The Trip Down South

The first leg of our journey south got a late start. We were delayed due to some issues with our NY home and could not close on the 23rd of February as planned. Again, our gracious friends allowed us to bunk for another night while the lawyers and agents scrambled to get things ready to close. It was recommended to us by our lawyer to come to Albany on Tuesday morning to sign some paperwork which would allow him to sign our names for the future closing on our behalf. Fine. This appointment went well for us and we left his office with confidence that all would go well and we'd be closed in just a few short days. We picked up Todd's brother, Scott, from the airport while we were in Albany. He had flown jump seat with the intent to drive Todd's truck down south with Lars to keep him awake. After a tearful goodbye to our dear friends we headed south. Scott took a quick nap and he and Lars left a short time later.

The first night was relatively uneventful. Everyone slept well at the hotel after a wonderful meal at a Bob Evans (courtesy of dear friends) and we left Erie, PA in the morning bound for somewhere in Kentucky. Wednesday was a full day of travel. Again, we have amazing traveling kids. They are quick with bathroom stops and content to converse in the car and listen to music. We are very grateful. We stopped at a Subway in KY that night that was very close to the hotel we chose. Eleanor mentioned that the meat in her sandwich didn't taste quite right but I thought nothing of it...until around 12:30 that night. She got sick all over our hotel bathroom. Shockingly, none of this chaos woke the baby, but Ingrid and Martha groaned, covered their ears, turned over in their beds and went back to sleep. I, however, was not sure how to handle this. I assumed that we would now have to move out of our room because our bathroom was not usable. I was told that the cleaning crew did not start until 9:00 in the morning and that the bathroom in the lobby was available for our use. Thanks. Meanwhile, Todd and Bjorn slept like babies in their room and were completely oblivious of all that was happening. Then, after getting Eleanor settled and calm again, Matthias woke with a horrible cough - the classic barking cough of croup. The lady in the lobby was sympathetic but could do nothing. Because I didn't have a shower available for the hot steam (our bathroom was a disaster) Matthias and I just stood in the cold foyer - me in my sweats and baby in his hat - and watched airplanes fly overhead during the night. Whenever he woke, which was often, out we'd go. Somehow we made it through the night, had breakfast (some of us) and told daddy all about our adventures. We limped into Tennessee later in the day on Thursday into the arms of our family.

I wish I could say that this adventure was the end of our sickness but I cannot. Bjorn followed in Eleanor's footsteps and Todd got a super bad cold - most likely the result of severe stress. Ingrid and Lars followed in Todd's footsteps, Matthias was diagnosed with RSV, and I, the flu. Martha, remarkably, stayed rather healthy. During this chaotic time of sickness, we painted, scraped, organized, swept, dreamed, ran errands, blew our noses, took our medicine, and finally the movers arrived on March 2nd, a cool day with rain in the forecast, with our things. After a very long day, Martha and I headed back to Collierville and Todd and Lars slept here. On March 3rd, we all slept here, sick and healthy alike. We are grateful to be here and have lots of work ahead of us...