Vacation Away Gone Awry

A Romantic Story – Part 2

 Well, I thought I was going home.  But God had something much richer in mind for the Droste New Year.   This is the romantic part.

As I laid in my restless state on the bed at Breitenbush, my mind whirled through all of the logistics; change both of our air flights into Portland, take the big SUV rig back, weather the acute discomfort of tramping back up to the office and being nice to the poor woman I had bellowed at yesterday.  Will you give me my money back?  How about a credit?

On and on the grey cells wound around themselves, until I just threw back the covers and marched up to the office.  I didn’t care what it cost.  This was all wrong.  I didn’t want this to go down as the New Years I wasn’t with my sweetie.  I thought it would be ok.  I’m independent.  I’m strong.  We’ve done vacations apart.  But it wasn’t right.  It was somehow spiritually wrong for me to be there.  I listened.  I left.

Breitenbush, (that same, dear woman), was ever so kind and generous, giving me back all of our money in the form of a gift certificate we used that summer.  Thank you, thank you!  I packed up quickly in a lighthearted mood, piled it all into the four wheel rig and headed down the mountain. 

I called Rob.  He felt terrible I was leaving, “I’m a big dud”, he protested.  (But I think he was secretly glad I was coming home.)  I called Robbie who acted just like you want your girlfriend to act.  Supportive of your every move.  On my way up the mountain, she enthused, “How independent of you, that’s great you’re going anyway!” - - on the way down the mountain she agreed, “You have to go with your heart”, of course you want to be with your sweetie at New Year’s.”  We all need a friend like Robbie in our life.  We need that support around us; friends and community to join us on the ride.

So I’m hurtling down I-5 in that big rig, listening to rock and roll, singing my lungs out to Aerosmith; in a great mood.  I’m going home to my sweetie!  I can’t wait to see him! 

Then it starts raining.  It starts raining hard.  I keep driving.  I spot something solid and white.  Oh, good Lord, is it a snowflake?  No, it’s just rain, it doesn’t snow in Portland.   Hurtled another couple of miles. . .yes, it is indeed snow.  You’re kidding me! . . . .ok, what’s a little snow?  I went to college in Wyoming!  I’m a mountain girl! I have on my sheepskin vest from LL. Bean.  I can handle this!  I’m in a Toyota RAV-4 for God’s sakes!

Two hours later, creeping along at 5 miles per hour in a full out blizzard, mindful of the corpses of cars stranded at the side, I reached the airport. Shoot, I need to gas up this rig.  Ok, after slogging through 20 minutes of traffic for a half mile just to fill up, I figured it was time to call the airlines. 

When I left Breitenbush, I had cavalierly decided to take my chances, figuring I had a better chance of getting a boarding pass if I went in person instead of dealing with a faceless entity on the phone.  But now, it was definitely time to call. There may not be any planes going out in this chaos.  The tinny voice of the agent patiently informed me that every plane was booked to both Oakland can San Francisco for the next two days.

Ok, I surrender. It’s the end of the journey. I’m not going anywhere. 

I call Rob.  He wants to come up.  Oh, would he?  Oh, God love my dear husband! “No, no, you’re sick”, I assured him I would be fine.  I’ll find a hotel room, I have lots of good books, I’ll order room service, talk to girlfriends and hunker down.  It might even be kind of fun.

Thank you great Spirit for Comfort Inns!  I was finally inside, out of the chaos, safe, warm and secure.  Robbie calls, “Where are you?  I’m watching this freak snowstorm on TV.  Are you ok?”  Oh, it’s wonderful to have good friends!  She decides very quickly that indeed, Rob should come up; after all, he already has the changed airline ticket for the next day, why not use it?  She decided that we could enjoy a lovely, romantic New Years in snowy downtown Portland, holed up in a luxury hotel, watching movies and ordering room service.  She announced that my job that night was to find us a hotel and of course, I enthusiastically agreed.  What an adventure this is!  She helped to make it fun!  Dear, dear Robbie!  I secured a lovely room at the downtown Hilton in the executive tower.  When Rob called back and I gushed, “Yes, indeed come up!”

Thank God I didn’t take the car back or cancel any flights.  For once in my life, I had waited until it was the right time to act – stay put until it unfolds.

I couldn’t wait to meet him at the airport the next morning.  I felt as giddy as I did in the first six months of our relationship.  I could not wait to see him!  He looked so handsome ambling down the corridor, and I rushed up to him and wouldn’t let him go.  He announced that he’d have to be a lot sicker than this to let me spend two days in a hotel room at New Year’s by myself!  Not too shabby after seventeen years of marriage . . .

He called me intrepid.  Isn’t that way cool?  The compliment went straight to my heart. I’ve always wanted to be intrepid.  (Picture me in that big rig, barreling through a white-out in my LL bean shearling vest.)  This western girl knows what she’s doing on icy roads.

We enjoyed two blissful nights and three days in pure luxury; reveling under a poofy comforter with a zillion thread counts and an espresso pot.  We laid around in our thick robes of heavy cotton and watched the latest movies on our huge screen TV. We had a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner at an exquisite French restaurant Spirit chose just for us.  We talked about the shifts and movements of the past year while spooning gooey, rich onion soup and sturgeon beurre blanc. We had a long, visionary talk about the year to come, while gazing out the window at the magnificent Christmas tree on the deep blue lit square. We took pictures.  We strolled through the snow.

The next morning, we treated ourselves to a room service brunch to beat the band.  Happy New Year!  We did a little light shopping downtown, and whiled away three hours in famous Powell’s bookstore, browsing through rare books, sipping coffee and eating baked goods.  I found hard covers I’ve had on my list for years.

Spirit knows what we need even more than we do. The fruits kept multiplying.  It was harvest time!   We were in showers of joy.  It’s ok to change course.  Even when it all goes awry - RE-INVENT!