Driving Cross-Country

I admit, I have been somewhat remiss in my blogging duties. Not that I've deluded myself into believing anyone has been waiting for me to update. Really it just gives me a reason to be self-indulgent and...shocker...write a bit freestyle. I feel the need to be grounded by something, and I have chosen this post to be it. But honestly, with the craziness that has happened over the past few months, no one can blame me. And the craziest of all? We've moved to South Carolina!

.........crickets..........

Yes I know, it is all a big shock to me as well. Being a born and bred west coast girl myself, I never thought I would live on the other end of the country. But life, as I am learning, rarely turns out as you'd planned. I have decided that those little hiccups are life's way of making sure you don't become too comfortable and complacent with circumstances and miss out on living.

As some of you may know, I recently had a miscarriage. I took it pretty hard, especially being so far away from any family. I was only just over two months along, so it struck me as odd that I grieved so much for a baby I'd only just begun to believe was real. Anyhow, Ernie, because he loves me so very much and couldn't stand to see me so lost and depressed, agreed to move to South Carolina to be surrounded by love and family. We've been here for about a month now and it has been great.


Here is a brief recap of our cross-country drive (which, by the way, was made in under a week and was one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do. I now believe that everyone should make the journey at least once in their lives. It is a great way to gain perspective on...well...life. But I digress).

Lily and I went to Arizona ahead of Ernie so he could finish packing (yes, I am cruel and made him do all the packing) and finish out his job. Lily had a grand time getting reaquainted with her Wilkinson relatives.

This adorable baby is my youngest niece, Elizabeth Anne (named for my middle name (Elizabeth) and Jenny's (Anne)). I know, I know...how are so many gorgeous children in one family?

Lily absolutely loved Tommy. At least once an hour she would ask me if she could go play with him. Any time he'd come over, she would call "Tooooommmmmyyyy! Come here, buddy." It was very sweet.

Lily loved her Princess Aurora costume for halloween, but it took me and my mom (and quite a bit muscle) to get her into the thing. Once it was on, she was prancing around showing everyone her costume. But the getting it on...well, the getting it on was quite the process.

And of course, trick-or-treating. It was actually the first year we've taken her. She loved it (although by the time we were finished she was so tired that she fell out of her stroller and onto the sidewalk). For days afterward she asked me if we could go again. I don't blame her, really. When else do you get to go to strangers' homes and expect them to give you candy?


The best part of the trick-or-treating, of course, being the consumption of all that lovely candy.

Lily loved making her haunted house at grandma's house.

And since I deemed her (rather wisely, I thought) too young to handle a carving knife, I let her paint a pumpkin.

After a couple of weeks bounding about in Arizona, we were off on our journey. First stop, New Mexico.

Did you know there isn't much to see in New Mexico? It is beautiful there, but in a why-would-anyone-ever-live-here kind of way.

I did, however, learn that they have groundskeepers at those middle-of-nowhere rest stops that live there full time. Ernie and I had great fun deciding what kind of psychopaths and murders would take a job like that (I'm thinking it would be a great horror film). Seriously! These rest stops were a hundred miles from NOWHERE! Why would you subject yourself to such utter isolation unless you were on the lamb?

Then we crossed the border into Texas. Honestly, I'd say Texas would be on my top five places to live in the states. It is so beautiful there. Our first night we had delectible fajitas at a bbq place in El Paso

Then we drove all night through San Antonio and into Houston (as it was dark through most of this leg, I haven't much to report).

Hermann Park

Once in Houston, we stopped at this lovely park (above) in the center of the city. Lily loved the water fountains, the ducks, the wee bitty turtles and - perhaps most of all - she loved the train ride. This place was seriously cool. I wish we'd had more time to explore the five hundred acres of fun. Lily was very excited to play on the playground, but when we got there we read a sign warning us that a rabid bat was found nesting in the play structure. We decided it might be best if we skip that little pleasure.

As we wound our way east from Houston, we entered Louisiana. The greatest part of Louisianna for me was discovering why the roads were so bloody awful. I couldn't stop laughing. Apparently they refuse to raise the drinking age from 18 to 21 (I always wondered why it was a hot spot for spring break...I mean, it's Louisiana, for crying out loud) so they get no federal funding for road construction. Fun times, that.

