Oct 24, 2016 3 min read

My husband and I set off with our kids last week for a day trip to visit friends in the center of the state. We had initially planned to go alone but decided at the last minute to make it a family affair. I’ve mentioned before how our summer vacation typically comes in a series of day trips due to our hectic schedule on the farm. Most often, these occur when there is at least a little rain in the forecast, and this was no exception.

It had poured overnight and was still drizzling when we set out before dawn. The rain reflected off every surface imaginable, lowering visibility and making our progress slow. Being that it was so overcast, and also somewhat foggy, it took hours for the sky to lighten up, but time passed, and it finally did.

We stopped for fuel and breakfast and ate on the road. We drove for much of the morning without stopping. Our first stop was just over the state line in Maryland, to look at something mechanical. (You didn’t think we went for reasons completely devoid of farming, did you? Silly, silly.)

My son got out of the truck to talk shop with my husband and the seller. My daughter continued to sleep, and I tried to hold my excitement in check. I knew we were only an hour from our friends’ house, and I was getting antsy. Finally, the deal was done, and we were back on the road. I texted my friend and told her when to expect us.

We passed the time in the truck by playing word and memory games. The alphabet game uses road signs to find all of the letters in the alphabet, a game called “Picnic” requires each letter to be used to form a list of what is taken on a picnic, and another game we played picks a subject – in our case, animals – and uses the last letter of the previous word said as the first letter of the next word.

Our kids formed the most disgusting picnic list known to man, taking platypus sauce, insects, socks and octopus pie, among other foul items. I also quickly remembered that there are fewer animals beginning with the letters K, Y and E than one can readily recall. In addition, there are only a handful of signs with the letter Q to be found on the highway. But slowly, the time passed.

Finally, we arrived at our friends’ farm. My husband met his friend in the barnyard, and handshakes ensued. My son followed his dad and began to look at, and climb on, all of the equipment that he had never seen up close before.

My friend met me at the door, and we hugged for a long time. Then, my daughter and I went inside to visit with her and their son, an 8-month-old we were meeting for the first time. The guys joined us after an hour or so, and we talked together for much of the afternoon.

This amount of time passed too quickly, and suddenly it was time to go. Another quick stop for food and fuel, and another drive in the rainy darkness occurred before reaching our house, but we made it with minimal issues.

I can only hope that time passes quickly until we can meet up with them again.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.