Jer and I pulled into a Super 8 on the outskirts of downtown. Our room was stifling. The car thermometer registered over 100 degrees outside for the majority of our 7 hour drive. The pool here stays open until 9 pm so we figured we had about 20 minutes. I haven’t gone swimming in a long time. I’m at a pool frequently enough, but usually just lounging or putting my feet in or the occasional dip to cool off whilst tanning. I haven’t played in the pool in awhile. We jumped in without even feeling the water and I just immediately started laughing. I just felt silly, but in a good way. We tried to think of pool games that only have two people but we came up short so we settled on submarine rides and wall to wall races. Two little kids and their grandma came in, the kids no more than 4 and both wearing full body floaties that made their chests look disproportionately larger than the rest of their bodies. The little boy was so excited to get in the water and show off his paddling and floating skills. He was just as jovial as could be. It was so sweet and so refreshing. I remember being a little kid and being on an all day car trip and pulling into a hotel in the later part of the night and just hoping we would make the pool hours. The whole day has brought back such happy memories of my youth, the desert skyline, the smells, the dairy queen blizzard stop. It’s been a really busy couple of weeks between packing and moving and hopping around between relatives and friends. There has been a lot of laughter in the hanging out and a lot of tears in saying goodbyes. But tonight I feel a childlike kind of carelessness. Not irresponsibility but just a freedom. We are on the road.
