Blindfolded Road Trip

Have you ever been blindfolded during a road trip that lasted for an hour and a half? Sounds like a hostage kind of a trip, right? I know. It recently happened to me the day before my 14th wedding anniversary. Fortunately, it wasn't a captive situation, though.

When my husband Collin left for work that morning, he told me to pack a bag! No, he wasn't kicking me out! He simply told me to pack for a trip and be prepared to leave home at 6:00 that evening.

"Pack a bag to go where?" I asked.

Although the mystery about our adventure was appealing to me, I needed to have some idea of the type of clothing I should pack for our son Caleb and me.

"Pack as though you are going to Bermuda," my husband replied.

Bermuda?

Since Collin had to return to work in less than 48 hours, it was highly unlikely we were heading to that beautiful island where I was born and raised - the place where Collin and I met - the place where our journey as Mr. and Mrs. Powell began - the place where the majority of my family reside.

Fast forward to about 5:00 p.m., that day - June 5, 2006.

"You ready?" my husband called out to Caleb and me as soon as he stepped in the house upon returning home from work. However, as usual, prior to leaving for any trip, I still had that something else to do: remove some last-minute clothing from the dryer, double-check windows to be sure they were locked, ensure the stove/oven was turned off, the lights, the AC, and so on. But, even with all of my this-and-that stuff to do, at 6:08 p.m., we were on our way!

A few minutes into our drive, Collin pulled over to blindfold me to totally keep me clueless about our journey. His plan was to make me think we were heading to the airport although I knew (kind of) that was not in our travels.

"Do you think I'm going to sit up in this car with a necktie wrapped around my eyes?" I asked. "People will think I'm crazy."

"Well, you better get in the back seat and lie down or something; take a nap!" Collin insisted.

"Okay, I can do that," I replied.