Driving through Southwestern Louisiana, we passed through at least three cultural enclaves. Such a heady mixture of cultures there is there. From Creole to Cajun to Spanish to Native American, you will find what you are looking for in this swamp-dominated state. It is little wonder the people here are so full of vitality. The food is heaven, the music is lively and the people are friendly.

Still, after driving 90 percent of the time atop swampland (yes, the roads are 80 percent bridge built over the swamp), I would never want to live there.

The high point of our trip through Louisiana, as cliched as it seems, was New Orleans. And not just because it was my first shower in going on three days. It is a place rooted in magic, music and merrymaking. Even with the shadow of Katrina hanging over this bedraggled city, you hear the people rising from the ashes, rejoicing with defiant tones of trumpet, trombone and toe-tappin' crooners. Although poverty and devastation are still prominent in the city, the bayou people have chosen tenacity over tears. It is inspiring.

We stayed at a lovely hotel in the French Quarter, dined on fried alligator, craw fish and soft crab po'boys (with chocolate pecan pie for desert), and slept a delightful ten hours before hitting the road again. Everything in Louisiana is sugared and fried. I almost had a coronary and we were only there for one day.

[crawfish (top), soft-shell po'boy (bottom left), fried 'gator (bottom middle) and chocolate pecan pie (bottom right)]

Emerging from the bayous of southern Louisiana, we briefly entered Alabama by way of Mobile before crossing over into Florida. We had planned on spending the night in Gainesville with one of Ernie's buddies, but after a brief stop in Pensacola, we both decided we just wanted to get to South Carolina. Lily was a champ, but we could tell the hours in and out of the car were wearing on her. So after a stop to refuel both the car and our stomachs in Jacksonville, we continued on toward Georgia.

I wish I had more exciting events to report for the final leg of our trip, but it was done mostly at night so I didn't get to see nearly as much as I would have liked. We breezed through Savannah (much to my disappointment) and were soon on our way to South Carolina.

Now I have been living in the low country for nigh on a month, and I'll tell you this, it is beautiful here. Think of the opening credits to Prince of Tides. Yep, that is my life (minus the suicidal sister and nut-job mother).

We are getting ready to build a house on the family plot here, which will hopefully be done by early summer (wishful thinking, perhaps, but I am forever an optimist). In the meantime, we are staying with Ernie's sister so we can oversee the progress from her front porch. It is cozy having us all squished together here, but it has been wonderful. Denise and Ernestine are welcoming and loving and Peyton and Jaxon are both adorable and all-too-easy to love. Lily adores her cousins and enjoys having two more kids underfoot and a loving aunt and grandmother.



And here are all the kids together. Lily fell head-over-heels for Peyton almost as soon as we arrived. She and Jaxon, however, had a rough start of things. They are slowly getting used to each other (and having another "youngest" around to vie for attention, as they are only a few months apart)

I believe the highlight of living out in the country for both Lily and me is the fantastic yard. There is so much space to run around and play that Lily is in heaven.

There is a beautiful live oak tree in the middle of the backyard, replete with a swing just Lily's size and a wooded marsh where deer and flocks or irises stroll regularly.

And the front yard is nearly three acres of open space for the kids to play to their hearts' desires (and utterly exhaust themselves to the gratitude of their parents).

And Peyton was excited to finally have his tire swing hung in the beautiful oak in the backyard (courtesy of Ernie...aka Uncle Tankey)

Now all three of the kids get to enjoy it. Tell me this, my friends...What could epitomize a quintessential childhood more than a tire swing on a grand live oak?

The site of our future home

Just the other day Peyton and Lily were playing together and Lily gave Peyton a big hug. She smiled and said "I love you, Peyton." Peyton returned the sentiment then smiled and looked at me. "It's like she's my little sister," he said proudly.

I think once the house is finished, Lily will be devastated to leave her family. Good thing we'll be living less than twenty feet away from them.

More to come on our holidays in Dixie