as mentioned in a previous post, life over the road has it’s
headaches. most of those are spurred by the “paper pushers” back at our home
terminal but, the pros of this job far overshadow the annoyances of “working
for the man”.
usually the word “layover”, to many a traveler, conjures the
image of sleeping in the corner of an airport terminal hugging your valuables
and awakening with a panicked jolt every time an announcement is made over the
intercom. imagining that surely you have just missed your ticket to that much
anticipated free cocktail and transport to your next shower and a proper sleep.
currently for us, “layover” equals to a hiccup in routing that pays a meager,
but appreciated, $75 for every 24 hour period we don’t have the wheels turning.
we quickly realized how far we could stretch that $75 to explore whatever
surroundings we found ourselves in.
quite often, due to the amalgamation of Marc and my cast of
family and friends that stretches from coast to coast, when on layover we have
someone to visit. from a mash-up dinner with a high school friend of Marc’s and
an old buddy of my dad’s in Denver, to a weekend on the beach in Miami with Marc’s
cousin Chris. then up to Connecticut for a week with my brother and his family,
making it just in time to catch my niece and nephew’s t-ball picture day. 
now back
south down I-81 for a late night drop-in to my mom’s cabin in the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia. next we may head southwest to Oklahoma City for a home cooked bleu
burger and to hear tales of the life of a u.s. marshall, with our favorite “okies”, the Tibbits.
now across to the west coast for a week
of sailing and catching up with loved ones.
squeezing in a quick stop in
between to have green chile pizza in Albuquerque with cousin Aaron, who just
moved there to start a new job. The list grows daily…
On a recent “layover” in dallas we decided to hop in our
pick-up, which is stored at our companies terminal in south dallas, and head towards
the gulf coast. we met up with the Ware clan in Houston and all piled in and
headed to the beach. one of my oldest friends’ Caroline and her husband Randy
also joined.
between relaxing on the sand enjoying great conversation
over a few cold ones and frolicking in the surf with people who make me smile,
i was reminded of the early stoke that surfing brought to my life. that
afternoon, after standing up on a surfboard for her first time ever in the
washing machine surf that is Texas waves, Caroline exclaimed, “I wish that wave had
lasted forever!” It dawned on me that wave riding was my first passion. Everything
about it had seduced my senses and coaxed my inner adventurer out. 
Surfing had
ignited the spark that would take me to so many wonderful places and bring me
in contact with an abundance of amazing people. I realize every “wave” in life
can’t be as life altering as the very first, but as long as your line-up is
full of good company, the lulls can be just as amusing. as our blog title
translates to in English, (ola de amor= wave of love), we are working hard at
making this life one continuous beautiful ride spent with the ones we love doing the things we love.
