It was a tad bumpy getting there

[lilyyang]

And I admit it was a tad bumpy getting there, but the path to justice is rarely smooth. So I’m hoping that, in the end, you know, the final result speaks for itself.

Question: I don’t understand the first sentence structure.
It was “a tad bumpy getting there”.
Why is “getting there” after the adjective “bumpy”?
I thought it would be a noun like road or something after bumpy.

Thank you!!!

[khardy]

“it” serves as a noun, of course. “getting there” is what “it” refers to. This is sementically identical, I believe, to “Getting there was a tad bumpy.” That is a perfectly fine way of stating the same thing. Other examples of the original structure:

It was nice visiting you.
It was difficult running.
It was fun going to school.