Monday: The Trip Home

On the one morning we had to pack and clean the cabin, I woke up extra late. After getting things moving, I walked down the dirt road to retrieve my van. Mr. & Mrs. D passed by in their pickup, stopping long enough to compliment me on coming out of my quiet shell, saying how they enjoyed the skit. As we finished cleaning the cabin, on a whim I neatly folded under the corners of the rolls of TP. We tried one last time to fix the broken blinds, without success.

Sitting with several female chaperones during the hot egg & cheese casserole & hashbowns breakfast, one squealed that there was a roach that needed to be killed. DJ walked past, so the job was left to me. I smashed the roach, garnering applause. As I used more hand sanitizer, Sandy lamented that killing roaches at home was one of the things she had taken for granted before her husband died.

As the student groups had their last devotions, Mrs. D nominated me to escort Mrs. Switzer and Cocks on an inspection of the boy’s cabins. I pointed out the broken blinds, but the ladies were delighted with the folded TP rolls.

Senior Robert was sad, as his last ever LS Retreat was coming to an end. As I moved the van into position, the always reserved DJ jumped into my window to give me a big bear hug. Members of the chuck team let me know they noticed I had “ordered” two lunch sandwiches for the ride home.

I was given the football player van…plus Micah, who for the most part stayed quiet in the back seat. Young Robert Baca, looking like the boy from “Sleepless in Seattle”, thoroughly enjoyed hanging with the older jocks…Robert, Alec, and Austin. They slept the first half of the trip, then swapped football stories the rest of the way. I identified with Alec, whose appearance on the field was of importance. Robert is a kicker like I was.

Mr. Cain finagled a bathroom break at Providence Canyon. Though a few miles off the main road, it was a treat for those of us who’d never been. The kids enjoyed the few extra minutes to socialize. Us drivers fought fatigue with increased radio chatter. Many one-liners were swapped jokes, though I got in my share.

Later Mr. Cain organized the dinner stop at Stevie B’s, quite a contrast to the healthy fare we’d dined on the previous five days. After we exited 575 for the final leg of the trip, even these cool guys in my van couldn’t hold in their excitement…rolling down the windows and exclaiming their pleasure at breathing in the cool, smoke-filled Georgia autumn air.