it's 212 miles to Chicago O'Hare, we've got a full tank of gas, three hours till you have to be at the airport, it's 7.30a and raining, and we're wearing sunglasses.
apologies to the Blues Brothers for abusing the quote, but it's the only way I could think to start this out.
i'll start at the beginning and try not to run too long. my very good friend had recently (in the last year) decided to follow a path that has been on his heart for over ten years. this path was to follow in the footsteps of Brother Andrew (http://www.opendoorsusa.org/Display.asp?Page=BAprofile) and bring bibles to those that are not legally allowed to have them in their part of the world. the part of the world he is headed to is China. call me over paranoid, but i'll going to leave out a few facts (his name, and destination for now) as i'd hate for the random fact snippet on the web to endanger his journey. which he is currently on his way to - on the other side of the world.
fast forward to 6.20a this morning. i'm a slacker and still in slumber when my phone drags me out of a bizarre dream about coming back to my car and finding it stripped down in the parking lot (*who* steals the dashboard out of a 1990 audi v8 quattro??), to hear my friend tell me that his flight from Indy to Chicago has been cancelled. as i'm trying to find the words to ask if i can help (typically i get woken up about servers and software in the middle of the night, so i have to think a lot before i say anything that i think is some bit profound or committal in any way) ... anyway, he asks, and of course i say yes - as that's what i was trying to figure out how to ask. i wanted to help, and love an adventure anyway, and the thought of trying to get him to Chicago in that short of a time period without officially having a license (that's another story for another day) has to classify as an adventure.
12 minutes later after him letting me know they were going to let him catch his Chicago to Asia flight and after waking up, i'm in my car en route to his house - a 20 minute drive under good conditions, and this one took at least that. we decided to bring his five year old son Ethan with us as an introduction to the adventures of the world (never too early to start), get everything packed and together (a lot of scrambling as this was soooo not the plan) and we are on the road about 15 minutes later listening to 'fibber island'and other kid safe songs, and fun to listen to when you're on a road trip.
in an attempt to fold space and time, we make the trip from his home in about three hours and fifteen minutes (including a stop for gas and to pick up food), when it should have at least taken four, and more with traffic. as an illustration for those who don't know about Chicago traffic (especially with all the construction right now) it took Ethan and i three hours to get back to the Indiana state line - still over 150 miles from home.
but our trip there had just about perfect timing. enough time to get him to his gate, to park the car and bring Ethan (carrying him while hustling through the airport) to catch up with him in the check-in line. it was great that he got the time to say goodbye to his son there at the airport, and that we got to kick his much bigger adventure off with a bang (and some demonstrations on the proper use of tonnage and horsepower in Chicago traffic that i know my mother would not approve of - hi mom... at least you read this ;)
anyway, just wanted to tell you all about a very cool use of a vacation day. one i doubt i'll ever forget. i wanted to get this down before i head off to bed. for some strange reason, i'm pretty tired... and i can't imagine tommow will be anywhere near as eventful. but who knows, i would have said last night that today was just going to be an uneventful Friday at work. i love to live, and i definitely lived today.
take care, and i hope you all are well.
.jason
(yes, the trip home took about six and a half hours... a time that was very possible on the way there too, and i was a good boy and drove quite close to the speed limit all the way home)
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