We're coming, Sera!

Last week, Craig and I decided that it was ill-advised to wait until we learned that the birth mom was in labor to travel. According to our worker, the longer you wait between delivery and the potential parents' arrival, the more likely the birth mom will change her mind. So, we modified the advice from a friend and decided to drive out to VA, so we can stay with my in-laws until the birth mom delivers. With this plan, we will be only 200 miles from Sera, rather than 1300.

On Friday, we left Oklahoma at 8:30 am with a bag full of road munchies and a lot of enthusiasm. We passed through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Kentucky. The drive through Missouri had lots to see along the way. Lots of silly little shops and crazy billboards. Southern IL and IN was a bit of a bore. A lot of trees and empty fields. The situation was so serene, I had several carcoleptic episodes. If you are not familiar with "carcolepsy," I have coined this term to explain why I have such a difficult time acting as a passenger in any car. It doesn't matter if I am traveling 10 miles or 1000 or heading for a personal or work-related destination. If I am a passenger, I will struggle to remain awake and will inevitably wake up with a dribble in the corner of my mouth or doing the sleepy head bob. Craig and I finally made it to Frankfort, KY and checked into a hotel. After we found dinner, I received emails from our attorney and our adoption worker, notifying us that our birth momma would be induced Monday night! Meaning, we could be parents by Tuesday morning! We're not sure why they chose evening, but we won't criticize. Craig and I tried to fall asleep, but we were too excited!

Craig and I woke early on Saturday morning. I was up at 5:15 and was too busy to check the news or weather. I grabbed some breakfast, but Craig just wanted to go. While I ate (and grabbed some Honey Nut Cheerios for the ride- Who could resist those tiny individually sized boxes), Craig ran out to the ATM for tolls and then gassed up the car. We left Frankfort at 7:15. As we entered West Virginia, I began to notice broken tree limbs and uprooted trees everywhere. It looked like WV was hit with a HUGE storm. We stopped for a potty break at a rest area and I commented at how busy it was. Way busier than a standard rest area. I figured it was because the rest area had a snack bar, which is swankier than the typical vending machine rest stop fare. We then headed out and Craig said that he wanted to fill up the tank at the next rest stop. We still had a little less than 1/2 tank, but he wanted to be certain. We exited the interstate at a travel plaza. The travel plaza had three LONG lines of cars. One line nearly reached the interstate. We thought this was a ridiculous wait for gas and drove away. We then stopped at the next exit, but they didn't have power, so we couldn't get gas. We then stopped at the next exit and the next. No power. We drove for about 100 miles, stopping and looking for gas. No power. We finally stopped in some tiny mountain town. My car said that we had about 30 miles left to travel on our dwindling tank of gas. Craig found a woman waiting outside a closed gas station. She knew of a gas station in the next town with gas, but the line was four miles long. Our only other option was to try and make it to the VA border, but she wasn't certain if they had power. We entertained the thought of just waiting until they restored power, but we were told that it may not be until Monday. We decided we didn't have enough gas to make it to VA, so we would try out luck at the next town. On our way, cars were abandoned on the side of the road or people sat aimlessly around power-less stores and gas stations, waiting or talking. We drove out to White Sulphur Springs and turned down the street parallel to the Greenbriar Golf Course. Then we waited. We turned off the A/C and rolled down the windows to preserve gas. We waited for several hours, occasionally stopping passersby, asking for information about what was ahead. We watched people park their cars and march up the street with water jugs and bottles and return back with them full of gasoline. At one point, a skinny 20-something rolled down on a moped, screaming, "Gas! $30 a gallon!" We sipped what was left of our now-warm water, which Craig said we needed to ration. Police cars raced up the left side of the road, followed by ambulances and fire trucks. We stopped a man who was carrying gas cans back to his car. He informed us that people were getting into heated arguments over gas and it was "scary" at the station. We finally reached two gas stations and were relieved. Our car said we had only 4 miles left in our tank. However, the cop directing traffic told us we couldn't fill up there. We had to go to the station up the street. We didn't know how long it would take or if we had enough gas to get there. Between the abandoned cars, the long lines, the lack of data and phone signal in the rural town, and the arguments over dwindling necessities, the situation began to resemble the apocalypse.

