Back home again...

 
        The roommate and I are pretty good travelers. Or maybe I should say we’ve always been pretty lucky travelers. Either way, our last trip was…well, a trip. Here we go:
          Wednesday: We left for Mackinac Island. It never rains when when we travel by car, but that day, it rained all the way. ALL the way. I drove the first 60 miles or so, then Duane took over. (This is always a happy thing for him—he hates my driving. I’m not thrilled with his, either, but I am polite—that is to say silent—about it.) He immediately made two wrong turns, quickly corrected but good for a laugh.
          Hey, he said, do we have our passports? Oh, crap, I said, no we don’t. We’d thought maybe we’d go to Canada. Guess not.
          On the way, we stopped at McDonald’s and had coffee. An hour later, we pulled into a motel for the night.
          I didn’t have my purse. With all my credit cards and what little cash I carry.
          Really? My purse? I left my purse in a strange McDonald’s in a state I didn’t grow up in where it had been so busy we’d nearly had to wait to find a seat? But we hadn’t, and I’d hooked my Vera Bradley over the back of the chair. And left it.
          We turned around and headed back. What was the name of the town where we were? Neither of us could remember. And then I did and called. They had found the purse and put it in the safe. It would be there when I got there. I nearly cried with the relief of it. I left them a book, a business card, and 20 bucks—it was a small price to pay. I am so grateful to the employees of the Lake City, Michigan McDonald’s.
          It was still raining. We checked into a hotel. Duane started to get out of the car, grabbed the
steering wheel, and said, “Oh, my God.” I thought he was in pain. Instead, he was realizing that all the shirts and the jacket he’d intended to bring on our five-day trip were hanging neatly in the laundry room at home.
          That was the first day.
          We just got home Sunday morning, having cut our trip short by a day. It continued to be a strange kind of vacation, with more missed turns, more things forgotten, more “gee, we should haves” than usual.
          But the food was good—I ate a bowl of glumpke soup at Cunningham’s Family Restaurant in Mackinaw City and thought I’d died and gone to heaven. In one hotel, I woke at 4:00 (their time, which was wrong—it was really 5:00), went to the dining area off the lobby, and had had a wonderful day of writing in the three hours before anyone else showed up. I got a dishy new sweatshirt. I was with my favorite person in all the world—even though we did have to buy him new shirts and a jacket. And we laughed long, hard, and often.

          Like I said, the roommate and I are pretty good travelers.

Comments

  1. Do you have any idea how blessed you are? To have a roommate who will laugh with you at all the nutso things that happened? Too bad he doesn't have a brother my age.... Thanks for an upbeat start to the week, Liz.

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    1. I think...er...maturity has taught us that you may as well laugh at anything you can't change. It works most of the time. :-) Thanks for coming by, Judith!

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  2. HI Liz...sounds like a few of the trips my hubs and I have made. And laughter has gotten us through a lot.

    I love that you ate at Cunninghams. They have some delicious, homemade food there. Mackinac Island is one of my favorite places in the world. I've been up there so many times I've lost count. At one point my goal was to stay at every B&B on the island. lol. My daughter worked up there for 3 or 4 years as well....it's just such an amazing and beautiful spot of earth :)

    Anyway, glad you had some laughs and I hope your next vacation runs smooth!

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    1. I loved it there! We stayed in Mackinaw City (much cheaper) instead of on the island and it was fun, too. Thanks for coming by, Christine!

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  3. LOL I can't stand to travel with the hubs. He's ANAL and it drives me nuts. I once left ALL my travel money in a McDonalds in Mesa, AZ and when I went back, it was there. SO glad yours was, too.

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  4. RadioMan and I love to travel - although he is very particular about things. Like we stop to...you know, bathroom breaks, about once every 6 hours. And I drive a maximum of 2 hours for every 10 he drives...that kind of thing. But I don't mind because I get to watch the world go by. Or read. Or write.

    Glad you found the money!!

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    1. LOL. One thing about the whole aging thing is that we make a lot more bathroom stops and no one says a word! I wish I could read or write in the car, but I can't, so I just look at everything and navigate. :-)

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  5. Oh, LIz, leaving my purse somewhere when we travel is one of my greatest fears! I'm so glad you survived that--and everything else! At least this trip earned a page in your memory book on several counts.

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    1. It sure did! I was shocked I left it, because it's always one of my fears, too.

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  6. I'm so glad you both made it home in one piece. Better luck next time.

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  7. Love Mackinac! I hope to get back there again someday.
    Laughter really is the best medicine! I'm so glad that your vacation & life is full of it.

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    1. It is, and I'm glad for it, too. Thanks for coming by!

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  8. LOL. Years ago, when the girls were three and six, we drove down to Disneyland and we'd just gotten over the 205 bridge--about fifteen minutes from our house at the time--when I realized I'd left my bag of clothes at home. Fortunately, we were close enough to swing back and pick it up.

    Mike and I are good travel companions as well. He drives and I read or write or play games or read.

    Saturday, Jordan and I took a mini-road trip to Kelso for the Highlander Festival and it was just us. And I thought about nice it was to drive and not have to talk all the time. She's a creative soul like me, so we were both in our own little worlds.

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