Vacations

If you have  dogs everyone has asked the question  "What do we do with the dogs?"    Combined with our usual vacation mishaps, we ask ourselves....is it worth it?  (vacations)   Before we are even out of the gate, open the garage to drive my sick car to the shop for repairs and there is a flat...flat tire.    My ability to attract long sharp objects into the side of a tire continues so we must pump air into flat tire,  drive to Walmart, buy a tire before we can drive the sick car with new tire to the VW place for repairs.  That was strike 1.   If you don't count the impending hurricane as strike 1 which I don't because you still have to go or loose your money because "refund only in the case of mandatory evacuation" isn't happening.  So 5 hours late we're off to the beach with doggies safely enclosed in their familiar home, a list of instructions for college girl and a good feeling which could be the Lockhart BBQ smell coming from the back of the car.  Mon. pm local Rockport news says we're out of storms path, just going to have some "sporadic wind and rain".    Tues lots of sun and high waves, winds and no beach to speak of so we are camped out on the road portion of Mustang Island State Park with a warning from the ranger they might order evacuation...but we give it a shot.     It was the 40 minutes of where's my wallet and phone that gave the beach visit a rating of 1 on a scale of 1-5.   To the gas station...cant buy much gas, discover wallet/phone gone (not mine), drive back to beach, search all areas, leave beach and hope it's back at the cottage, have bright idea to call phone....
phone/wallet ring to us from the backseat.   :) That was probably strike 2.
While leaving beach...college girl calls and says Stevie isn't right.   He is being taken to vet...I call  vet and discuss how they need to cancel their staff meeting so they can tend to my sick puppy who is being driven at that moment to their office.    They won't cancel their staff meeting but will call me when they see the boy and let me know what they think.   That was strike 3.   Puppies can go downhill quickly......don't they also know I just (6 months ago is probably not "just") sent my best boy Bart to dog heaven?   These are insensitive people and I added they must make SURE Dr. Sunbury is the one who sees Stevie.   I don't think I'm overreacting.    College girl said she had to apologize for me once she arrived and heard I had called.     Stevie is stable.    Stevie has......allergies.  That's it.  Strike 4.   Wed. arrives.   We know it will be the cloudy/rainy day of the trip so we take our time, sleep in and did you know....ESPN has something on at all hours of the day that is interesting?   Also marathons of old TV shows have  me hooked.   I now like NCIS.     We take a walk, eat lunch, drive Fulton Beach Road....watch huge waves....it's the quiet non-eventful day of our trip.   HA!
We're back from the HEB with additions for our dinner and get settled in and then ....no power, winds that are bending trees over and I am looking for a reasonable way to get us out of this situation.   I received a big NO for my suggestion of  moving to the electrically stable Hampton Inn on the highway.    The other person in the room is opening windows and taking off clothes.   I  cleaned the cottage and packed my bags,  pouted until dark and  discovered it had been a long time since I laid quietly and listened to the sound of wind/rain.   Power outage is Strike 5.   Rain and wind sounds score a 5.
At daybreak I get us on the road. 

Next trip....a week at a house in Galveston in  July.   They just had a  hurricane a bit ago, so odds are in our favor for a hurricane free trip.   College girl, son and wife, doggies are all coming.  YEA!