Considering a Trip Home

Right now I’m stuck.  Flat tire.  You know how that goes.  Planus interruptus.  Instead of heading to church, we are stuck at the Farm because I can’t seem to lower the spare tire.  As annoying as it may be, it is not as annoying as if it had happened Friday while we were driving home back from NH in the midst of a heat wave.  That would have been worse, especially in light of my inability to lower that spare tire.  We passed one poor soul whose jack had dug into the hot pavement, unable to lift his vehicle.

Before traveling to NH to visit my parents, we decided it was time for a haircut.  The “Butcher of Bakers Mills” discovered the clippers, held together by duct tape, only had 2 attachments.  So I got buzzed pretty good.  I decided this was a good time to remove 3 weeks’ worth of stubble from my face.  I ended up looking like one of my brothers.  So I thought.

She's got an idea...

But even before this… CavGirl stepped on a nail while playing in the woods with her cousins.  CavWife heard some screaming over the persistent sound of Pop-Pop’s lawnmower.  He big cousin Evan carried her to her aunt’s house.  It bled alot, which was good.  And she seemed to do well.  We agonized over whether or not she needed a tetanus booster.  We relented since it had been 5 years.  The doctor decided she needed antibiotics just in case.  2 problems.  First, he gave her a liquid.  Second, he said it didn’t taste very good.  I want to smack this guy.  Though this could be the reason he is practicing medicine in the middle of nowhere.  For most of the 10 day protocol of antibiotics, 4 times a day, we had to deal with screaming, running, gagging and more.  A few night’s later I watched Inception with my oldest niece.  He planted the idea in her mind that this would taste horrible and like Cobb we couldn’t get the thought out of her mind.

With renters in the main house, we headed down to CavWife’s sister’s home.  Down into the cave so the morning sun wouldn’t wake me up.  But the footsteps would.  But before a night’s sleep, we went to someone’s house on Garnett Lake.  He is the retired basketball coach from Wheaton.  He and his wife were great hosts as we sat by the lake with one eye on the kids while we talked about life.  Then I slept in the 4th bed on this trip.

The slow tube from China

Monday we went to the Word of Life Campground to have lunch with some former roommates of CavWife.  What inevitably happens is that we meet a few dozen people I don’t know.  So I stand or sit there wondering when we can talk to people I know too.  Add into the equation the fact that I didn’t sleep well, I’m surprised I was able to sleepdrive all the way back to the Farm.

Tuesday morning we loaded up the Envoy and headed east.  About 40 minutes later, when coming to an intersection we realize that each of us thought the other one knew where we were going.  We stumbled our way to Route 4 and kept going.  We had our hearts set on The Fire Stones Restaurant, if it was still open.  It was when we passed the Long Trail brewery, which had a lunch menu at the pub that I was really hungry.  I was having 2nd thoughts, but it was too late.  Thru Woodstock (VT) and finally to Queechee near the border with NH.  A good break for the kids.  I took them outside to burn off some energy.  This way I also avoided the hostess/waitress in the too tight dress.  Our flatbread pizza was very good, almost as good as we remembered.  But we changed the salad choice to one CavWife loved and I, well, was thoroughly unexcited about.

The problem with my parents’ house is that it only has 1 spare bedroom.  That means it is not big enough for us to stay there.  The problem with that is that we haven’t been there in 5 years.  The problem with that is I got lost getting there.  The bonus was that we easily found a Dunkin Donuts so CavWife could get copy.  We live in a city with 2 Dunkin Donuts.  In the northeast, you can’t fling a cat without hitting a DD.  So we eventually got to my parents’ about 3:30.  My brothers would trickle in before we all went out to dinner.  It was like entering the Twilight Zone.  My kids have been in the car for the vast majority of 5 hours.  Her idea?  A movie while we talk.  Then she gave them some gifts, but didn’t want them to play with them yet.  CavWife’s mind was quickly reminded that I’ve come a long way.

When Jim arrived you would’ve thought we were twins.  He’s a few inches taller, but in recent years we suddenly started looking alike.  Even gaining weight in the same spots.  He has slightly less hair, but after years of wishing I looked like him I finally do- when he’s not good-looking anymore.

Off to dinner at a restaurant with only 1 waitress.  The service, therefore, was really slow.  My active son who had been in a car most of the day and gets hyper-active when tired was, well, hyper-active.  So Dad asks, “Is he always like this?”  This is going well.  I’m across from my son and next to my nephew.  This means I essentially can’t catch up with my brothers whom I have I have seen since 2007.  And I can’t even eat.  When my whole fried clams finally arrived they were very good but it was getting late and we still had to drive from north Manchester to SW Nashua.  I hadn’t been to my friends’ new home yet so I’m glad it was still light out.  But the kids were exhausted.

Trips home are tricky.  Lots of people would like to see you.  But with tired young kids I didn’t want to haul them around town visiting people they don’t know.  So we tried to slip in quietly.  Not avoiding anyone, just wanting a restful, yet memorable vacation for my family.

We spent the next 2 1/2 days staying with one of the men who invested in me as a young Christian, and his family.  The new home reflects their character.  They are some of the people from whom I learned about hospitality.  We enjoyed their company, their pool, their boat and meals together, including Parker’s Maple House & Shorty’s.  It was an oasis in our trip.  They were all so amazingly good with our kids.  It was amazing to watch our kids become increasingly bold in the pool since they haven’t spent much time in pools lately.  When it came to tubing, they wanted to go with their mom.  Slowly.  Very slowly.  CavGirl eventually did ride alone, very slowly.  Yeah, there is a theme here.

Then CavWife and I went together.  I was trying to lift my bottom off the bottom due to the rough massage my bottom was getting.  Probably not good when you have a so-so back.  Then it was my turn to go alone.  Amazingly, I had never been tubing before this.  I’m getting old, no sense going crazy on that thing.  I had a good time, but I knew I would pay for it the next day.  And I did.  But we all had a good time.  A refreshing visit.

Friday afternoon we drove back to NY.  It was hot I tell you.  I am so glad we didn’t get stuck on the side of the road.  We did get stuck behind some slow drivers.  We also got stuck behind a gang of female bikers.  Yeah, a chick gang with lots of tattoos on their right shoulders.  We were tired, and stopped for Chinese food when we got off the highway.  It was back to her sister’s house since the renters were still there.  But her family had gone camping so we enjoyed the master bedroom.  The 6th bed we slept in on this trip.  This would be a new record for us.

I stayed up late watching the pilot of Falling Skies, waiting for a church planter and his family to arrive.  They were bringing some of their kids to camp and needed an affordable place to stay.  When the “cost” is some Taylor ham, Dogfish Head beer and some Amish donuts, you stay with gladness.  Phil was one of the interim pastors for the congregation I now pastor.  Before I got there, he and his family left for NJ to plant a church.  We’d never met.  But we had a great time getting to know one another as families.

Now they are gone, and here I sit avoiding the heat and the stubborn spare tire mechanism.  Oh, for the good old days when the spare was easy to get to.  It is the last few days of vacation.  Well, I’m actually working on stuff the next few days.  But the last few days in the beautiful Adirondacks with our extended family.  It has been a good 4 weeks.  Do I have to go back?  Yes, it would get boring here if I didn’t have a suitable position.  And that, my friends, is back in Arizona.  Let’s hope our flight home is less interesting than the flight here.