Driving around Farmville - the negatives

As we were driving home at the end of the weekend we started to realize one of the many downsides to it getting darker earlier. The thing is, when you live a few hours away from family, unless you leave around noon, you're driving at least part of your trip in the dark...always. Now, this wouldn't be a huge problem except for the fact that we live in about as rural VA as possible (I mean, we don't even have a Target!!) and every road leading into town is one-laned.

Added to that mix is the fact that over the last few months I have become one of the absolute worst backseat drivers of all time. I know it's annoying and I know Chris is a great driver, but I seriously can't help it! I get so stressed and anxious in the car that I can't help but point out that he may be following a little too closely, driving a little too fast, not slowing down as quick as I'd like, etc. In my head I'm saying, "Chris is a good driver, just take a deep breath and we'll be home," but the other paranoid thoughts have a mind of their own and just LEAP out of my mouth. I really can't control it!

Anyway, Chris was driving, and being the good sport that he is, he took all my comments with a tight-lipped smile and a nod. But seriously, driving several hours at night down single lane highways is not easy for anyone... so I tried to focus my energy elsewhere than his driving. I spent the majority of the drive playing "spot the deer" out the window of the car. Every time I saw one, I would calmly say, "deer" and gauge Chris' excellent response time. This was perhaps even more annoying (if possible) than my earlier comments, but more relaxing for me. We seriously saw at least 10-15 deer on the way home. It was like driving through land mines (hence the Minesweeper picture!).

As you can imagine, Chris breathed a huge sigh of relief when we finally turned onto our street in our quiet neighborhood. That is until he had to slam on the brakes in front of our house because there were deer ON THE SIDEWALK.  IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE! Poor Chris. I had so much energy when we got home and can you imagine that all he wanted to do was sleep? Too much excitement for one night, I guess...