Our Beach Saga
We are just returning from a quick little weekend getaway to Galveston. The plan was to leave Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. Quick, right?It would be the perfect end to a summer gone too fast.As usual, we left later than normal. Gotta do this...and that...run that last little errand. Typical. We expected some traffic, but we got A LOT of traffic. Wrecks in Dallas and in Houston. Ugh.Our five-hour drive turned into a seven-hour test of patience and happiness. We failed the test, just so you know. There was not a lot of patience, and even less happiness.In an effort to boost the mood in the car, I had Brian detour a bit so we could get the peach ice cream that had been advertised nonstop since we left Dallas."It will be fun! Let's try this...it will be good!"Nope.NOPE.Don't do it. Don't stop at the Cooper Farms location, and don't get the peach ice cream. Trust me. Don't stop.I'll leave out the details of getting everyone settled and in bed. It was rough. Enough said.Saturday was a beautiful day and we headed to the beach. We all had a great time, despite the jellyfish stings. However, I am starting to wonder about Texas beaches in general. Jellyfish are nasty little things and those stings HURT! Maybe it's just a hazard in warm ocean water? I don't know, but they do make your ocean-frolicking a little more nerve-wracking...and they keep your heart rate up.Sunday afternoon we started heading back home around 4. The traffic was terrible again. Wrecks were causing a 2 hour delay! Oh brother. Luckily, there was an alternate route that would save us those extra two hours. Thank goodness!Nope.The local police in Huntsville, Texas, blocked every exit so cars could not drive around the massive delay. At one point, my 9-year old daughter was in tears because she needed to go to the bathroom...and the police would not let us off.I was upset, to say the least.About 15 excruciating minutes later, we pulled off the side of the road and she had to go in the grass, right next to the two lanes of solid cars slowly inching forward on the freeway.Thanks, Huntsville Police. Really great work.It looks like our drive home will be another unexpected 7 hour tour. For a vacation that is about 56 hours long, 14 is too many to spend in the car.Happy End of Summer!
