A Little Vacation.

We are going on a trip tomorrow! This is a tentative toe poke into the traveling waters. It has been years since either one of us has traveled further than San Diego. My husband's chronic condition has prevented us from attending movies or parties or simply going out for dinner.

I'm excited. He's excited. We are traveling to Sacramento (woo) to celebrate my brother's 60th birthday. The entire family will be there. (We are 22.) On the way we will stop in Santa Nella and spend the night. It is the geographic center of California, out in the middle of nowhere. Let's see, the closest town is Turlock. My mother is buried in Santa Nella.

My mother was in the Navy in WWII. She met my dad in the Navy. She is a veteran and would love that we put her in a veteran's cemetery. Her children are spread all over California and she would love that we shared her with each other. She was born in Texas, but California was her home. I haven't been to Santa Nella in years and it is now time to visit. I'm told the grass has grown very green and that she is surrounded by the barley fields she loved so much. (Sting called them "fields of gold.")

I booked a hotel in Santa Nella with room service, just in case traveling and eating in a restaurant becomes too difficult. My husband and I will be together and laugh and talk and will leave the stress of home behind.

The next day we travel to Sacramento. We will only be an hour and a half away. Easy-peasy.

I'm looking forward! Yay! A trip with a destination and a celebration at the end. We will come home on Sunday. (I have to teach Monday.) But, for all those hours we will be outside time, in joy and with each other.

Little joys. The best.