They do big family trips often. Last year they did the East Coast loop stopping in Gettysburg and DC and I can't remember all the places they saw. It was my dream vacation. It is not Tom's dream vacation to be in the car driving and driving. Once every few years we'll do a trip, after the memories of fighting in the back seat have faded a little. We are almost due another family trip, one more before Riley finishes High School and as to go out into the working world.
My girlfriend has in laws still in the area. The in laws have a modest home already full of family living with them. My girlfriend was happy to stay with us and just visit with the family during the day while in town. I could provide semi private spaces and real beds for everyone.
The first week we barely saw them as they did the rounds of old friends and family. Tom kept asking if they were really staying with us because he never got to see them. He was in bed asleep by the time they got home at night and up and off to work before any of us were up. I kept a lid on the noise so he wasn't disrupted.
One day my girlfriend and her teen age daughter took the grand father for a shopping trip to all the thrift stores in a thirty mile radius, looking for prom dresses. Utah has steep competition for prom dresses. Our area was a gold mine. They must have bought over a half a dozen ball gowns for between $10 and $30 dollars each. A full closet worth of gowns to wear and share with friends, when they get home. The daughter does synchronized competitive ballroom dancing, these gowns will be worn and worn often. Not having daughters myself I enjoyed the fashion show at the end of the day, loved all the crinoline and beads and lace.
WE were headed down to the beach for the second half of my girlfriend's vacation. WE stopped to check out thrift stores at the coast. I picked up a couple of tops for myself. WE had dinner at a fine restaurant on the way. The food was fantastic but the service took two hours for us to get our dinner. The place was packed. I figure the regulars were getting served first. We finally hit the road again and arrived at our final destination close to 9:00 pm, having left after lunch for what is normally a two hour drive. With all our dawdling shopping and eating we spent the whole day getting to the barn.
My girlfriend had planned her trip to coincide with my annual beach trip to my mom's barn, at the coast. I invite everyone who can go down for a weekend of good company and cookouts on the fire. At first I didn't think we would have much of a turn out, but the first weekend Saturday night turned out to be the only night most people could make it. The place was packed, with every bed in use. I had the tents set up for the kids.
The weather did not cooperate. It would have been fine if Saturday night hadn't had a lightening storm and torrential rains. The tent was soaked. The sleeping bags in the tent were wet. The teens ended up in the downstairs garage area right underneath where we all sleep, playing cards all night. I couldn't sleep even with my ear plugs in, with those boys talking in their loud voices, right under us. The kids had fun and the adults had fun, it just wasn't as easy as it could have been with accommodating weather.
IN the middle of the night one of the beds one couple was sleeping in collapsed. I have mentioned before the treasures that are used in the barn, antique hand me downs. This double bed was so brittle that under the weight of two adults the sides just sheared off and the mattress hit the floor. Middle of the night, we all rolled over and went back to sleep. Not much anyone could do until morning.
We tried screws to repair the bed but that didn't hold, both sides ripped out when tested. I ended up, while thrift store browsing, picking up a Hollywood frame, a medal frame that would fit within the existing bed frame, but put no stress on the wood, holding the mattresses in place yet hidden by the existing antique frame, while not touching it. I felt it was a perfect solution, keeping the asthetic while being fully functional.
The first frame I bought was too big, at least a queen, the thrift store let me return it as they had thought it was the right size when we asked for a full size. Another thrift store had the full size. It worked like a charm. I was thrilled with the solution as a hollywood frame will hold up to a lot of weight. I know my mom has more people coming this summer and I did not want to leave her a bed short.
In the morning, mosquitoes were out in armies just waiting for our warm bodies to make an appearance so they could attack. I soaked myself in Deet, but those mosquitoes hovered looking for a weak coverage spot to dive in for breakfast.
The first night down there my girlfriend had the fly swatter out smashing the bodies of mosquitoes who had penetrate the barn through the screens. We had the windows with screens open to keep the room from over heating. It may have been wet but it was not cold.
On one killing swat, the mosquitoe smashed red blood on the white wall. My girlfriend commented that she got that one too late, that mosquitoes had already fed on someone in the room.
We bundled up and were able to cook our hot dogs and smores over the fire, but there was no lingering with the air full of buzzing hungry verminous mosquitoes. We re-applied the repellent and played cards in the house. We played until late then headed to bed. Not long after we were in bed the teen agers, wet from the leaking tent, moved into the garage to begin their noisy games.
In the morning, everyone was slow to rise. There was a shuffling of beds as the adults got up and the teens moved in to take over those empty spaces and recover from being up all night. The day stayed overcast but not so bad that we couldn't get out and hang at the beach or walk the town and get crab for lunch. Most of the people had to leave afer lunch as they could only come down for one night. The next day was Monday and some still had to work.
There was a silence after most of the guest left. The problem was there were less targets for the mosquitoes to hone in on. Where they had been missing me in favor of sweeter prospects I found the need to go buy fresh cans of bug repellent to keep them at bay, even then we ended up going to the beach where the winds blew the bugs away.
We stopped at the candy store, the ice cream store, the bakery, and enjoyed browsing the local thrift stores. Found a few more ball gowns to try on and purchase. We went riding on the beach which to my surprise my girlfriend and her children had never done before. She is farm bred and country raised yet had never ridden on the beach. We had a grand time. Trevor was put on a big Belgium horse that could carry him. I was given one of the wrangler's personal horses with a lovely disposition though she said my horse tended to have attitude, I didn't notice at all. Riley was given a gentle horse. Riley's feet almost touched the ground, his legs were so long on the horse. Riley was all grins and thumbs up, as he road along the beach. The other teens had as big and happy smiles as you could imagine. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip.
We ended up having everyone sleep in the barn due to the weather. I brought the tent down during a dry moment. We had one day where the sun showed. At least the overcast kept me from getting burned again. I had spent one afternoon at the club with the children swimming in the pool before we went to the beach. My shoulders were blistered and peeling. I was glad to have the weather give me the excuse to keep my skin covered.
My girlfriend's teen age son was on the hunt for a big dog. He had been given a list of requirements that had to be fulfilled before he could have a dog. She hadn't thought he would succeed but he had done everything on the list. She now had to live up to her side of the bargain. As a result, we stopped at the humane society looking for an adoption. The teens spent an hour playing in the kitten room after not finding a suitable dog. On the way home from the beach she stopped in at couple of other shelters. There was one dog they loved but the dog had been farm raised and the coordinator felt that the dog would not adapt well to being in a smaller yard. I can't imagine how she ever adopts out any of her shelter animals if her criteria is so strict. They had stayed in town an extra day in hopes of bringing home that dog. They had also stayed in town an extra day because it had been so fun staying with us. I almost cried after they left, it had been such an incredibly fun two weeks. One of the easiest visits I have ever had. I hope they come back soon.
Tom is still not sure they were ever even here. We did do a couple of BBQs which Tom got home in time to participate, otherwise, he may never have seen our house guests at all.
My sister and her family from New York arrive tomorrow to visit her Mom, Margaret. So I can't feel depressed for long, more visitors are coming.
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