(I began this journal on paper, and typed and finished it here today)
April 2, 2014 Bergfelg Park, Tyler TX.
We used to really enjoy this park when we were Tyler residents. One of the first places Macy conquered her fear of slides. It's hard to believe it's been over 5 years since we've been here. This time, instead of pushing a stroller, chasing little ones around, pushing them on the swing and catching them at the end of the slide, I'm at the picnic table journaling for the first time in ... uh... many months. Now all I have to do is look up once in awhile to make sure they are still in my sights. they are all three together walking in the open grass, jumping over the tiny ravine at the bottom of the hill. It's cloudy, slightly breezy, warm and perfect. Azaela's are kinda blooming. It's early Spring in east Texas.
We began our trip four days ago, leaving Fort Wayne early Saturday morning. It was cold and rainy and the rain turned into wet slush as we drove through Indianapolis. As I waited for my gas to pump at our first of many stops I couldn't resist a Facebook post/complaint stating, "Snowing as we drive through Indy. Get me outta here!" Ah Facebook - the ultimate tool for a sense of global justification for our own personal opinions on often the most menial of subjects. Ha!
After a seven-hour drive, stopping only for gas and lunch we reached point A - Nashville, Tennessee around 4pm. My hotwire hotel deal #1 was a $65 room at Comfort Inn in Gallatin., just north of Nashville. The hotel was cute and clean, no complaints. We unloaded, stretched our legs (ie: tested out the beds for all the trampoline-like qualities we look for, freshened up and jumped back in the van for a much shorter, 15 minute drive to downtown Nashville. As would be expected in "Music City" on a Saturday night, the streets were full of people and there was live music coming out of the open doors of every bar and/or grill within four blocks. Inasmuch as my three companions were not of the legal age, we settled for simply cruising the streets for a bit with our windows down, enjoying the sights and sounds and heading back to the hotel with big plans to return the next day, Sunday. On the way back we made a stop at Walgreen's for some forgotten items and popped in to a Chinese Buffet for dinner - because it sounded good. Lucky us, we ALL (even picky Nicky) found something to our liking at the buffet tables - yay! And my fortune cookie read "Success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm." Touche' I say.. touche'. Weary travelers with full bellies make for good sleepers.
Day 2: After breakfast at the hotel, we did in fact return to downtown Nashville. The party-goes from the night before surely still sleeping while us and the morning joggers (and there were a lot of them!) had the run of the streets/souvenir shops/boot stores and pubs. We also took a walk over bridge at the Nashville Riverfront to the IP Stadium where the Titans play. The pro shop was closed (shoot!) As we walked around the entire stadium our conversation consisted of how tired of walking and hungry everyone was - except me! I asked them how come the old lady was the only one whose feet were still holding up? Eventually we made it back over the bridge and sat down for lunch at Rippy's BBQ (our waiter reminded us of Uncle Heath) with live music and of course the requisite spilling of beverage - I did the honors this time. Waiter "Heath" assured me that this was what the floor was made for, to which I replied with uber charm, "you mean this I wasn't the first to spill on this here floor?" Eh, I may have even hit him with my fake southern accent with that one. Children embarrassed, I've done my job. You gotta have the fun where you can. :)
After lunch we filled our pro-shop void by visiting the "SMashville" Predators (NHL) proshop, but nothing quite caught our eye for purchase. The rest of our day in Nashville was spent browsing souvenir and boot shops on our way back to our van. That night we checked into a new hotel - this time at a LaQuinta south of Nashville in Franklin. We swam at the indoor pool for hours, ordered pizza, showered and once again, slept soundly.
Day 3: Nine-hour drive to Tyler, Texas. It was typical day on the road, movies, music, intermittent quarrels from the back seat and mom at the wheel alternating between daydreaming and listening to what was coming through my headphones - either new Zumba music, my roadtrip playlist, or comedy on Pandora. The good news is we arrived safely early evening with the first stop Whitehouse at the home of my best friend from the Texas days. We were greeted first at the door by big fluffy dog Lucky, followed by Leah and the girls - big hugs all around! After a brief sit we headed out for some good ol' Tex Mex - two ladies and five kids. Far from relaxing, but fun nonetheless and full of entertaining conversation. After a group pic at the restaurant and a mommy-selfie, Leah, the girls plus Macy were dropped off at their house while the boys and I headed to Hotel #3 in Tyler which would be our home for three nights. Another hotwire deal - dated, not in the best of neighborhoods, but clean and comfortable. We slept so good!