We waited in line behind a blue car, which was driven by a woman and her male companion. The blue car would shut off her ignition whenever we stopped, unaware that stopping and starting your engine uses more gas than sitting idle. If the traffic moved forward, she would judge and see if it was worth it to start her car and close the gap. Most of the time, she made the decision to leave her car there, leaving a large gap between her car and the car ahead of her. We got frustrated and really wanted here to move. If anything, closing that gap was a psychological victory, if only for a short time. After waiting in the 90+ degree heat in an un-air conditioned car for over three hours with dwindling water, the incident we had feared occurred. Our car read empty and said we had 0 miles left in the tank. Then, a red truck came speeding up the wrong side of the road and the pulled into the gap the woman in the blue car left. He cut ahead in line in front of miles of waiting people, all of them hot and angry! Craig got angry and honked his horn. The woman in the blue car then stuck her hand out the window and gave him the finger. He then honked again, began swearing, opened the door, and lunged out. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back in the car, screaming, "DON'T! THIS WILL MAKE THINGS WORSE! DON'T!" He took a few deep breaths and calmed down. I was SO angry at the woman in the blue car and the man in the red truck. I wanted to walk up to the truck and explain that they should pull out of line and be considerate, but the situation was tense and I worried something would happen to me if I tried. So, I wrote down the red truck's license number, got out and walked up the slight hill in the heat until I found a policeman. I felt like such a tattle, but I didn't want this inconsideration to go unpunished. I wanted the red truck pulled out of traffic or ticketed. I explained the situation. Initially, he told me there was nothing he could do. I understood that he had his hands full. I then told him that our car's sensors said we were out of gas and may have to push our car to the station. He then asked me to get into his police car and we headed back to the long line of angry drivers. I soaked in the cool air from the A/C and didn't want to leave. We stopped at the red truck and he questioned the driver. He had an excuse, said that he and his wife were sweating and he didn't even want gas. He wanted to get on the highway ahead. The police officer told him to get out of line, but the red truck could not get gas. They had to get on the highway and leave. The red truck left. The officer then asked me to point out my car. We pulled up along side Craig and the car. I waved and smiled from the police car and Craig shook his head at me. The officer got out and told Craig he would give him a little gas. The officer splashed the tank with gas and hoped it would be enough to get us to the station. He then wished us luck and left.

We waited and waited until we finally reached the station. They were rationing fuel and allowed us to pump 7 gallons of gas. I was thankful we had stopped at the ATM. The station only accepted cash. On a normal day, Craig and I never carry cash. As we waited our turn, Craig and I nearly broke into tears. After over six hours in the heat, we were finally going to get gas. Craig pumped our seven gallons and then found the woman in the blue car. He went to her car and apologized. They said they understood, but had little to say in return.

Craig and I then left WV and headed into VA. The border towns in VA were also without power, so we would have been stranded if we tried to reach them earlier in the day. In VA, we were met by my in-laws, who had driven 200 miles to bring us gas. We didn't know if we would ever get gas or if we would be stranded, so they offered to deliver gas to us. However, they did not want to go to White Sulphur Springs, expecting a riot situation if people saw them with a full gas can. We were able to get enough gas to get us to their home, which was such a lovely sight.

We now have a full tank of gas and we should be able to get to PA with one tank. We will check into our hotel room tomorrow afternoon and shower. We were instructed to be at the hospital at 5 pm tomorrow to wait. We will be at the hospital in the labor and delivery waiting room until she delivers. It will be a long night for us, but our attorney thinks we will be so full of adrenaline, we won't even notice the sleep deprivation. I guess we had to get used to the lack of sleep anyway, right?