and don't get to dress up for the office anymore. It definitely makes me want to live up to that list that I started as a teenager of all the things that I wanted to accomplish in this life. That list has doubled over the years. Everything I pass off the list sees three new things on the list. Books to read, mountains to hike, places to visit, languages to learn, goals to set. What's next? If Dane will get potty trained so he can go to preschool I am going to start piano lessons in the fall.