I couldn’t sleep last night. I don’t mean the type of night where you nod on and off, getting a half hour here or there. I mean I could not sleep at all. Why? Likely because I was excited about getting to Disney. I was anxious about the pending sale of our Avon house (what could go wrong?). I was mulling over the details of our upcoming kitchen renovation. If you’re not overly analytical like me, you won’t understand. This is how my mind sometimes works.
At around 3:00am I head a loud bang from overhead, on Livvy’s roof. It startled me. I turned on my flashlight and couldn’t see anything out of place inside. Peeta was asleep in his bed in the cab over, and daisy was groggy on the recliner. I peered out of the windows but nothing seemed amiss. I chalked it up to a bird dropping something and continued to NOT sleep.
That was until I finally fell into a deep, blissful slumber – at 6:10am. I was promptly awoken by my alarm set for 7. A full 50 minutes of sleep. I was ready to go.
We were both happy to be starting the last leg of our southern march toward Orlando. Karen started to get Daisy up and moving (a chore as she gets older), and I got the coffee started. I opened the fridge to get out our breakfast when the cause of the noise became immediately clear.
Two cans of pop had exploded in the back of the fridge overnight.
A ruptured Diet Coke lay on the top shelf, while a can of Squirt, ripped clean open from top to bottom, lay next to it. Semi-frozen pop was covering everything. Brown streaks ran down both sides, while puddles filled in every flat spot. Not what we wanted to find when trying to get on the road early.
Fortunately, we teamed up (like we do with everything when we travel) and got the fridge cleaned out. We got Livvy disconnected and ready for travel. We stopped at Shell to fill up for the day, and we were on the road by 8:15. Teamwork is the best!
Owing to my fulfilling night of sleep, once Karen was on the highway I retreated to the couch and fell promptly asleep for 2 hours. It was the first time either of us had left the other in the “cockpit” for any length of time. And things worked out just fine. I awoke and was ready for my turn at the wheel.
Karen’s aunt Mary Kay and her husband Dennis live just northwest of Orlando, and we planned to meet them for a bit around noon. They spent years traveling in an RV before settling in Lady Lake, Florida, and they wanted to see both Livvy and us. We had a wonderful visit with them in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express. Hey, it was close to their home and just off the highway for us. With a big parking lot so it was perfect.
As always, we had a lovely time with Mary Kay and Dennis, but we had to say our goodbyes and continue south. We arrived at our home for the next week, Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, just in time for check-in. After setting up, we had a drink (gin martini for me and Cosmo for Karen), dinner (hot dogs and baked beans – one of our favorite meals in Livvy), and began making plans for our three days in the parks.
Sitting here now on our recliners, with an Ardbeg in my hand, it is hard to fathom how today started. Partially because yesterday really bleeds into today for me! But also because we have been so busy the last month that it’s difficult to believe this night is here.
Tomorrow we take a break from reality. We suspend what we know. Tomorrow we leave adulthood and we pass beneath Minnie and Mickey, and the sign that gives us the freedom to be kids again. I hope we never lose that feeling. That feeling of joy and happiness… and hope.
No matter how many pops explode in our refrigerators.
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