It’s been a little crazy around here lately. I’ve decided that boredom is underrated. Saturday we took a very long trip to Maine. Portland doesn’t look that far on the map; but the back roads are slow and in serious need of upkeep. Honey’s folks went with us to look over the potential motor home. His Dad owns one and is quite the expert on what to look for. So they pack their little blue pickup full of necessities, we pack our big blue pickup with necessities and by 7:30 we’re headed down the road. We planned to be there by noon or a little after, inspect the potential purchase, have a bite of lunch and head home. I like the simple life –but there was nothing simple about that trip.
What a time for Hurricane Bill to be sitting off the coast of Maine/Canada. From Vermont to the boarder of Maine the weather was cold and rainy. Travel was slow and uncomfortable. We did make it there by 1:00, a bit saddle sore and tired. The motor home is old and in need of attention. But a lot of elbow grease, a tune up, some tweaking and it’ll be just fine. It’s a little on the small side, but we both agreed that it’d do everything we need it to. We will pick it up in about a month. We could have probably gone to a dealer and bought something newer and fancier, but we work on a cash-only system. The process is slower, but we don’t have to worry about interest and those ‘low monthly payments’.
If we would have turned around and headed home right then, we could have chalked the trip up to a complete success. But that wouldn’t have been any fun. We needed a little adventure to spice up the day! We were all getting really hungry and decided to get some lunch. I was thinking the local Wendy’s. Everyone else was thinking seafood restaurant; after all, we were in Maine. Honey’s parents knew of this wonderful ‘all you can eat’ place just south of Portland. The only catch was that Honey’s Mom refused to drive in Portland, meaning that we had to take a little longer and circle around via back roads. The map showed the route to be pretty simple. That should have been the first clue.
There is a reason ‘committees’ should never be involved in any decision making process. An hour and a half later, we had made a big loop through some of the prettiest back roads Maine has to offer and back on the same road we left. I would have taken pictures. I even had the camera poised and ready to shoot out the window; but between the incredible bumpy dirt roads and the enormous amount of trees along the roads, it just wasn’t possible. Maine folks seem to be really private. Their houses sit back from the roads behind the trees.
The restaurant isn’t something I even care to talk about. There aren’t too many ways a person can describe gross. As it turned out the ‘restaurant’ was a school that taught students to work in places like ‘Dennys’ and ‘Golden Corral’. Let’s just say, the students on duty weren’t in the head of their class.
After eating, we managed to figure out the mysterious road system and were headed home. We were following Honey’s folks this time. His Mom was driving and I was ready to call it a day. As we were cutting around the edge of Portland, it seemed that a group of local thugs took an interest in Honey’s folks. They proceeded to harass them, several times almost causing an accident. When Honey felt it was safe to intervene, I saw him reach for a very dead cell phone. At that point I got the digital camera out of my purse. Even though an inactive cell phone will dial 911, a dead cell phone is for appearances only. I began to take pictures of the truck – particularly the license plate and any identifying marks, (just in case). The camera automatically flashes when the shutter button is pushed. The flash was enough to get the attention of the thugs. (I got a pretty good shot of the driver in his rearview mirror.) As all of us were approaching a big traffic circle, the thug swung left in an attempt to get up beside Honey’s folks and drive them off the road. When he did, Honey moved our 1-ton up between them. The thugs in their jacked up Toyota-style pickup were a little surprised by this. When their driver attempted to move closer, Honey not only didn’t budge, but he began moving left to meet them in the middle. I guess the trucks came within a foot of each other. It’s really neat to be married to a professional driver sometimes. His skill still impresses me. To avoid being put up on the curb themselves, the thugs had nowhere to go but left around the traffic circle. Honey said they were all showing their IQ as they drove away. We think that because of the appearance of calling the law and the pictures taken of their maneuvers, they didn’t want to chance coming back around to bother us any longer. It all happened in just minutes, but it almost seemed like slow motion. Honey is extremely protective and there was no way he was going to let some out of control boys hurt his elderly parents. As it was, his Mom got so rattled she seemed to age 10 years in just a few minutes. His Dad took the wheel and the rest of the trip was just long and tedious. It was after midnight when we got home and boy was I glad to be back!
Sunday morning I noticed that DeAga was missing. Remember my early Saturday morning alarm clock with a terrible greasy spoon voice? Here it is Tuesday and I’ve accepted the fact that she won’t be back. The best we can figure is either a coyote or one of the other wild critters around here must have gotten her. I’m sure it’s probably silly to get so attached to an animal. But she and I had a pretty good thing going. Whenever I would walk into a room, she would start purring. Or she would wait for me to sit down and she would crawl up, perch on my left shoulder, and purr in my ear. She left me with a lot of really wonderful memories, and I’ve been blessed to have had that time with her.
Life is an adventure. Sometimes the roads are rocky and rough, and other times there are green pastures and sunshine. We thank God for the good times, ask Him for wisdom in the trying times, and trust Him in the dark and scary times. But we praise Him all the time.
Have a wonderful day and May the Lord bless you.
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