Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Friday, August 8, 2014

Coffee Cups ~ A Story in Every One

Warning:  This is a "grab your cup of java" kind of post and sit a spell.

If you have noticed, I have been adding a photograph of a coffee cup/mug, to a few blog posts.  I have to share about this collection of coffee mugs/cups, that I never intended to collect.

Before I left for SC, on this past trip, my kids waved their fingers at me, and threatened I'd be in trouble if I brought home "one more" coffee cup.  Our cupboards are bursting at the seams and with two kiddos not here to use them, well, we are running out of space (ha ha!).


Just because they told me not to, I did (he he!).

He he! They did scold me, but I do love my coffee and good memories. 

The memory of this coffee cup, and it's story, will be forever imbedded in my brain.  On our drive home, on the second trip from South Carolina, we had planned to overnight in West Virginia. There is a mountain we drive thru, to get to the city we had hotel reservations at.

We were about 30 miles from the exit, when we were re-routed off our highway and onto another one.  Highway message boards read:  "find an alternative route."  Ugh, really?  It was almost midnight, which was our ETA at the hotel, and we had no clue how to find another route.  We exited the exit they re-routed folks onto, but after getting off we saw a policeman blocking the left turn, so everyone had to turn right.  We did, but made a U-turn and went to the other side and back south to the next exit where we could inquire on routes in a gas station.  It was packed with confused drivers as well.

We are told to go back to that exit and take that road.  We'll we got back on the highway, but missed the exit (don't ask me how, maybe sleep deprivation).  However it was a blessing.  Although Hubby was spewing expletives for the eight miles we had to drive to the next exit, it turned out better than we expected.  We once again went into the gas station.  Hubby came out to the car in a much better mood.  The gal not only gave us good information, but had a print out of the new directions to get us to the hotel.

We got back on the highway, drove back south (yes, south) for about 30 miles.  We had to take a few country highway roads, which took us around the mountain. Oh, and the reason we could not go thru the mountain, was due to a truck hauling cardboard catching on fire in the tunnel.  The tunnel and highway were closed down.

So, there we went around the mountain.  The roads were extremely curvy, and road signs warned us of falling rocks.  Ok, so it's midnight now, we are driving back and forth, back and forth, and up and down.  I was about sick.  My daughter's boyfriend slept through it all.  Oh, and he got a slappy from me at the rest stop when we did finish that roller coaster ride around the mountain.  I told him it wasn't fair he got to sleep through it (ha ha!).

Two hours later we arrived at the hotel.  So, it's 2am, and the first thing I think, is "I should have called the hotel and told them we were arriving late."

All was good though.  They had held our room.  They were completely sold out, and so were the other hotels.  Thankfully, I had made our reservations that morning, not knowing that we'd be driving around the mountain.

Now, back to why missing that exit was a blessing.  According to the gas station gal, people were getting into accidents, and fights were breaking out amongst drivers.  On our way back south again, we saw that the police were already closing that exit.

So...there you have it.  A "coffee cup" story.  And even though I call them "coffee cups" I do drink tea in them too.


(part of my herb garden, along with some flowers)
 

As for my weeding progress?  I'm still weeding. Although I am using gloves, my right hand had an allergic reaction to the one (or more) of the weeds I am pulling.  I did pull a lot of thistle, and I did get stabbed through my gloves.  Hm.






1 comment:

My Garden Diaries said...

I loved that story....it brought me back to the many road trips I have taken over the years and the bumps and blessings on our travels as well! The mug is so pretty by the way!! And holy cow is your herb garden stunning! Wishing you an outstanding weekend! Nicole xo