And so the family packed up two cars, stuffed it with children, kissed the dog and prepared for departure. I got into my car and it wouldn't start. All the bells and whistles blew, but no go. A cold sweat tickled my armpits and my fanny got all tingly. OHHHHHH NOOOOOO. But I called her a naughty name, threatened the junkyard with horrible crushing magnets and metallic shredders....and she changed her mind. Wheeee! Off we go.
We drove for three hours in cars that were now low-riders. I mean it. I was afraid of those grooved pavements because they might scratch the undercarriage or rip it out completely. Upon arrival we must have looked like army ants on the move. We hauled, cleaned and crammed and set up our new camp. Off we went.
Maine is beautiful. It's cool, the people are friendly, the landscape is fabulous. This year? It was also rainy. Every day, grey, almost a constant mist or steady stream. But it didn't stop us. Nope. We roamed from cabin to cabin, played poker, laughed or braved the damp elements and headed over to the arcade or the craft camp. It was good. We were together. I will confess that I was tired of EVERYTHING being damp. It can chill your bones. By week's end, we'd all had enough and looked forward to coming home.
To avoid traffic, we all decided to leave at midnight and drive through. It would allow us to miss the sticky traffic areas like Mass or NY. So we did that, arriving early to the RV center to unload, repack and hit that final stretch. One problem. My car wouldn't start. No amount of swearing, begging or tears could provoke it. It took us almost two hours to get it towed to a dealership (mind you, I am still three hours from home). Although those folks were FABULOUS; they offered my entire family breakfast, a rental car to get home or a hotel to stay over, I just wanted to get my car started and get back to Jersey; dry sunny Jersey. The tow truck driver tried to start it one last time atop of the rig; no go. So the technician at the dealer ship gets in, the car is plopped down and guess what? vrrrrroooooom. No, I'm serious. Cheech and I run with it. Literally. I hop in and begin to drive home. It is about 3p when we arrive. We started.....at midnight? My eyes look like I've tried to blink out a forest fire (and feel that bad too).
Now we look like half-dead army ants: too stupid to realize we're through. We drag our stuff inside and unpack. We are exhausted. We sleep the sleep of the dead and welcome it dryly.
And wonder of wonders, we get up and it begins to rain. Cheech and I are troopers though. We keep mowing the lawn, weeding the flowerbeds and we laugh at each other proclaiming to the sky "This all you got?" Bad idea. The answer to that is no. For Jersey received hail, lightening and thunder, tornado watches and angry sheets of sideways rain. Now even Winston was wet.
Sum it all up? Soggy. Fabulous but soggy. I loved my vacation. I loved playing poker and golf. I loved hearing my kids squeal as Cheech and I screamed around the lake on ski-do's. I loved taking beer induced naps on the beach with my yayas, simply being comfortable. It makes me tear up....no wait that's rain.
Thanks for playing along. Have a great day!
