Vacations
I don’t think Karl and I have vacations like other people. Something always seems to…well…happen.
We decided to go to the coast. We love the ocean and someday plan to be very rich and retire there. That’s our goal. We just haven’t discovered the means to reach that goal.
So anyway, Karl wants to get a cabin, but I opt for less expensive and closer to the beach. I wanted to hear the waves as they rolled in. We dug the tent out and got all the dust off it (it had been a long time since we’d gone camping), packed our stuff and headed for Port Aransas.
The ocean is awesome. There aren’t enough words to describe its beauty.
We checked in and got our spot–closest to the bathrooms. It wasn’t close enough. Do you know what it’s like to roll off an air mattress in the wee (no pun intended) hours of the morning, run to the ranger station, climb two flights of stairs, use the key card to open the door, rush down a hall and around the corner just to get to the bathroom? I learned to drink sparingly while we were on vacation.
We also discovered that when a thick fog rolls through in the morning it causes condensation on the inside of the tent. It’s kind of like sleeping in a rain forest. And fog or not, the sheets on the bed always felt as though they’d been taken out of the dryer too soon.
But that’s okay because by one in the afternoon it was so hot everything dried out really fast and we were able to start all over again.
And there were ants. I put the garbage bag in the tent so the seagulls wouldn’t get into it and figured I’d take it up to the trash bin the next morning when it was light outside. By morning there were ants everywhere.
Karl and I realized that since we don’t go to bars (except if I’m at conference), and we don’t night fish, there’s absolutely nothing to do after seven. Yes, I know, we could’ve done that but remember—air mattress. I’m sorry but I had nightmares of this really loud bang as the air mattress explodes.
Was all that worth long walks on the beach, total relaxation, growing even closer together, the laughter at some of the things that happened, picking up shells, watching the dolphins, pelicans and seagulls–you bet. It was worth every minute, but as soon as we got home, we looked up the price for the cabins and found they’re not so bad after all. So the tent gets put back up and this time we’ll let it gather all the dust it wants.
Hugs,
Karen Kelley
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