On August 12th, our family headed out on a short vacation. On our way back home a few days later, I saw a t-shirt in WalMart that said, “Life Is Better on Vacation.” I had to laugh. Is life better on vacation? Well, come along with me and relive our trip and see for yourself.
August 12th
We left home about 8:30 in the morning, expecting to arrive at our destination about six hours later. We ended up making several stops on the way, and the trip took about three hours longer than we had planned.
Pit Stop
The second time we tried to stop, we couldn’t find a good place. Finally, there was a sign that said, “Welcome Center.” We turned off at the exit, but then there was no sign to tell which way to go to the Welcome Center. At the light, there was a sign to go left. However, we were already in the right lane, so we had to turn right. On we went until we found a gas station.
The gas station did have restrooms. However, the restrooms were outside in a kind of a “hang out” area. The writings on the bathroom wall added to the suspicion about what kind of area it was. To top it off, the ladies’ restroom was out of order. So, we had to take turns while someone stood watch. There was also no toilet paper, paper towels, or soap. And it stunk!
Lunch Stop
Later, we got to a town to look for a Subway. We found one but could not figure out how to get into it. There was an exit area on the main road but no entrance. We went back, turned on another road, turned around in a parking lot, and went in at the side. After Christy got her sub, we started to walk around and stretch a bit, but it began to rain, so we hopped back in the car. After some time, we did find a rest area with some picnic tables and were able to walk around a little there. It was very hot and muggy though, so we only took a little walk.
In another town, Mom asked if there was a place to stop. But the businesses had barred gates as high as the tops of the buildings. It did not look like an area where we would want to stop. Soon we found a WalMart, and we did stop there.
Heavy Traffic
In a little while, we got into heavy traffic. It was quite heavy our direction but even heavier coming the opposite way. The rain was also coming down. This slowed our trip down a little bit
Pink Hill
Finally, we were getting closer and closer. We got into Pink Hill, but did not think much of it. Then we passed some other places that did not seem right according to the map. The fact is that they were not right. We had missed a turn somewhere and were not even going in the right direction. We stopped at an old gas station and got the GPS set up and then worked at finding our way back to the right road and so we could get headed the right way once again. We had gone about twenty-two miles out of the way. Finally, we arrived at our destination!
How good it was to see our Aunt Ruth and Uncle Tim! It was also nice to be out of the car and to stretch and see all the beauty. It was very hot in Sneads Ferry, but we were glad to be there.
Before supper, we went over to see some friends of my Aunt and Uncle. They were related to friends that Mom had known years ago. After a nice visit with them, we went back to the house to get something to eat.
A Night’s Sleep, or Not
As we were chatting in the evening, my mom asked my uncle if there were any bears in the area. “No,” he said. Soon, Christy and I were getting settled into the little camper where we were to spend the nights for the weekend. I woke up around 3:11 and had a hard time getting back to sleep because the camper was rocking. Since the fan and A/C made so much noise, I could not tell if it was windy or not. I could not see outside because of condensation running down the windows. Finally, I drifted back to sleep.
About 4:44, I was abruptly awakened by something hitting the side of the camper. The camper was also shaking again, kind of rocking back and forth. The blinds rods were swaying back and forth. What? I could hear scratching and shuffling noises. It was evidently some kind of animal. I recalled Mom asking if there were any bear in the area. 😊 The camper finally quit rocking sometime after 5:00.
After a short night, it was early to rise. When we looked in the fridge, we discovered that Christy’s sub was all wet. The freezer had defrosted like it was supposed to but the water had run into the fridge instead of into the drip pan. Well, there goes that sub. But most of the other food was fine.
After breakfast we headed out to Havelock and thus began a special Sunday. But that is a story for part 2.