Someone is stealing our mail!

Thursday, October 13, 2022

It was me! I was stealing the mail and I have never been given a warmer welcome EVER!

We were driving north for the weekend (obviously too much sunny, warm for us – we are looking for some chillier weather) (lies). I didn’t look at the route (because I am not in charge of navigation) (I used to be. But now a voice is charge…telling us to get ready to take the next exit, to take the next exit, do it, do it now, keep going, now merge onto the road you are exiting onto, now keep going, phew, you are on the road) (Keith didn’t look at the route, because he just likes to be surprised, I guess. He puts it in and waits for the voice to tell him what to do – never looks ahead to see what might be in store) (that’s weird), so I was completely surprised that we were getting off the highway at the Askov exit. Askov is the small town where my friend who moved away to a small town lives. I said we had to stop at her house! Keith said to text her. I said it’s three miles away, we are just going to knock and say surprise (To be honest, I am not a fan of knocking and surprising because when/if people knock and surprise me they just get to see our house is a total mess and I am wearing red sweat pants and a lime green sweater).

So, we used the force to find their house (SMALL town. They live next to a church. I like to just go until I yell, there it is!) and parked on the street. As I got out of the car next to their mailbox, Keith suggested I deliver the mail. I fished out the mail – and what was on top? A postcard from me!! Fabulous!!

As I posed for a picture, I saw quick movement in the front window. Apparently, the older son saw me out the front window and called to his mom, “Someone is stealing our mail!” Upon further inspection by everyone, the culprit was identified as me. The door burst open and the whole family tumbled out and yelling, “BARBARA!”

Like I said, I have never been so warmly welcomed. What an absolutely marvelous feeling.

The boys were zooming around showing me things, and my friend was excited to have an unexpected visitor. She was dressed in her Renaissance fest garb – it had been decade day at school today and she went from the 1420s. BEST decade day dress up ever!!

The boys took Keith on a tour of the house – it had once been a vicarage (next to the church and all) – and is quite an interesting house. Keith said he has never been on a more enthusiastic house tour and he absolutely loved it. They have a secret passage upstairs and a soda machine in the basement. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

We visited a bit – short, but oh so sweet – then we where on the road again. The weather was so overcast, but the autumn colors were so beautiful it was amazing. I don’t remember such good colors. We saw deer several times, right on the side of the road and running across the road. Once Keith swerved to miss a skunk in the road. Let’s all be happy together that he successfully swerved.

When we left the big highways and were off on the little roads, on this very-dark-moon-covered-with-clouds night, I keep a careful eye out for Bigfoot. Just in case. I also looked for camper murderers, because ever vigilant is someone’s motto and it seemed like a good idea. We went over a big bridge and I told Keith not to just think of the scariest thing he could think of to say (Oh! Look how high we are! OH NO! This really is high, isn’t it? This bridge might be made of styrofoam….) and say it. He promised to stay quiet and we all lived.

We got a call from our little motel in Bayfield saying that if we were going to come later than 8pm (yes), they would stick an envelope on the office door with our name on it with our room number inside. The room would be unlocked, lights on, and our keys would be inside. It worked slick as could be.

PS I survived high school today. Then I ran away and went on my second vacation of the week. Win for me.