To the Coast to See My Sailor

My older kid is studying abroad this semester, conducting research on oceans and climate while crewing a tall ship in the South Pacific. Before that, though, she spent several weeks at the program's home base in Cape Cod, learning how to conduct research on oceans and climate and how to crew a tall ship.

I didn't relish going the entire semester without seeing my girl, so the week before she flew to Fiji to begin the sailing component of her experience, I drove back out to the coast for a super quick visit... and to bring home all the little luxuries that she didn't want to lug around and find a place for in her tiny ship bunk!

Bonus: the younger kid's college is on the way home-ish...

It's been a minute since I've taken such a long road trip as the sole driver, so I'd been dreading it, but honestly, other than the chronic backache, it was kind of awesome! I got through the entirety of Prairie Fires on audiobook with nobody trying to talk to me and thereby making me miss any interesting details. I got to decide when I wanted to gas up, which did not include running the car down to Empty while I continued searching for the mythical "low gas prices," ahem... I did not stop for fast food a single time because the boring-ass peanut butter crackers and granola bars and various little snackies I packed were quite interesting enough for me, even though this gas station advertisement did kind of intrigue me:

Is a sweet biscuit not a scone?

The only part it was really worth dreading, it turned out, was finding and checking into my hotel room. Why is every encounter with another human being so awkward?!? When I walked into the Holiday Inn, there was already a guy at the reception desk talking to the clerk, but after I'd been in line behind him for a couple of minutes, he ended whatever conversation he'd been having by announcing that I could just go ahead of him.

Of course I was all, "OMG no, I'm not in a hurry, you're fine, take all the time you need, etc.," but then he was all, "Eh, I'm just gonna make the reservation on my phone."

Cool, I guess? I already had a reservation, so I stepped up to the clerk and she started checking me in. But she kept asking me weird questions like, "Is anyone else joining you?" and "Did you just make this reservation?" and it was generally just weird all around. She seemed a little flustered and was like, "Normally, your receipt would already be printed so it's strange that it's not..." but she kept checking me in.

Then, though, she was literally handing me my keys, when she stopped and said, "You know what? Let me check one more thing." She clicked away at her computer, and then said, "Hmm... do you know [name of random stranger]."

ME: "No?"

HER: "Well, a couple of hours ago they got checked in under your reservation."

So apparently someone had come in, I have no idea if their name was even similar to mine or not, and the clerk on duty then had checked them in under my reservation, including having them sign the receipt with my name and home address on it. They put them in the room that had been reserved for me, and so when I actually came in, this clerk had just duplicated the booking to check me in, including giving me a set of key cards TO THE SAME ROOM THAT THIS OTHER STRANGER WAS ALREADY IN. 

I'm gonna be honest with you--if I'd keycarded my way into a hotel room that another human was already occupying, doing whatever they were happening to be doing at the time that I barged in, I would immediately turn around and just drive the eleven hours back home in the dark. My kid can mail me the stuff she doesn't want to take on the ship.

But crisis averted, so yay! So the clerk had to get her boss to fix the reservation, and by this time the guy had finished doing his phone stuff and was now standing in line behind me. As the boss was telling me about the room I'd now be staying in, confirming the amenities and whatever and assuring me it was a better room than my original one (I mean... I guess that could have been true?), the guy behind me loudly announced, "Hey, I'll share her room if I get to pay half-price!"

The clerk and I completely ignored him, and the boss was all, "Ha, ha," which, fine, but then the boss went to hand me my new key cards and just kept LOUDLY REPEATING MY ROOM NUMBER OUT LOUD. The clerk and I were both like, "OMG shhh!!!!!" 

Ugh. Fortunately, I didn't run into that guy again, but I also shoved the luggage bench against my door. I don't want anybody, on purpose or not, busting in on my hotel room!

But then, y'all. BUT THEN!

I decided to treat myself to take-out in celebration of a successful day driving, so I made a pick-up order at Olive Garden and headed out to grab it. On my way through the parking lot to the car, I passed a guy just hanging out with his six-pack near my car, which... okay, I guess? Drink in the parking lot at 8pm if that's your vibe? But then when I was at my car, he said, "Hey! I can guess what county in Indiana you're from!"

And then, Reader, he told me my county.

I was all, "?!?!?!?" as he happily explained that the number on my car registration sticker on my license plate said what county the registration is for, and he'd just happened to have memorized all the county codes in Indiana... WHICH HE, HIMSELF, WAS FROM.

I was just like, "Cool, cool, that's so cool, have such an awesome night, good to talk to you, bye," then later when Matt called me to see how my day had been, I vented at him about why are all men so weird and terrifying each in their own separate weird and terrifying way? And then I told him I had to go because my eggplant parmesan was getting cold, ahem.

Anyway, I haven't seen that guy around here, so I don't guess he's been driving the streets of the county looking for me, so it's probably fine.

And I'd apparently passed the Biscuits and Gravy Line sometime during the day, so this was my morning treat at the hotel breakfast:

When we'd all gone as a family to drop the big kid off, the rest of us left her settled into her new cabin and then spent the evening exploring a bit on the Cape Cod National Seashore, but the visitor centers had all been closed by then, so I hadn't gotten my National Parks Passport Stamp.

It turns out, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, that I am OBSESSED with collecting these Passport Stamps, so the next day, the whole purpose of my drive was to get to the Salt Pond Visitor Center in time to get my stamp.

I barely made it, but I DID make it!

I even had time for a very quick swing through the museum!

You know how I feel about the prehistoric native peoples and their artifacts!

I also love European artifacts. These pipe stems look exactly like the ones we mudlarked on the Thames! 

When we came to Cape Cod National Seashore when the kids were small, we all watched this super traumatizing documentary about how everyone used to drown right off the shore, and that's how the Coast Guard was invented. We still talk about horrifying that documentary was, but look! Early lifesaving equipment!

When they finally kicked me out of the visitor center, I did a little more exploring along the beach:

While I was walking around here taking photos, I saw someone bringing their Cape Cod Potato Chip bag over to the lighthouse, I guess so it could learn about its culture.

I saw so many sea lions, but I figured that since I was by myself I'd just enjoy them and not try to take photos of them. But here are some nice sea lion-less photos of the beach!

Eventually, I realized that I had just about assigned myself to driving back down the peninsula in full-on dark, sigh, so I reluctantly left the water and got back into my personal backache mobile for another hour, sigh.

My kid wasn't free to hang out until the next day, but happily, there was a pizza place next door to my hotel, and Dr. Strange was on cable, so that was my evening all taken care of!

P.S. Want to follow along with my craft projects, books I'm reading, road trips to random little towns, looming mid-life crisis, and other various adventures on the daily? Find me on my Craft Knife Facebook page!