On the Road [#4]

May 19th marked our 16th day on the road since we drove east from Park City, Maryland-bound. We learned quickly that making plans more than a few hours in advance is futile so we tend to spend a lot of time scrambling: to find a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place that allows dogs [insert eye roll emoji].

But we’re getting more efficient. And we’re definitely getting better at making less-crappy game-time decisions, which is fast becoming a necessary skill. Sixteen days into our Boat Dream transition and we’re sleeping in our 5th state — Delaware was this week’s big winner.

“Why Delaware?” is a super question.

I can only say that our answer for virtually all minor decisions these days is always the same — Why not? After the boat survey results finally came back, we were left with yet another week to kill. Delaware’s weather looked decent, we figured a little beach time might be lovely, and — perhaps most importantly — we found a cheap dog-friendly VRBO. So, we moved out of our 7th hotel and drove to the Atlantic for a week in America’s First State.

Arriving at our little 3-bedroom, 2-bath condo in Bethany Beach, Delaware, was — after 2 weeks on the road — nothing short of heavenly. The boys barely fought over bedrooms (somewhere along the way, they’ve managed to establish a mutually agreed upon system of hotel side-of-the-bed choosing which, miraculously, translated to condo bedroom choosing) and there was more lush green grass for Bear to roll in than she’d seen since sometime last fall in Park City, before the snow settled in.

Also, there was a washing machine.

And a dryer.

And a dishwasher.

Be still my heart.

There’s no doubt we’re itching to get on the boat, but in the meantime, our side trips are doing a bang up job of pulling their weight. At the condo, we’ve enjoyed little tastes of our old normal: Netflix catch-up, trips to the grocery store (for something other than microwave dinners), and the kids holed up in their own rooms blinded by the familiar haze of some form of electronics [more eye roll emojis]. But we’ve also had time to explore the coast, cook for ourselves, and lose — repeatedly — to Hudson at chess. Oh the glorious little things…