My first real vacation in two years started like most of my vacations- in a torrential downpour. It had become a running joke in the family to wait until I scheduled my vacation, then you would know which week not to take for yours. This year was no exception. The summer long drought we had been experiencing, was broken by the fact that it was time for me and Jake to vacuum and load up the van in preparation of our trip. We barely made it through the vacuuming part when we had to wait for the rain and lightning to let up- at least long enough so that it wasn’t quite life threatening. Then we could start the real work.
Waiting is often a problem for me, but this was especially tough- largely because I had left work early to pack up, and as far as I was concerned, this meant vacation had officially started. Every minute I wasted beyond this point was another minute I was behind on my tight schedule of having nothing but fun, fun, fun.
But I had little choice, so I waited. Once the rain dissipated to a drizzle, Jake and I made a break for it and we strapped the roof carrier on the van. Next, we packed the inside of the van with all of the essentials, and by “essentials”, I mean mostly the kids’ stuff. Their things traditionally get packed inside the van while everything else gets stuffed into the roof carrier. This is a precaution in case tragedy strikes and the roof carrier blows off somewhere along the way. It's not that this has ever happened... except for that one time with the Christmas tree (that’s a story for another day), but better that I should lose my stuff along the highway than they lose any of theirs.
In between the breaks of rain, everything else got packed- and in record time besides. Remarkably, the roof carrier looked somewhat under-stuffed. This was in contrast to most years where the carrier is straining against the bungee cords, ready to burst open. The inside of the van was another matter. Gone was the nice cleaning job that Jake had done. Instead, it looked as though something exploded and threw everybody's stuff right up tight against the windows. In a way, this was actually good news because it meant that everything was packed and we were ready to leave the following morning. With mission accomplished, there was nothing to do but sit back, relax, and hope that my neighbor, Lawnmower Man, didn’t come by during the night and rip us off.
Saturday morning came early, thanks to me setting my alarm clock. It was still raining (surprise!) when Helaina showed up- all bright eyed and ready to go- just in time for us to leave. We gathered the last remaining necessities, like the cooler, medication, Sam’s stuffed animals and blankets, etc. I grabbed a bag of change I had saved over the past year, along with my coffee and notebook. Then I hopped in the van, and after a brief stop at Dunkin Donuts, we headed off for fun and hopefully, some sun.
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