I was preparing for this vacation with more than just a little trepidation, because, if I’m being quite honest, I didn’t enjoy last year’s vacation much at all (you can see some photos from it in this post, but I never went into great detail about any of it).
Which really sucked, because everyone else had a grand ol’ time.
I finally finished sifting through my billions of video clips (it was too much, I know); you can check out my collection of vacation Shorts here!
I had a great first day, but then not only did I end up getting sick (which resulted in a never-ending stomach ache), I also did not sleep well, and on our second night away we ended up driving back home to attend a much-anticipated party where I had to avoid being near an ex-situationship and his very-pregnant girlfriend all night.
There were…a lot of sick feelings involved in the trip for me, and when I got home I might’ve had a teeny tiny breakdown because I felt like if I couldn’t even enjoy a short family vacation, then there truly was no hope for me.
It was dramatic.
But that really laid the groundwork for how much anticipation anxiety I had for this year’s adventure (believe me, 6 days is a long time to be away from home if you’re sick and not sleeping; as you can tell, I’m really not one who enjoys much travel).
Successfully making it of the house that Thursday morning was a feat of its own, but the trip experienced a slight delay when a member of our posse accidently gave a lil love-bump to a towering, heavily-rusted gas station sign…which consequently fell over in the parking lot (and no, it was not me driving).
To clearly state how small of a bump it was: it did zero damage to the car, and yet resulted in a giant metal sign crashing to the ground.
Truly a cinematic moment.
September 11th; the highlight of the first day was this extraordinary sunset on the beach — none of the other sunsets we saw compared to this first day
We laughed about it after the stress of the moment passed (picture two heavily-packed cars sitting in a gas station parking lot waiting for the police to show up to collect a statement while a giant rusty sign lays across the lot…it was a thing), but in that moment we were all beginning wondering if we were truly supposed to make it down to the coast at all.
None of us were in that great moods that morning (even before this little accident), but once we were back on the road we made it to our destination without another incident.
Not to say the rest of the day was a breeze — we’re all convinced that the first day was simply cursed.
September 12th; another glorious sunset on the beach
My camera malfunctioned and lost all my footage, Riley Mae walked through a massive nest of baby ticks and couldn’t wear her sneakers for the rest of the trip, and we quickly realized that we’d left half of our carefully-prepped vegetables at home (how could this happen?? We had so many lists!!).
BUT WE ENDURED.
And, thankfully, the days only improved from there. I slept well (in the sunroom with Riley Mae on the cold, hard tile floor; what can we say, we were livin’ it up), had good meals, incredible weather (blue skies, sunny, and warm every single day) and visited all of our favorite haunts (most of which we’ve been visiting since we were children).
we were lucky enough to see our favorite giant snapping turtle (we’re convinced he likes people, because he came right over when we started jabbering away), and have confirmed that he’s friends with the local painted turtles…why else would this dude nonchalantly climb onto the snapper’s neck? (not gonna lie, seemed a bit risky to me)
We also made sure to visit the sea every day we were there.
I had a few rough patches of course (e.g. getting cursed with my period on the second day), but I would’ve suffered as much at home as I did there, so it was fine. We all ended up enjoying ourselves enough to stay one extra day, and Riley Mae subsequently ended up coming home with over 10,000 bird photos to go through.
Literally.
This bird content will last her months, and it’s honestly hard to beat having an egret walk right up and start hunting directly in front of you.
we rarely see egrets at home, so they (and the green herons) were a special treat down by the coast
I ended up bringing my 13 remaining chrysalises with me, because I couldn’t bear the thought of not witnessing the birth of my children (I also wanted to keep an eye on them to continue collecting my data and experience for my raising monarch butterflies post), and I’m so glad that I did. I had butterflies to release every day, and the very last one hatched on the very last day, and eagerly flew off into the blue sky right before we climbed in the cars to drive home. It truly felt like an official end to summer.
This year I did not come home and have an existential crisis, but I did come home happy to sleep in my clean bed again (sleeping on a pillow that’s been laying on the floor is fine for the first five days, but the sixth day is pushing it).
I did my best to compile most of the highlights into a collection of YouTube shorts, and even I admit that there were simply too many.
But I just enjoy being able to look back on these things and relive the moments via the videos. I have not regretted my “new year’s resolution” to take more videos of everyday life this year. And on that subject: it’s time to compile September’s wrap 🌊
George the emu, and me wearing an aptly themed sweater that I made out of an old throw
Also, a funny story about George the emu: he’s been around for my entire life (apparently he’s over 30 years old).
Back when I was a lil tot this place allowed people to buy ice cream cones filled with birdseed and corn to feed to this guy (thankfully they don’t allow this anymore). My dad and uncle would buy a couple ice cream cones, and although we were thoroughly entertained by the spectacle, it also created a deep-seated (I was today-years-old when I found out that it’s, in fact, deep-seated, not deep-seeded) fear of these giant birds (towering over us kids), their gaping beaks, and their deep drumming noises.
That fear has kept me from petting this handsome man for 27 years — even though I knew it was ridiculous, and I was sorely tempted to reach out and touch him every time we visited. This year Riley Mae and I vowed that this would be the year that we overcame out “childhood trauma” and it turns out…George is a total sweetheart who just desperately wants affection. He didn’t leave our sides the whole time we were there, and Riley Mae even decided to forgo the opportunity to walk through all the little shops just to spend that time with George.
We love you, George 🥺
art by jordan rae 