Day 4: Up early to meet Leah and Macy at Corner Bakery before Leah went to work. After a quick breakfast we drove around town past all of our old favorite places and including our old home on Sandhill Lane in Flint. Wow. So many memories were made there during our seven years as Texans from 2003-2009. Bittersweet really. That home was where we were a young family. Lots of babies, bottles, diapers and sleepless nights. The hard-to-admit depression and loneliness I often felt of being a young mother in a new town, homesickness for Nebraska, marriage tests. The challenges of young children - temper-tantrums, time-outs, potty-training. But also lots of good times, love and fun memories of my little ones dancing in the living room, days filled with Dora the Explorer and Scooby Doo shows, hot summer afternoons in the backyard pool. That driveway and street was where Macy and Nick learned to ride their bikes. My sweet neighbors and all of our Bunco parties. Days of past that seem so innocent and yes I sometimes do miss those days. But I get to look at my life now too and see how much we have all grown in so many ways. All the struggles were worth it - they always are.
We also stopped by St. Mary Magdalene - where I was called to Catholicism, was confirmed in The Church and made my first confession at age 33 - yikes! Also where Nicholas was baptized. We stopped by to say hello to Fr. Kelly and see if he remembered us, but was told he was in Ireland all week. But we did get to see his dog, Vincent, who is a fixture in the church and loved by everyone, and chat with the office ladies.
Next stop on our "Tyler Memory Tour" was the ETMC offices where Mike used to work. A few familiar faces were waiting for us as we made our rounds through the building. Ron, Mike's boss and best friend, was just arriving in the parking lot as we were leaving so we were able to talk to him and make some plans to join him for dinner the next night.
We made our way to Brookeshires Park & Museum next (another of our favorite places) before returning to the hotel to rest/recharge for a few hours. Back to Leah's that night. The kids had a blast on the trampoline and zip line in the back yard and I enjoyed the comfy lounge chair. And a true treat, I got to attend Leah's Zumba class that night - just like old times. I used to be her student before I became an instructor so it was so awesome to be her student once again. She even let me lead a few routines of my own for her class. And we ended the night back at her place with pizza before we once again crashed at our hotel.
Day 5: We slept in... aaaaah! Stopped by Bergfeld Park (where I began this journal entry - it is now a few days later.) Lots of memories from Bergfeld as I alluded to before. The kids also put on an improv performance on the outdoor public stage at the park which I quite enjoyed. I was hoping for more Azaleas but word is Spring is late this year so they are yet to be fully in bloom. After playing at the park we lunched at On The Border, walked through the mall (where Macy (in her stroller) and I spent a LOT of time at back in the day) and met up with my friend Wendy and her two kiddos at Marble Slab for ice cream. The kids were having a little too much fun so we moved our party over to the Sonic play area. Kids acted like fools and Wendy and I caught up.
Last stop for that evening was dinner with Ron at Brunos. Before we ate we picked up his son Marc from Robert E Lee varsity baseball practice (arriving early for Nick to watch them in action.) It was great catching up with Ron and his family. They were and still are a big part of our life and we love them like family. His boys were 4, 6 & 8 when we moved to TX, now they are 14, 16 & 18. But it wasn't beneath them to have a great wrestling match with my boys back at their house. And Nick is still wearing his badge of honor - the rug burn he got on his cheek.
Day 6: 7-hour drive to Hotel Memphis - a very nice hotel! We were all definitely feeling the tiring effects from the trip. We laid low and took advantage of what the hotel had to offer - swimming pool, hot tub, dinner, back to the pool, showers and bed.
Day 7: Quick drive by Graceland and were reduced by weariness to simply taking a picture from the street. We were all so ready to be home but not so ready for the and 10-hour drive to get there. We made it though. Now to get through the rest of the school year and, dare we say.... SUMMER!!
