Just the Driver

Photos.

A decade ago, Bob jokingly referred to himself as "just the driver", when I wanted to go somewhere he felt lukewarm about. His reference was the phrase "just a driver", in Eastern Promises, and since then, I've often thought that "just a driver" is a very good  thing indeed. Today was no exception.

The rain began during the night, and when we left Athens, Alabama, this morning, I thought the worst was over. I couldn't have been more wrong. The downpour was fairly steady between Athens and Nashville, but delays made the mid-morning drive through the city more challenging than it should have been.

I drove for about 100 miles at one point, when the rain seemed to have stopped, but I still got hit by buckets of water: fine time to discover I didn't know how to find the wipers in Bob's Traverse. Later on, I was planning to drive about 100 miles, leaving the last 100 to Bob. However, soon into my stint I couldn't see a thing and I had to turn into a rest stop, giving up my little turn at the wheel. I was shaking and teary.

Not surprisingly, Bob was in his element. The rain -- literally obscuring the highway and all visibility -- didn't seem to phase him. He plodded on "in a straight line" (!), not knowing if and when the road turned. Soon after we got out of the worst of it, we saw three vehicles in the ditch,. "A real blind-out", said my intrepid and cheerful husband, looking at the cars facing in different directions on both sides of the highway.

I was freaking out, unprepared to end my life on a messy Illinois roadway, but I guess today was not the day. We continued on our journey and checked into the Rockford Hampton Inn sometime after 6:30 p.m. Bob was fresh and ready to go out for dinner. We ate at the Tavern on Clark, and our meal (burger for Bob, chicken sandwich for me) was very good.

Home tomorrow.