There’s No Place Like Home Away From Home

Tires on the pavement, static on the radio, and a three and a half hour drive lay before me.

But first I learned… how you say… “cup”.

The fellow at the Econolodge front desk looked befuddled when I told him I had two beds in my room but only one blanket, but then, this is a place where they label the cups so you know what they are.

There was a lovely couple at breakfast, and they were properly using cups so I figured they must be okay. We chatted about road trips, tourism, Atlas Obscura, and a number of things, before I said “well, maybe see you in Canada someday!” and we parted ways. Wouldn’t that be something.

Three hours later, I pulled into Meadows on the Green and was promptly whisked away for an afternoon of thrift shopping and returning my rental car. Note to self: remember to fill the gas tank before returning the car next time, dummy.

Back from a lucrative afternoon of thrifting a pencil cup, I sat on the balcony and finished reading a short story I started before leaving Thunder Bay. What can I say, reading wasn’t on my road trip priority list when every network was playing 90’s movies and cartoon marathons in the evenings.

A delicious dinner followed, hitting the spot with a little bit of everything after a whole lot of chocolate chip cookie nibbles and tortilla chips on the road.

Starved for attention and people to talk to during my week on the road, I felt chatty and told everyone about my adventures (but mostly about the woman in a public restroom who didn’t warn me there was no toilet paper and I ended up ripping up a napkin I found in the bottom of my purse, and the woman I saw barfing outside of Goodwill, and the possible thug I rented a room from on AirBnB). We shared stories, laughs, bad jokes, and each other’s company. We heard dogs barking, crickets chirping, and possible gunshots (‘fireworks’, according to Dad). We ate, we drank, and we tried candy from Lofty Pursuits.

It was fun to be gone, but it’s good to be back. And if there’s one way to tell Mary’s in town – just check for a board game on the table. GAME NIGHT!