You know what's in Vermont? Not a lot. A bunch of animals. But animals don't make for good landmarks when you're driving.
For a very funny description of Vermont (juxtaposed with New Hampshire), may I suggest visiting this website which is clearly accurate and not at all tongue in cheek.
K, M and I finally made it out of Boston alive and without crashing (hooray!). We eventually got through New Hampshire, only to find ourselves on the dark, single lane highways of Vermont.
Now, I'd been to Big D's house on the lake before and thought I knew where I was going. The GPS said we'd get in about 11:15 pm, but I'd budgeted 30 extra minutes of "we're at the lake but we still need to find the house" time, since the directions were only taking us to the road, not the address I'd plugged in.
Eventually we get to the lake area and of course, the directions stop. Karen (my GPS has a first name, it's K-A-R-E-N) decided we were where we needed to be and stopped speaking to us. So M and I looked at the map and eventually M noticed we were driving south, meaning we were north of the lake. I had come from the south before, so I was never going to find the landmark I was looking for, especially in the dark. Yea for friends who know how to read a map!
Soon we get to my landmark from the other direction and get on the right road. After stopping and looking at the house number of nearly every. single. house. to see if we'd found it. Then the road stopped/took a right turn and I remember that I had printed out directions from Big D that would help us since we were this close (they would not have been useful for highway driving since we started at a different place). I handed them to M and within minutes I found the house. Although M swears it wasn't by her doing since I was pulling into the driveway at the same time she was finally able to figure out what she was reading. (We made it within my allotted buffer, too.)
Hugs all around as both Big D and L were both already at the house. We were only waiting on B. We knew that she was on the road since at one point she'd called K and said her GPS (Mr. T is it's name) told her that he pitied the fool that didn't arrive by a little after midnight. We all love B very much, but also know that getting lost is second nature for her. Plus, she'd been working at the hospital all day and would no doubt be tired. So I figured she'd get in about 1 am.
Sure enough, a little while later, the phone rings and B is lost. And somehow she's also north of the lake, although we're still trying to figure that out. For whatever reason, I was in charge of answering the phone and bringing the poor soul in.
B: So I turned onto a dirt road, drove for a while and almost ended up in a ditch. I figured that wasn't where I wanted to be so I turned around and am back on the main road.
Me: Good job, because you do, in fact not want to be in a ditch. Can you tell on your GPS map where exactly you are?
B: Um, not sure. Let me pull over. Hey deer, don't hit my car. Now this part is a little muffled for me, since cell reception is poor, so I'd misheard her.
Me: Did you just hit a deer?
B: No, I pulled over to the side of the road and a dear popped out of the woods and looked at me funny.
Giggling, I manage to figure out where B is, give her some semblance of direction and of course, once she begins driving, reception cuts out and I lose her. Eventually she calls back, and as Big D and I try to figure out where she is, B ends up turning around and driving the same 1/2 mile stretch about 3 times. This causes some cursing on her end, especially at the deer, which she has apparently passed repeatedly and is now her only consistent landmark. After some confusion as to how she can be at an intersection of two roads that don't meet, we are eventually able to get her onto the correct side of the lake, and on her merry way. Soon, she arrives at the house. L and I go out to meet her.
Me: Where's the deer?
B: In the backseat.
Me: WHAT?!?! The deer. Where's the deer?
B: Oh, I thought you said beer. Because that's what's on my mind. I need a drink.
To B's credit, she did arrive prior to 1 am, so even Mr. T would be proud that she made it within the buffer. It'd been a long drive for us, and since we'd worked all day and it was late, we went to bed. B and I were sharing a bed in one of the rooms (I love that girls can do this without freaking out) and caught up a bit on our husbands, jobs, general lives before calling it a night.
Before going to sleep, B said, "Just to warn you, I talk in my sleep. But I'll try not to cuddle you." I laughed and said I'm sure it would be fine. So of course, at 5:15 am, I just started laughing when I was sleeping on my side and suddenly B's arm comes around me for a little snuggly squeeze. All I could do was laugh. Which of course caused Hannah, Big D's 3 year old lab, to come in and say good morning because people where awake. Which of course caused B to wake up and say, "Oh God! Sorry! Oh, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I...Sorry!" Which just caused me to laugh more. Then Big D came into gather Hannah--her tail was wagging so frantically and thumping against the wall you could hear it throughout the house.
A couple of restful hours later, we woke up and of course, I had to share with the rest of our friends. If you're going to share a bed with B, you're going to be the little spoon.
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