Travel Burn Out

I've just about had it with packing my bags and riding in a car for a long time. Our six weeks of non-stop travel ended yesterday when we returned home from Gloucester, Mass. after a whirlwind trip to pick Mom's car up from Aunt Martha. Don't get me wrong, Gloucester was AWESOME; the trouble is the trip itself wasn't long enough. Sunday was a really fun day crammed with things to do and see, and great things to eat, sandwiched between two long travel days.

The trip started with a stop at the Syracuse regatta "on the way" - which meant a 4:45am wake up time to get to the race by 7am. After the regatta and lunch with my friend, Clare, we hit the road around 2pm and got into Gloucester around 8pm. We were lucky to bring Cam's girlfriend (I think I can officially say that now) Bonnie along. I can only imagine the insolence we would have had to endure if he were forced to be away from her for the weekend.

We stayed at a nice motor inn right on the ocean (majestic as ever), and after settling in to our room we headed into town for dinner. I have finally, at age 45, had a whole lobster - I guess I can check that one off my list of "things to do." I think I'll stick with the tails that someone has cleanned and shelled for me.

On Saturday morning I couldn't wait to get going, and got up and showered at 6am while the rest of the family slept. I had the brilliant idea of heading over the rocks to get closer to the ocean, but ended up slipping and fell flat on my back on the slimy stuff that's left behind from high tide. As if slipping and falling wasn't enough, my iPhone rocketed out of my pocket and went right into a stinky tidal pool. I hustled as fast as a could (and slipped some more) before quickly grabbing it out - as panic set in. I was so upset! I went back to the room and dried it off and hoped for the best. At first it was acting really wacky, but as the day went on and it dried out and seemed to be back to normal. Whew! Another bullet dodged!

Among the fun things we did on Sunday:

• an early trip to Rockport for some shopping
• lunch with Martha at Salem Brew Works
• a tour of Hammond Castle in Gloucester (of course, we had to ask if it's haunted)
• Dinner at Martha's, complete with a walk to the beach down the street

After dinner, it was back to the motel to get ready for our early departure. Boy, was that a tough trip home with Mark and I each driving a car. I would have given anything for a nap during the drive!

Long story short: we're all done traveling for a while (HURRAY!). I've put the suitcases in the attic and the unpacked all the toiletries. Now, it's time to hang around Fairport on the weekends and weed the flower beds (or take a nap!).