Hans and Olga woke excited. They got up early to get all their chores done and have everything spic and span. Ole and Lena were coming to visit today for the first time. Ordinarily the trip would take two days, but now that the new super highway was done they would be able to make the trip in one day. By 11 am Hans and Olga had everything cleaned and a nice meal cooking. The table was set with their best dishes and linens. A mason jar of field flowers sat in the middle of the table. Finally there was nothing left to do but wait. They decided to take cups of coffee to the front porch and watch for Ole and Lena to come down the road. At noon Olga went in and turned off the stove. There was no sign of Ole and Lena. They should have been there by now, they had left at 3 am. At 2 pm Hans and Olga could wait no more and went in to eat something. Olga stowed the food and started something fresh for dinner. Then they went back to the porch to watch and wait. Growing more and more anxious they waited all afternoon until they had to do evening chores. They waited until 9 pm to eat some of the dinner and stow the food. Hans and Olga were extremely worried by now. It was after dark and they began to wonder if Ole and Lena had been in an accident or some other tragedy had befallen them. At 11 pm Hans and Olga gave up and went to bed, only to be woken at 2 am by the arrival of Ole and Lena. The friends all hugged and shared greetings, followed by Olga getting out food and making coffee for the late travelers. After eating and resting a bit, Hans asked Ole why it took them so long? Had they had trouble along the way? "No," Ole responded, "It was the new highway"
Hans did not understand how the highway could make their trip so long. This time Lena responded, "It was the rest stops. They were every 20 miles!"
Hans and Olga were still baffled. How could rest stops make their friends' trip so long?
"Well," Lena replied, "Every one had a sign that said Clean Rest Rooms!"
As Hans and Olga still appeared confused, Ole added, "We had to stop at every rest stop to clean the rest rooms! Some of them were a real mess!"