Roomies

On the Road Sometimes, just a simple thing, such as riding at night with my “family” on the way to a much-anticipated vacation spot, was one of the most special moments in life. They say it's the little things that count, and it’s so true! The feeling of warmth and contentedness I felt that night as we coasted through the darkness toward Vegas was a very happy and fun moment filled with great chatter, snacks, and some zoning out into our own little worlds to listen to music on our phones or read on our Kindles. I felt calm yet excited at the same time at the thought of the adventures that lay ahead. We generally preferred to fly when we went on vacation. This would usually be to other countries, and we would try to go somewhere different every time, which was two or three times a year. This didn’t count the times Jamie and I would sometimes accompany Michelle or Angela on business trips out of town. But sometimes we fell so in love with a particular place that we went back more than once, such as to Maui. There was so much to do on the smaller islands there. We would snorkel, go scuba diving, swimming, sailing, water skiing, attend luaus, and so much more. Vegas was fine, but there wasn’t as much to do there other than eat, sleep, and gamble. The shows didn’t really interest us, but of course, the various gift shops would always lure Jamie and me to expand our growing collection of souvenirs, and we enjoyed long, leisurely gourmet meals in the fancy restaurants. As I’ve mentioned before, Jamie would often complain that the rest of us did things better than she did or were somehow luckier. But not one night in particular. No, it was just the opposite, actually. Where Michelle, Angela, and I had no luck gambling, Jamie managed to win nearly a grand playing the slot machines. So happy and excited were we that night—not that we were hurting for money—that we were kind of loud and rambunctious in a playful way once we retired to our room for the night, way up high in the hotel we stayed at. Our next-door neighbors were annoyed enough with our racket to knock loudly on the wall in protest. Giggling with our hands over our mouths, we relaxed until we crashed... looking forward to the next day.