vacation has a rocky start

Someone and I are alone on vacation.  This is the first time I’ve been on a vacation without kids since the summer after our honeymoon...18 or 19 years…I’m too lazy to remember.   It’s a very different vacation, not better or worse, just different. 

years ago, at Myrtle Beach

There is no place on Earth someone would rather be than Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  That is where we are now.  He was disappointed that both girls declined to come with us this year, but they had rational reasons for not coming – primarily, their summer jobs.  Someone got over it quickly…indeed, because we didn’t have to wait on the girls' schedules, he plead with me to be ready to hit the road Sunday morning at 5AM to start the 8.5 hour drive.  I set the alarm for 4AM so I could shower and pack up last-minute things.  Whereas I heard the alarm and groaned, Someone popped up out of bed and began humming loudly. Damn him!  Why does he have to be so F’ing chipper in the mornings?

The day was beautiful for a drive – clear and sunny, and not much traffic on the highways because it was a very (VERY) early Sunday morning.  The rest areas along the Interstates were seas of parked 18-wheelers.  Just after high noon, we were about 85 miles from the beach, just outside Bennettsville, South Carolina, a little nowheresville-wide-place in the road.   An older man pulled out from a side road right in front of us.  Someone slammed on the brakes and tried to miss him, but cars were coming toward us in the other lanes and there was no place to go.  Our right front fender collided with his front left side of the car. 

It all happened so quickly.  Someone screamed “SHIT”, brakes squealed, then BAM!!!  Our seatbelts worked perfectly, which was something I didn’t consider at all until I observed that my sunglasses had flown off my face and shattered against the windshield.  The passengers in the other car were uninjured, and we were OK, so it’s all OK.  The visible damage to other car was worse than to ours.  We were able to drive on to the beach after several hours of delay for the police to arrive and write up the accident.  The other car had to be towed. 

car - now a wreck

The outside damage is not the most expensive damage.  We learned today that Someone’s car is totaled.  The seat belts and seat belt sensors have to be replaced, and that is more expensive than the exterior repairs.  Insurance will get us a rental soon (hopefully) and give Someone a fair settlement on his car.  He would have preferred to have it all repaired because he wanted to drive his car another year or two - it had a little more than 171,000 miles on it.    

The best thing about vacation this year is that I’m sleeping late every morning and we are playing golf every afternoon.  The weather has been perfect the two days we’ve been here so far.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another spectacular day – more golf (we already have a tee time).  Myrtle Beach is a resort area with more than a hundred golf courses within an hour drive.  It’s a golfer’s paradise.

So, vacation started out pretty rocky, but it’s better now.  I miss my kids and my dog in the worst way.  We are traveling home a week from today.  I think we’ll be driving a rental car, but I’m trying to encourage Someone to at least look at cars here.  The dealers are much larger here…he might get a better deal than if he buys a car at home.

Gracie - wish she was here