Rick & Erica Always, Forever: MY VACATION

My vacations began May 10 & ended May 16

Vacation #1 was Tybee Island, GA to visit my mom

Vacation #2 was Myrtle Beach, SC where my "sister" Stephanie, some of her friends and our "parents" went vacationing.

May 10: I spent the ENTIRE day driving.

I left my house at about 10:30am

I listened to silence & then an entire book on CD Mistaken Identity by Van Ryn, Cerak, Tabb

I never once got too tired to drive, which I suppose is a good thing because I had no one else to take the wheel. It was just me, myself & I.

May 11: I arrived on Tybee Island at about 12:30am

It was clearly pitch dark & the scariest part was not knowing where to go & looking at my GPS showing nothing but the road I am on and water on both sides on me with no sign on land but what is in front of me and behind me. SCARY. I got to what I thought was my moms house and called her and her husband phones. No answer. What? I was soooo angry. I had driven xxxx hours and their not answering their phones. For about a 1/2 hour I called & called... & FINALLY my mom answered. She felt SO bad. (And dang it she should.) Anyways she met me outside and helped me carry in my bags. I said hi to her husband James who was in bed and had no idea I was there or that I called both of their phones a billion times. Eventually he got up out of bed and we all three sat in the living room and talked about my long journey {alone}. & then we went out to the beach... it was unfortunate that it was evening, and so, so dark - I seriously couldn't see a thing! But just smelling the ocean, feeling the warm weather & the sand between my toes was good enough. :)

May 12: My mom and James (her husband) both had to work - but to my luck I had a whole beach & pool to enjoy. I went out that morning sometime around 10am and stayed out until about 2pm --- I knew it was really hot outside and the sun was really getting to me. Especially because I was so used to Michigan 60 degree weather, not sunny enough to wear shorts, or tanks tops but here I was on Tybee Island walking around in nothing but a bathing suit & flip flops. I went inside for lunch and shortly thereafter my mom came home. I told her I felt a little sick & i was having a hard time breathing. Must of been because it was 90 degrees outside with 70 or 80 something humidity (saw that fact of info on the news) YIKES! No wonder why I was sweating, hot & felt a little sick.

May 13: My mom took today off to spend some time with me before I left Tybee to go on my 2nd vacation to Myrtle Beach. Today, however it was not as nice as it was the day before. Today I wore jean carpi's & a fleece. My mom, her friend, and her friends son fed some turtles --- they we're so big & cute. We then went for a walk on beach. While walking I found a starfish... that wasn't quite a star because it was broke & I was excited I had found it however when I attempted to pick it up it felt sooo weird, so my moms friends son (Devon) is holding it. We walked on the beach of the river that runs into the ocean... or the ocean runs into the river. Whichever it be it was amazing. While walking I found a starfish... that wasn't quite a star because it was broke & I was excited I had found it however when I attempted to pick it up it felt sooo weird, so my moms friends son (Devon) is holding it. I have a pretty neat pic of the beach where this happens and the waves & current where the two clash is sooo strong that you cannot swim there and if you tried you drown. Have you ever heard of JETTIES? I never had. Their pretty neat. And BEAUTIFUL.

May 14 & 15: I left my moms this afternoon for Myrtle Beach & when I got in the car I realized that i really didn't feel like driving to Myrtle Beach let alone home later on that week. 4 1/2 hours later I arrived at Myrtle Beach - Ocean Blvd. It was cold... blah & NO sun. :( The whole gang ate out that evening at a something famous burger place. So it was only appropriate to order a burger... and I did & it was super spicy & afterwards I had horrible heart burn. But it was good. The younger crowd went to DICKS -- which was okay. Super expensive, the food was a little less than average and I really wanted Catfish & they didn't have anymore. I think I spent $20 on myself for a piece of chicken, fries, coleslaw & a Mike's Hard Lemonade. I went shopping one evening with Michelle for shirts & a shot glass. The morning I left to drive home I went for a walk on the beach alone... it felt like it wanted to rain - but I prayed to God that it wouldn't so that I could spend one last minute on the beach gathering shells and gathering my thoughts. The rain drops were so soft it almost felt like a mist off the ocean & it last only a few moments. I prayed I see a shark or dolphins or a whale. But I didn't... so I think maybe/ hopefully next time? Ryan met me on the beach. He was sooo bummed that I went out without him - but no worries Craig brought him out to fly the kite.. and Ryan had no interest. Well, enough interest in the kite to hold it for a little less than a minute and let it go... you should have seen how fast Craig ran & Ryan's face was absolutely priceless. To live my life as a 3 1/2 year old again would be amazing --- some of the things he says and does amazes me. I left Myrtle Beach at noon on Friday & as soon as I got off the exit to drive a little less than 7 miles to my house it began POURING rain.. the only bad driving rain the whole trip. I arrived at my house on Saturday morning at 2:30am --- I brought in all of my things from my car & did laundry. Haha I know, laundry at 2:30 in the morning. Yes, that is my life - that is what I do. I'm not going to lie - I really did miss my kitty Maxey but goodness he wanted me to stay up all night with him and he slept right on top of me.. I suppose that means he really missed me too?