After the gentle awakening from my Father bellowing outside my window I got up, showered and got my things together which, in typical me fashion, were strewn all over the room. I admit I was a little startled when I came out of the shower wrapped in a towel to find people sitting outside my room on my balcony. Oh wait...those aren't people they're my parents stalking me. Much better. Let the games begin.
We decided to breakfast (for me, first breakfast and for them their second breakfast) at the Blue Moon Cafe right near our hotel. I had the corned beef hash with eggs over easy, mom had a moon muffin - their take on an egg mcmuffin and dad had a Denver omelet (a western with cheese). Everything was great and we chatted with the people dining around us about what we'd seen, where we'd been and what we would miss most. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of actually leaving and the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears and throwing a massive tantrum complete with stomping my feet and yelling "I DON'T WANNA GO!" was the thought that as an adult, if I want to - I can actually come back.
We walked back to the hotel and began the arduous task of loading up the car. First, Mom and Dad's room where Dad stayed down to clean out the mess we'd made with water and soda bottles and bags and Mom and I climbed up to their room to finish packing and drag down the bags. Well - Mom had all to do to drag herself down the flight of stairs so I hauled the bags down myself. After they were loaded I went back to my room to finish gathering my mess. Of course, I managed to lose the second room key they gave me. I went through all of my pockets and my bags but no key appeared. At least I had one but I felt bad because they were old fashioned large keys not those cheap cards that can easily be reprogrammed. I sent Mom to check out (and made her have to fess up for my lost key) but the front desk people were really nice and no extra charge happened. We finished loading the car with minimal fuss - made sure everyone took a bathroom stop because I was aiming to get as much driving under my belt as possible and hit the road.
Well - almost. We had one more souvenir to pick up. Some people collect spoons or seashells, magnets or t shirts or hats but my eye was on something different. Having sampled much of the local beer while I was away I wanted to bring back a case to enjoy here and remind me on my trip. Heading out of town we passed a right out so that's where I did my shopping. Two twelve packs of Gritty's samplers plus a six pack of blueberry ale and I was on my way. My mother just rolled her eyes at her lady like daughter but I think I earned a few points on the pride ladder with my father over this purchase.
We decided to breakfast (for me, first breakfast and for them their second breakfast) at the Blue Moon Cafe right near our hotel. I had the corned beef hash with eggs over easy, mom had a moon muffin - their take on an egg mcmuffin and dad had a Denver omelet (a western with cheese). Everything was great and we chatted with the people dining around us about what we'd seen, where we'd been and what we would miss most. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of actually leaving and the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears and throwing a massive tantrum complete with stomping my feet and yelling "I DON'T WANNA GO!" was the thought that as an adult, if I want to - I can actually come back.
We walked back to the hotel and began the arduous task of loading up the car. First, Mom and Dad's room where Dad stayed down to clean out the mess we'd made with water and soda bottles and bags and Mom and I climbed up to their room to finish packing and drag down the bags. Well - Mom had all to do to drag herself down the flight of stairs so I hauled the bags down myself. After they were loaded I went back to my room to finish gathering my mess. Of course, I managed to lose the second room key they gave me. I went through all of my pockets and my bags but no key appeared. At least I had one but I felt bad because they were old fashioned large keys not those cheap cards that can easily be reprogrammed. I sent Mom to check out (and made her have to fess up for my lost key) but the front desk people were really nice and no extra charge happened. We finished loading the car with minimal fuss - made sure everyone took a bathroom stop because I was aiming to get as much driving under my belt as possible and hit the road.
Well - almost. We had one more souvenir to pick up. Some people collect spoons or seashells, magnets or t shirts or hats but my eye was on something different. Having sampled much of the local beer while I was away I wanted to bring back a case to enjoy here and remind me on my trip. Heading out of town we passed a right out so that's where I did my shopping. Two twelve packs of Gritty's samplers plus a six pack of blueberry ale and I was on my way. My mother just rolled her eyes at her lady like daughter but I think I earned a few points on the pride ladder with my father over this purchase.
We then piled back in the car and started the drive - the whole time the tantrum was welling up inside me but I contained it with the thought that Maine is only one seven hour drive away. After about 90 minutes of driving (so much for getting a lot of driving done at once...) Mom decided she needed a bathroom and wanted a vanilla shake from wherever we stopped. I found a rest stop that had both bathrooms and a Hershey's Ice Cream. Two Auntie Annie's pretzels (with cheese dip) and a vanilla shake later we got back on the road. This time I wasn't stopping until the car was down to fumes. Finally I had to pull off and Dad nipped off to the men's room while I tried to explain the art of pumping gas to Mom. Living in NJ means they don't have to worry about this but I figure it would be a good skill for her to have. She had no interest and I gave up.
I was sort of surprised that when I ignored the Garmin and took my own route heading down the Merritt Parkway instead of staying on I-84 that Dad didn't say anything. I guess after driving them around for a full week over some seriously long distances he'd run out of driving criticism. That, and unfortunately he'd also managed to eat himself sick. Laid up in the back seat with an increasingly severe tummy ache the poor guy was feeling too ill to actually nag me about anything. We got home with no traffic thanks to using our original route from Adam backwards and unloaded everything that was coming up to my apartment. Of course this wasn't without Dad lecturing me on my parking - guess I spoke too soon about him running out of things to say. First I was too close to the curb, no too far from the curb - meanwhile I was freaking perfect but that's all I'm gonna say about that. You can tell the vacation was definitely at an end.
Dad having fought a nap most of the way home promptly went to bed and Mom and I ordered sandwiches from a local spot since for once I have pretty much nothing in the fridge except for condiments and almond milk. We gnawed on our sandwiches and looked at the photos from the trip, reliving our favorite moments sort of shocked at how fast it all went and yet how long ago day one seemed. Standing at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia feels like something I did a year ago instead of a week ago. But if I close my eyes I can hear the wind rustling through the trees, and the soft melodious tones of my father yelling "MITSY!?!?!? TAKE A PICTURE!!!!!" Ahhh...the family vacation.
Survival Tactic: When you really want to scream your head off - remind yourself that your an adult and you can actually make your own decisions now. For anyone reading this under 18 - well - just wait it out and you'll get there soon enough.
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