1,930 MILES LATER

It's not often I look forward to driving back to Illinois. Sure, I don't mind going back, but I prefer to fly. When flying isn't an option, the drive is typically dreaded.

This dread of driving has nothing to do with the people, or events, we're traveling to see.  It has all to do with the geography. Eastern Colorado and western Kansas are ugly, the car seems to travel for hours and never move...leaving you in a void and ugly wasteland that goes on forever. Worst of all, the route cuts through some of the most tornado-prone areas of America.

For most, this last part would be a blip on the radar. Something you think about only when you see the funnel cloud on the horizon. But for me, this might as well be a death sentence. Tornadoes are one of 3 things I'm terrified of (clowns and snakes make up the other part of the list. And, on a side-note, I saw 3 snakes while back in Missouri..thank God I didn't see a clown or my system would have shut down.)

You might be asking, "Since you couldn't fly and thanks to the weather forecast, knew you had a better than average chance of running into some serious storms, was the trip necessary?"

Well, yes. My mom was retiring and we where having a party for her. And when you have a mom as awesome as mine you make the trip, regardless of the number of fears you have to face.  So, we did.

Don't get me wrong, it took some time to get my head wrapped around this drive. But in the end, I was looking forward to getting started and on the road because I knew what awaited in Illinois.

We left Denver at 2:45 a.m. and in just under 12 hours we made it to St. Louis. This was our stop for the night and worked out perfect as it allowed me to see my in-laws. It was great to see them and, as is the case more times than not, many laughs were shared over good food and a few brews.

The next morning we headed to L-town and got ready for the party. It went off without a hitch. This is where I need to give a huge shout-out to my sister and brother-in-law, aunts, uncles, friends that seem like family, and my mom's co-workers. Everyone pulled together and we were able to have a great party. Without those mentioned, the party would have been really lame and might not have happened at all.

I'm also happy to report the party was kept a complete surprise. So much so, I was nearly certain my mom was going to drop my sister's baby and faint when we yelled surprise. She didn't do either, which is good, but was totally blown away.

The party was a huge hit. I got to catch up with people I haven't seen forever both at the party and thanks to a BBQ my buddy's hosted on the following day. I'm very lucky to have friends willing to take the time to come out...but that's a whole other post.  Best of all, my mom was happy.

When it was all said and done, we had stopped at 7 gas stations, listened to the entire second season of the Serial podcast, saw snakes, saw zero tornadoes and clowns, and drove nearly 2,000 miles.

What a weekend.