“Some people go to Florida for Spring Break, but we go to Ohio.”  This is what Taylor said as we were running from a store to our car in a freezing rain and sleet storm on the first night in my hometown of Van Wert, Ohio.  Potter Spring Break 2010: Northwest Ohio.

All eight of us packed into our seven passenger van on Friday afternoon and began the 1425 mile trek from New Mexico to Ohio.  Good thing the eighth person is still in the womb or we would have been really packed in!  With 5 of the 8 of us being licensed drivers, our goal from the start was to drive the 24 hours straight through…and that’s what we did.

About 6 hours into our journey, the adventure began.  My new son-in-law, Aarron, was driving the evening shift through Texas, and I was in the passenger seat.  I told all of the drivers that they could go as fast as they want but that they are each responsible for paying for any tickets they receive.   Aarron was going fast, but I didn’t know how fast…until the Texas State Patrol officer pulled us over. 

The officer came up to my window and asked me where we were from.  I told him that we were from New Mexico and making our way to Ohio for a wedding reception for my newly married daughter.  It was dark, so he flashed his flashlight through the van.  I’m sure he was confused as he went from face-to-face.  A black driver, a white red-headed passenger, then black, white, black, white, white.  He told Aarron that he was going 83 in a 65 mph zone. 

The officer took Aarron’s driver’s license and my van’s paperwork and headed back to his car.  Michelle was the first person to break the silence in the van when she asked Aarron, “You don’t have any outstanding warrants, do you?”  We’ve asked Aarron a thousand questions over the last year, but we’d never asked him that one.  It seemed like an appropriate time to ask, and thankfully, he said no.

About 5 minutes later, the officer came back to my window and asked me, “Which ones just got married?”  I pointed to Aarron in the driver’s seat, and my daughter, Emily, behind him.  He looked Aaron in the eye and said, “Consider this the best wedding gift of all,” and handed him his license with only a warning. 

83 in a 65 mph zone will get you billy-clubbed in some states, but evidently not in Texas…at least not that night.  We all let out a huge sigh of relief, laughed, and made fun of Aarron the rest of the way.