No Worries

The Pack
c. 2014 J. Kurant

I was as much dreading this trip as I was excited about it. This was our first trip as a “pack,” Adam, Baileys, and I. It would be Adam and my first long trip as well.  I rarely travel. I don’t like to fly and I’d just as soon stay home rather than plan and execute  a trip However, in my older age, I’ve been experiencing some wanderlust. I was excited about seeing Vermont again, excited about driving through part of the country I had not been in before. I was excited about driving as a pack with Baileys.

We had stocked up on some water, sandwiches and snacks at the grocery store a few days before so we wouldn’t have to stop.

The first leg of the trip went smooth. We rented a cute lime green Kia Soul with a wicked blind spot. [We didn’t tell them we were bringing our excessively shedding Husky when we got the car].

After work on Thursday, we hit the road. The first leg was easy enough. Despite a few misleading Starbucks signs, which set us back a little, we managed to make it to Allentown Pennsylvania, pretty late.  We stopped at a Sleep Inn. It was the first place we saw, and serendipitously it allowed pets. A free breakfast was served at 7:30am.

Adam went down first, while I stayed with Baileys in the room. We were on the third floor with the smokers and other pets. It was a floor you could only get to by elevator, not by stairs. Kind of like that hidden floor in the movie Being John Malkovich. We slept great.

He came back raving about the breakfast. “You will be in heaven,” he said. “There are eggs as far as the eye can see.” [He knows how much I like to eat.] I’m still a bit fuzzy. I’ve not had coffee yet. So I stumble down to the elevator and there are a bunch of other travelers eating breakfast.

I’m not thinking clearly yet, but I see no eggs as far as the eye can see. I see cereal, danishes, bagels and fruit. A really perky lady from what sounds like Wisconsin asks me if she can help me. I zero in on the coffee. First things first. Maybe then I can make some sense of this.

I decide on cereal and a cheese danish. Still no eggs. It was a really nice set up, and the lady running it was really sweet.

We started the second leg of the trip. I was still full of anxiety as to what lay ahead. I needn’t have wasted so much energy worrying. It was great! We stayed with some family friends  on their house right on Lake Champlain. They had the biggest vacation home on the property.

We had dropped Baileys off at this close-by kennel that has the dogs run all day everyday. It is the first time Baileys has been apart from us. She handled it much better than me. She seemed really excited when she heard the other dogs. I cried though.

The rehearsal dinner was just for the wedding party, but they had a little dessert get- together for the rest of us. We realized that we needed real food, so we skipped out and drove to a cute little pizza place in downtown St. Albans.

We were so close to the Canadian border that some of the road signs were in French. It made me feel so international. We turned in early because we were so weary from traveling.

The next day was the wedding. We went sight seeing beforehand.[Adam wanted to show me Burlington]. We helped the family set up some of the wedding stuff. We walked past Adam’s three uncles struggling with the kerosene bottles for the lanterns.

“Can we do anything?’ Adam asked.

“These things are sealed shut. Can you try?”

“Let her try,’ Adam said, nodding at me.

The three men kind of chuckled, having all tried, unsuccessfully.

“Actually, I’m pretty strong...”

“Seriously, give her a try,” Adam said.

They were all pretty impressed when I opened them all. [hee hee].

The wedding was beautiful. It was outside, right on Lake Champlain. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. To everyone’s surprise, the bride’s uncle presided over the wedding.  It was a perfect touch to a close, family wedding where everyone felt like a part of the family. Everything was so beautiful. [I did cry].

On the way back, we visited my aunt and uncle in Rutland. We were having a hard time finding where they were, which increased my stress. I just knew we were going to get lost or destroy the rental car somehow. We found them finally! We had a great visit. They had made sandwiches and all kinds of food for our journey home.

This was really such a great trip. And to think I was tempted to bail out because I was stressed...

c. 2014