Caravan of Love

I left on my cross country road trip three nights ago. I am driving with my three kids in my vehicle and my friend and babysitter is driving our other car. We spent our first night in Virginia then Tennessee the second night. On day three we got to Memphis by late afternoon. The first two days went smoothly and I sure enjoyed the view. When you are open to synchronicities, a whole world opens up to you. In Virginia, the first three hotels I stopped at were booked solid. Finally, the forth one had a room. In the morning after breakfast, I headed out on foot to see if I could find any bit of nature near the hotel to take some pictures. I walked across the street because I noticed a lot of trees. Before I knew it, I was in the most beautiful park, completely surrounded by nature, acres and acres of it. It was a nice gift to wake up to. Later that day once in Tennessee, I intuitively got off of an exit, just to see if I could quickly find something scenic to take some pictures of. I followed my heart and even though it looked like I was heading into a housing development, I just kept going, because it felt right. Several minutes later, the road opened up to a beautiful waterfall and stream. It was magical. Once again I smiled to myself, glad that had trusted my instincts. On day three, we toured Graceland. It was a lot smaller than I had thought it would be. I bet it was considered huge and state of the art at the time Elvis lived there. The home was medium sized and cozy. It shows how times have changed. A movie star these days would have a home 20 times larger than Graceland. He did have many excesses though, like 14 carat gold seat belts in his private jet. After Graceland, we headed to a southern style restaurant in a truck stop. My sitter Adrienne and I felt a little bit like movie stars when we walked in because every male in the joint was staring at us. Guess the truckers haven't seen women in awhile. The waiter Donovan was so incredibly sweet and I just love the southern politeness, "Yes Ma'am." I tipped him three times the percentage because he was just so darn sweet. We have found many friendly souls on our journey. I have gotten great deals on hotels, enjoyed lots of good music thanks to my iPod and XM radio and certainly basked in the beauty of this great country. We pushed through to Dallas after the truck stop and ended up dangerously tired. The road started to lull us to sleep! We had to pull over at one point, just to close our eyes for 15 minutes. We made it to Dallas and my moms house at about 3:30am. We had a great day today because we got to catch up on some much needed sleep and I have my own room (no rug rats hogging the bed). We swam in a gorgeous pool, went to a movie and took pictures at a lake. The movie was "Inception," which I highly recommend. It goes right to the point that our dream life is very important. I also drove my step dads truck (Texans love their trucks) and received a nice message from driving it. It has no XM radio or iPod hookup. I was stuck wrestling with a regular old AM/FM radio, searching for reception and a song. Then I happened upon this song, "Caravan of Love," by the Isley Brothers. It gave me the chills. I love this song but had not heard it in years. Since this blog is all about love, it fits right into my theme. It dawned on me that I am driving the caravan of love from Connecticut to California. Love is a smile, a feeling and it spreads joy everywhere it goes. I am spreading love and meeting loving souls along the way. My kids cried when we left Connecticut but once on the road started to talk about the family they miss in California and all of the fun things we are going to do. So, join the caravan of love in your own way, each and every day. As for us, we head out of Texas Thursday morning, heading to Santa Fe and Durango, Colorado. The caravan of love will keep you posted as to our adventures. “Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness"...(Mother Teresa).

Caravan of Love Lyrics: The Isley Brothers
Songwriters: Jasper, Chris;Isley, Ernie; Isley, Marvin

Are you ready
Are you ready
Are you ready
Are you ready
Are you ready for the time of life
It’s time to stand up and fight
So alright
So alright
Hand in hand we take a caravan to the marble land
One by one we gonna stand up with pride
One that can’t be denied
Stand up
Stand up
From the highest mountain of valley old
We all shall together with heart of gold
Now the children of the world can see
This a better place for us to be
The place is which we were born
So neglected and torn apart

Every woman every man
Join the caravan of love
(stand up) stand up
Stand up
Every body takes a stand
Join the caravan of love
(stand up) stand up
Stand up

I’m your brother
I’m your brother don’t you know
She’s my sister
She’s my sister don’t you know

We’ll be living in the world of peace
And the day when everyone is free
Bring the young and the old
Want you let chilled flow from your heart

Every woman every man
Join the caravan of love
(stand up) stand up
Stand up
Every body takes a stand
Join the caravan of love
(stand up) stand up
Stand up

I’m your brother
I’m your brother don’t you know
She’s my sister
She’s my sister don’t you know

So are you ready ( he’s coming )
Are you ready ( he’s coming )
Are you ready ( he’s coming )
Are you ready ( he’s coming on the caravan )
You better get ready ( go for it )
You better get ready ( go for it )
You better get ready ( go for it )
You better get ready