16,375 Miles of Fun
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You know how sometimes you’re sitting in church and your
mind wanders just a little?
Mine did that last Sunday. Even though I was
listening to a great sermon, I still found myself, after spending the day
before in the car driving home from vacation, wondering just how many miles I
had traveled since the end of school last May.
As work-intensive as last summer was, this summer has
been travel-intensive and I have loved every minute of it.
As a professor it’s hard to get away during the school
year. In fact, it’s nearly impossible. When your class meets only three days a
week for sixteen weeks (that’s 48 class sessions for those of you who, like me,
are math challenged) you pretty much have to be there.
I can’t complain, though. We have generous breaks. I have my
summers. Heck, most weeks I even have Tuesdays and Thursdays.
But during the semester I can’t leave.
So when my husband goes on the rare business trip and asks
me to come along, I usually have to say no. And this makes me sad because he goes to some pretty cool places. This May, however, one of his trips
fell after the semester had ended, after my grades had been turned in, and
after our daughter’s graduation. Plus, it wasn’t bad that the trip was to Napa,
CA.
He didn’t have to ask twice.
My summer of travel started as soon as school got out and
pretty much hasn’t stopped.
So there I was, sitting in church, just thinking about the
drive home from WI the day before and all of the other amazing places I had
been all summer, realizing that I’ve been trotting the globe like a crazy woman,
when a thought came to me: “How many
miles have I actually traveled this summer?”
Of course I went home, fired up Google Maps, and figured it
out.
Here’s what I came up with:
Chicago to Napa, CA and back: 4300 miles.
Chicago to London: 4000 miles.
London to Oxford: 60 miles.
Oxford to Edinburgh: 370 miles.
Edinburgh to London: 415 miles.
London to Chicago: 4000 miles.
Chicago to Dallas and back: 1830 miles.
Chicago to Eagle River, WI and back: 700 miles.
And finally, a second trip to Eagle River this week to pick up Julia from
camp: 700 miles.
I think that brings me to a grand total of 16,375 miles.
Am I tired? Yeah, a bit. But I am so glad I’ve done it. I’m
heading into the new school year with a heart full of memories of time spent
with all the people I love most in this world. I’ve seen some amazing places
and have had some incredible adventures.
I’d say I’ve had 16,375 miles of fun.
