poplar road

Sigh. We're home, after 11 days on the road trip from hell. Given that I'm

a) exhausted past remembering my phone number or the day of the week

b) trying not to remember the past 4 days, and

c) anxious to get outside and experience the new blossoms and flowers I missed while on this road trip from hell...

...I'm not going to get into details right now. But here is a summary, borrowing from that familiar ad campaign:

Four-wheeling for 3 days in the Hammers in Johnson Valley, southeastern California: $300

8-day road trip to get to and from the Hammers: $5000

Getting home in one piece: priceless.

And for everything else, there's our credit card and our sense of humour. After the last dive into our wallets, I made Richard laugh 'til there were tears in his eyes, by quoting one of my favourite lines from White Christmas. Bing Crosby finds out how much their Christmas Eve show is going to cost their production company. "Wow" he says and hangs up the phone. Danny Kaye pipes up, "How much is Wow?" and Bing trys to change the subject, so Danny grabs him by the lapels. "How much is Wow?!"

The answer: "Somewhere between ouch! and POIN-N-G-G-G". "Wow." And they carry on. And now I am going outside to enjoy beauty, fresh air, peace, and quiet for FREE. And don't anybody bring up the mortgage payment! More on the vacation including photos later. Cheers.