Step Awaay From The Roadmap!

It turns out an evil Spambot was roaming the blogosphere, causing AficioNada to be temporarily out of commission. All is well now.

Oh...and I'm ON VACATION.

What does this mean, vacation? Well. For months we have been planning the Big Road Trip and - had it happened - I would be writing this from somewhere in Richmond, Virginia tonight instead of here at my own beloved writing desk. That is, if we had even arrived in Richmond by now. And if I had been able to figure out how to use the free wifi to get online which, let's face it, is doubtful, since my own local Panera Bread still presents a challenge.

The plan had been: drive to St. Augustine, Florida, where some close family members live, visit for a few days, see the sights, and slowly make our way back home with several additional adventure stops along the way. The first problem? Heh, those family members were actually planning to be here this week.

Since this was really the only week in the whole summer that the three of us were A) together and B) not otherwise obligated to certain specialized camp programs which are really important to us, Mom, we decided to go ahead with the trip anyway. Hey, they offered us their house. Who am I to turn down free lodging?

Without that particular motivation, however, the whole plan seemed to lose steam. And that's saying a lot, Mr. and Mrs. Family Who Live In Florida and Who Occasionally Read This. Because I have a bad case of travelitis these days.

I made the decision to walk away on the morning of our departure for New York. I only had to somehow break it to the girls.

"You know," I tiptoed in. "We are staring at a 4 1/2 hour drive tonight. And another one on Sunday coming home. What say we feel this out and see if we are up for the big Road Trip?"

Blink. Blink.

"Plus, you know, I've been doing the math. Gas and lodging alone? A thousand dollars. Think of the fun we could have around here for a thousand dollars!"

Fourth Grader speaks first.

"You mean we can spend a thousand dollars if we stay home?"

"No, no, I mean that's what it would cost, just to go, we could have a good time on much less here..."

"So...we don't have to go?"

"Uh...no, we don't have to...wait, didn't you want to go?"

"...Not really. Can we just go to Water Country instead?"

And Second Grader chimes in with "Water Country, Water Country!"

For crying out loud.

So today we went to the beach. The weather was marvelous. The water was marvelous. The 90 minute round trip was marvelous. And tomorrow? Yes.

Water Country.