Vacation Days III - IV: The Eastern Snore

It finally happened. The Internet was taken from me! We left Rehobeth and the WiFi behind and headed towards the Eastern Shore. First, however, I begged to do a little shopping. No sales tax in Delaware combined with already-reduced products in outlets is too hard even for me to resist.

So, a few books and a pair of black pumps (check em out!)later, we visited my aunt who lives in Millsboro, DE. Her stepson and his five-year-old daughter were visiting. And this girl is NOT shy, she talks and tells stories and all sorts of things without any encouragement; Her dad says she'll run up to a bunch of kids and say "You're my new best friend," without even knowing their names. So, I'm sitting on the couch beside this little girl, trying to carry on a conversation, and I ask her if she likes Hannah Montana. She says "she's okay," like she isn't really interested. Then, she sings all of Miley Cyrus' (aka Hannah Montana) "See You Again." This kid is a mess, it's even harder to deal with discipline issues when the kid is smart like this girl.

Next stop: Eastern Shore down to Chincoteague Island. Chincoteague is a nice quiet little island that looks like this picture. All marches, it's a nice estuary-like ecosystem going on around the area. Its neighboring island, Assateague, is a federal park . . . no one lives there except for rangers and ponies. Yes, ponies. Perhaps you've heard of Misty of Chincoteague? Well, she was actually from Assateague, but either way the ponies are the major attraction in the park even though you rarely see them on the Virginia side of the park. We spent about 4 hours in the park after dinner and all we saw was a lighthouse, a wedding, and a lot of seagulls.

The next day we finally get to come home!

But first I must face my nemesis, my worst fear . . .

Yes, it's the fearful Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel! I hate bridges (See Vacation Day One: Gephyrophobia) and tunnels just make the claustrophobia worse. At 20 miles long, it's the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. So, I turned my iPod up and stuffed a pillow over my face the whole way through (which didn't really help because I could tell when it got darker which meant we were in the tunnels). And, in keeping with the whole family driving me crazy ordeal, they stopped at the gift shop/restaurant on the bridge and made me eat lunch, knowing how much I hate the place.

Finally, we got home.

Vacation over, back to work.

Next year, I'm going to the mountains . . . family be damned.

What Do You Mean, "Take It Easy?"

Summer: No school, beach, and no worries.

Why aren't my summers ever like that? I feel like I'm the only dork who looks forward to school starting so she can relax. Every summer since I was a kid consisted of various camps and family trips. So if I wasn't gone, I was either packing or training for whatever it was I was doing next.

I specifically bring up family vacations because I am embarking on one tomorrow. Every year, I try my hardest to convince my parents that my participation is unnecessary. Every year I fail. This year, instead of really going on a trip, we're going to see my grandfather and two of my aunts -- who happen to live near a beach.

This mainly sucks for two reasons:

1. My aunts are rarely on good terms with one another. Constant bickering drives me nuts.

2. It's hard to flirt and have a good time at the beach when my parents and younger brother are there -- and they're always there. Always.

Family vacations in general suck because my family never does what I want to do. Last year, we drove around Tennessee, spending the majority of time in Gatlinburg and Chattanooga. My mom got to shop for clothes. My dad and my brother raced go-carts and bought a large number of unnecessary swords and knives. I got to watch my mother try on outfits that look identical to the ones she already has and pretended to be interested in whatever pointy thing my brother was talking about. I wanted to go hiking. As a matter-of-fact, I was promised hiking. It was the selling point to convince me to go and be nice. But, no one wanted to go, and I had no means of transportation. Another great part about family vacations: one vehicle.

Don't get me wrong, I really try to be optimistic (actually, "kinda-try" might be a bit more accurate) about the summer. My job is filling all of my weekdays, (and some of my weekends) and on weekends I just want to curl up on the couch with a book I haven't read a million times before.

Vacations updates will hopefully be given, I think the hotel in Rehobeth has wireless . . . if not, God help me . . .