April 19 – “I was awake”

And we are back home.  No short cuts this time.  Right from Waco to Galveston.  Shortest regular route available on Google.  Actually it would be more accurate to say the route came from Chris’ head.  She has it memorized.  And I so trust her and her driving and her memorization skills that I must confess I slept much of the way home.  I tried to stay awake, mind you.  Even read a few chapters of a Harry Potter book.  To no avail. 

I was awake for the stop in College Station.  That’s “our place” to eat lunch.  Cracker Barrel.  Chris had the daily special – chicken pot pie.  I had chicken fried chicken, fried okra, green beans and macaroni and cheese.  Way too much food.  But they have take-home containers for that.  Now we have another meal awaiting us.

I was awake for the stop at Buc-ees, too.  At least I think I was.  I looked up as we entered the parking lot to see a huge beaver walking across the parking lot.  He was wearing a shirt, too.  I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs, but I know it was real, because Chris was telling me to get out the camera.  I was too slow on the draw, though.  We did manage to grab a long distance shot of him as we left, however.  Wow.  The real Buc-ee in person.  How lucky was that?

I was awake when we went inside Buc-ees.  One of the girls at the register cried out her obligatory “Welcome to Buc-ees” without even looking at us.  And immediately a plan hatched in my head.  We made our trip to the facilities, and I grabbed some caramel popcorn to purchase.  And as we approached the exit, there were three empty registers.  They all invited us to be checked out.  But I smiled a knowing smile and said, “I think I’ll go to this one, because she greeted us so loudly and so warmly and with such good cheer when we first entered the store.”  Puzzled, she looked at us for the first time and said, “I did?”  I answered, “Of course you did.  And thank you so much for making us feel welcome.”  I’m not sure she’ll greet anybody ever again.

Oh, and I was awake when the Astros game started.  And I was still awake when they scored six runs in one inning.  Now that’s the Astros I came to know and love last year.  I didn’t stay awake long after that, though.  Enough awake for one day.

Psalms 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Father, thank you for a safe journey home.  It’s good to be here.  Amen.