Early morning delight

 This morning consisted of a 5 am departure to Lansing, Michigan, for a lacrosse tournament.  I have to give it to these girls, they are dedicated and working hard, getting loose on the 46 degree morning:

For me, there's something magical about a pre-dawn departure.  There are multiple paths to get from South Bend to Lansing.  Most of them consist of some two-lane work before getting to I-94 and then I-69.  Since it was so early, I plotted a simple route that would hopefully avoid wildlife: I-80 to I-69, corners of a square with no diagonal shortcut.

Anyway, wheels were turning at 5.  Madeline fell asleep by perhaps 5:10.  That left nothing but the inky darkness, the path illuminated by my headlights, and the quiet glow of the cockpit lights.  I put in my AirPods, listened to The Car Podcast by Chris Harris and friends, and enjoyed slipping through the pre-dawn darkness.

There's something lovely about pre-dawn driving.  The GLI is so good, has such plentiful torque, that it's easy to get into the rhythm of setting the cruise at 77, then toeing into the torque to shrink distance between taillights.  Progress is fluid and fast, resulting in a lovely and invigorating trip.

I enjoyed the blissful solitude of a sleeping passenger, black to grayscale, and the feeling of being in partnership with a magnificent machine.  It was a lovely and efficient morning.

 

And it's always fun to see the girls getting into the competitive mindset, working through their preparations: