Did you ever drive all night long? I have done this numerous times traveling to Florida. The beginning of the drive is always fun, anticipation of the sunshine and vacation that is around the corner, everyone is in a good mood. Then darkness falls. The kids don't seem as cute to me anymore more whining and crying. I am starting to get sick of looking at road maps, my back and butt are starting to get sore. Then you are 4 hrs into darkness, you are in the middle of nowhere in west virginia and you think you can figure out a short cut. 20 min. into the short cut you realize you have made a mistake you are off the highway on some desolate road with no cell phone reception. Your wife is pretty sure that the family is going to end up in a made for tv horror movie in the not so distant future. You are starting to sweat because the roads you are on are not on the map, and you hear the theme song from Deliverance in the background. One hour later signs for the thruway beckon you back to civilization and you are back on track. It is 1 am now and there is no scenery just headlights, tailights and bad talk radio. You have stopped at a gas station to fill up and got the extra large overly sugared and caffeinated cappaccino. You have been snacking on sugar the last few hours to give yourself a high, now you are just sick. It is 3 am and you have hit the rumble strips on the side of the road twice as you started to doze off. Nothing pumps the adrenaline through your veins like hitting those little bumpy grooves, your wife jumps up and yells "Are you sleeping". No you lie I was just changing a cd. 4 am you want to die, you are sick and exhausted, your eyes droop as they yearn for rest. You pinch yourself, stick your head out the window, turn the air conditioning on, the heat on, slap your face, drink red bull, eat sunflower seeds, drink more coffee, but to no avail. You feel you can't go on. It has been dark forever. 5:45 a slight glow on the horizon, maybe an upcoming city. 6 am the glow is bright red, out of the east. It's over you've made it, you are still driving but now your eyes aren't tired, the kids are waking up, you start to see palm trees, your hands are still on the wheel but the scenery has changed. Where there is light there is hope. It's dawn.
