I Wonder As I Wander

Good morning, campers! And so here I am once again, back safe and sound from Adventures in Vacation Land, and lived to tell the tale - not to mention, none the worse for wear, which is just about my favorite way to travel, I dare say. We had our ups and downs at the annual wander in the woods this time around, especially the weather, but the weather has been notoriously crappy all year so far, heaven knows, and no reason to expect it to be any different during my vacation week in July, so it can't be considered any sort of surprise that it wasn't. It rained half of the week, although mercifully without the kind of explosive thunder and lightning that generally sends me scurrying out of my tent and into the car for safety. But it has the unfortunate effect of making the usually clear and placid beach water turn dark, ugly, choppy, and full of seaweed for the duration, and a week's worth of that wears out its welcome pretty quickly, I can tell you that. If this was a beauty pageant, it would not have gotten my vote for anything, except possibly "Most in Need of Improvement," dearie. In any case, we started off the previous Saturday morning with high hopes, and actually made good time to the campground, compared to the usual construction and traffic delays that we routinely encounter. Both of our campsites were still listed as Occupied in the park computer, and we couldn't check in until they were cleared by the staff, who drive around and visually inspect who's still there or not. We decided to save them the trouble, by walking to the sites and making a video of their legitimately vacant state, which we then showed them at the Registration Building, so they would let us check in. The affable young man was happy to accept our digital corroboration, and we would have soon been good to go, except that he turned out to be the Office Manager, who obviously had no experience in checking anyone in, so it took 10 times longer than it should have. But he was a friendly fellow, and we had fun talking about the old days, and luckily one of the regular staff finally showed up to correct all of his mistakes, and send us on our merry way. We tossed up both tents in a hurry and headed to the beach for some sand and surf, and a beckoning basket of cheese fries to cap it all off. It's all too true that some years can be more challenging than others, but that first day back at the beach after 12 months, it never grows old, believe me. Over the course of time, our squatty little family motel in Coram was taken over by a larger chain, and while not much had changed there, it had become pricey enough (without any commensurate increase in quality) that I figured we may as well just stay in a regular hotel instead. So after putting up the clothesline and rain fly, we set out for Coram and made ourselves at home at the Comfort Inn - which is on the same street as our old dinky motel, but now offers a better value at about the same price. Dinner at Denny's was a welcome treat, and we took advantage of late hours at the nearby Wal*Mart to pick up some essentials while we were there. The hotel's hundreds of TV channels in no way prevented me from falling asleep almost instantly, and for a crowded place on a very busy road, it was a welcome respite of cool and quiet. Bill muttered something in the morning about the neighbors pounding on the walls all night complaining about loud snoring, but since Bill doesn't snore, I'm sure I have no idea what the problem could have been. Bill went back home late on Monday, and was lucky to have 3 beautiful days on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before the weather became very changeable the rest of the week. I was in town shopping Wednesday before dinner when the skies opened up and the rain pelted down in sheets - to the extent that people pulled off the roads to wait it out rather than trying to drive through it. I was hoping that got it all out of its system, but not so - it poured again after dinner, and drowned my campfire so there was no rescuing it, alas. It made me wish for some sort of recreation center at the park, where soggy campers could go to play board games, read magazines, or maybe tackle a jigsaw puzzle until the weather improved. Luckily they built the spacious new family restroom which almost serves the same purpose, and I was not the only person who came up with the idea of going there to hang out for the duration, where it is nice and dry, with plenty of lights, and lots of congenial company, charging up their devices, chatting among themselves, updating their social media, or just watching the world go by. It's true that it's not the same as a real recreation center, but it still beats sitting alone in my car, by golly. Speaking of the car, alert readers may remember a previous vacation when the park pass blew out the window in town, resulting in my chasing it up and down Route 25A through traffic, thanks not, so I could get back into the park. Even more alert readers may recall last year after vacation, when I had the car washed and detailed, so they could vacuum out all of the sand and stones, leaves and twigs, and they also sprayed the interior surfaces with some sort of polish that made the steering wheel so slick that I needed rubber garden gloves to keep hold of it, and once again, thanks so very much not. Anyone could see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon of this scenario, as these story-lines converged when I came up with the idea of taping the park pass to the dashboard to prevent a repeat of its surprise window escape - only to find that the tape flatly refused to stick because the dashboard was way too slippery for that. I finally had to tape it to the inside of the windshield instead, and lucky for me that energetic minions at the car wash didn't spray that too. And finally, speaking of too much of a good thing, it will come as a surprise to nobody that I made a special trip to the Sunoco Quick Mart to pick up beach snacks for my vacation, and naturally left them at home on the floor of the den, and never packed them to start with. But since they were only Cheez-Its and potato chips, I realized that I could easily pick up replacements while I was out there - and that was how I came to discover that our friends at Deep River Snacks make an aged cheddar and horseradish chip that is not the for faint-hearted, believe me. It will simultaneously clear out your sinuses and put hair on your chest, whether you want it or not - and suffice to say, you are not going to fall asleep in the middle of eating one of them, that's for sure. Anyway, so there you have it, camping fans, straight from the wandering words of the woods, like it or lump it, and as they say in the age-old song, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," and I ought to know. In any event, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it, or my name isn't - The Merry Wanderer