WFRV

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary and our gift to each other is that we're
going home. Most of us are up at 6:30am getting ready to go (guess who's
still asleep?). There's a pancake breakfast at 7:30 and from there we're
going to drop off the rental car and head out of town. Everything goes well
until Ben and I arrive at the gas station in the rental car around 8:30. We'd
like to have the car back at Enterprise before they open at 9 or they'll
charge us for the day but I can't figure out how to open the gas tank. I
feel like a complete moron but I just can't do it so I call Mike and we
agree to meet at Enterprise where he'll try to do it. You can imagine what
he's thinking at this point. I head off to Enterprise and drive directly
past it and have to call again to ask Mike where it is and by the time I get
there it's 8:53. Mike takes a quick look and can't figure out how to open
the gas tank either so we give up and go inside to sheepishly tell the woman
who's just opened the office that we didn't refuel. She comes out and
points to the gas tank lever which is on the floor next to the driver's seat
(duh!) and charges us for an extra day but not for the gas (Idiot's Rebate,
I guess). Shrugging it off we get into the RV and head for home. I'm
driving first and unbelievably I go the wrong way back into Gettysburg. I
realize it eventually and try to turn around surreptitiously (to the
passengers anyway) but Mike notices. To his credit he does not make fun of
me or criticize but I can tell he's impressed with what a complete fog I
seem to be in this morning.

Fog is the order of the day because for the next three hours I drive through
incredibly thick fog and intermittent rain. This is the first time I've
seen "Fog Area" signs and actual fog at the same time. It isn't until we're
near the Pennsylvania/New York border that the weather clears up. Here the
landscape is much like that of New England and the familiarity is both
comforting and exciting. The roads are terrible, so bumpy that it's
difficult to do anything but listen to an iPod or watch TV (trying to type
is quite an experience). Mike and I switch off around 12:30 after a quick
stop for gas and lunch. Soon after that we're in Connecticut which borders
Massachusetts which is thrilling, and how often can you say that going to
Connecticut is thrilling?? The kids are slowly going crazy; I think they're
beyond excited about this last leg of the trip and they don't have much room
to jump around. They actually tried to play hide-and-seek in the RV. Now
they're bugging me every five minutes so this will have to be my last blog
post of the trip but not the last writing I'm going to do about it. This
has been an incredible journey and I haven't quite absorbed it all yet. To
those of you who've been reading the blog, thanks! I hope some of you are
inspired to travel or at the very least to spend some quality time in a
small space with your family. It'll grow you!

# posted by LDW @ 3:50 PM