My trip to visit P´s family in Idaho was almost entirely thwarted on so many levels it makes me laugh more and more everytime I think about it.
There was much debate at work as to whether or not I could actually get the time off to go to Idaho. It was on, then off for a while, then officially back on thanks to a fantastic manager and her creative scheduling.
The day of my trip finally comes, bags are packed and I head out to my car at 5:30am to drive to the airport only to find someone had double parked me in my space. There was no sign of them returning so I frantically called around for a cab which was followed quickly (well.. not quickly, but I guess that depends on how you look at it) by the cab not showing up. I called another cab and by the time that one arrived, it was about an hour before my flight was scheduled to leave. Timing out the commute through morning rush hour traffic and heightened security due to 9/11, I was never going to catch my flight! Once I realized this I returned to my apartment to attempt to reschedule my flight. Thankfully I was able to catch a flight the next morning.
For those of you who have never been to Idaho, it is gorgeous! Mountains and lakes everywhere, not to mention Midwest hospitality on steroids and 3 second red lights (!!This is exhilarating for any Chicagoan. I blinked my eyes a few times and the light already alternated 4 times!!). (Yes, I realize it´s not in the Midwest but it could be in terms of the hospitality.) As much as I love being in the city/suburbs, it reminded me of how much I really enjoy and miss being in a quiet country setting.
Above all, it was wonderful to spend a concentrated amount of time getting to know P´s family better and meeting his close friends and their families. There were birthdays to be celebrated, bouncy houses to jump in, dog piles of little kids to be on the bottom of, story time to be told in funny accents, sets of corn hole to be made, and late night chats over cups of steaming hot pumpkin spice tea.
It was a wonderful trip and I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to make it out to Idaho against all of the almost-thwarts!
