Bethlehem

     One of the most endearing traits that married couples tend to develop after years of being together, is the ability to communicate by a look or a gesture or sometimes even just one word. Such is the case with us. Whenever we are traveling and I am getting tired and feel that we should stop for the day all I have to say to my sweet hubby is the word "Bethlehem", and immediately we find a place to stop. If we are traveling with other people they don't understand what we mean but we get quite a chuckle over it.
     Let me explain..... many years ago when we were living in Cleveland Tennessee while Brad was going to Lee University, once a year we would make the trip home to Moncton, NB Canada to visit for 3-4 weeks. It was a long drive that usually took us two 15 hr days and one 8 hr day. Our children were still small and the trip was hard on them. I had an activity tote bag that I kept in the front seat with me and every half an hour I would change the kids' activities, to keep them from being bored. (Bear in mind this was before the advent of portable DVD players and movies while driving.)
     Every three hours we would stop to get gas in the car, have a pee break and run the kids around on any available piece of grass and pile back in the car. The days were long and tiring but we kept our spirits up for the kids and looked forward to being with Nana and Grampy once again.
     On one particular trip we were really pushing it to try to get home sooner. We kept our breaks shorter and faster and by nightfall it was evident that we needed to stop. The kids were weary and we were exhausted. I saw the sign for Bethlehem PA and suggested that we stop there for the night. Brad disagreed and said that we should try to go just a little bit further. He rationalized that if we could drive for only one hour longer tonight that we would have one hour less to do the next day. So I reluctantly agreed.
     Well we drove and we drove, after an hour we were into New Jersey and since there are no hotel signs on the highways there, we didn't know what exit to take to find one. We tried several, which spent more time, but were unable to find one. Many hours later when we were all past the point of exhaustion and now into New York state, we found a sign for a hotel. It turned out to be a fair price but oh it was so nasty. The hallways smelled of terrible perfume and airfresheners. My allergies and Benjamin's started up in full force. But at that point we didn't really care. We were out of the car and could lay down for a few hours before we had to start again.
     Poor Brad felt terrible! He kept apologizing for driving so long and for us having to stay at such a terrible hotel. Then he said the fateful words, 'I should have stopped in Bethlehem'. We laughed and laughed. We just thought it was too funny that we should have stopped for rest in Bethlehem and found an 'inn' that would take us in, but we didn't. So ever since that day "Bethlehem" means STOP, find an 'inn' and rest.