Lessons From Vacationland

This past weekend was my ten year high school reunion.  Since it had been almost six years since I had been back to Maine, I figured it was a great opportunity to drive up for the weekend, see some family and old friends and take a look at how much my hometown has changed.  On what proved to be a very emotional personal adventure of driving thirteen hours up, spending one day in the Vacationland state, attending my ten year reunion, and driving thirteen hours back, I learned a few lessons that I wanted to share with you:

1. A pit stop on the interstate with no children is an incredibly freeing and delightful experience.
2. NPR is a lot more entertaining than I realized.
3. My husband is an incredibly competent single father despite my nagging and worrying.
4. Maine is still cold and the sun still hardly ever shines.
5. Some people never change, and that can be really refreshing to see.
6. Other people never change, and that is truly unfortunate.
7. If you give a pregnant woman free soda refills for four hours she will flush the toilet enough to drain an entire Great Lake.
8. The Vanilla Mocha Coffee that comes out of a rest stop coffee machine is incredibly hot and should not be consumed for at least an hour after it is served.  (My tongue sincerely wishes I had all ready known this.)
9. Even if you don't want them to, the people around you do define you as long as you are around those people.
10. Whether you purchase a used car or a new car, always do a test run with your carjack in the safety and security of your driveway because nothing will make you cry harder than realizing your jack is broken while stranded on the side of the road 12 hours from home.
11. Even if you have a working jack, invest in a roadside assistance service.  I have never been so grateful for that tiny little 800 number sitting in my glove compartment.
12. Nothing will cheer you up faster than hearing your three year old tell you over the phone all about his day with Daddy.
13. When the really nice couple who currently occupies your childhood home offers to give you a tour so you can see how much it has changed, perhaps it is wiser to pass and just hold onto the memories of what that home once was because...
14. ...despite what the Bon Jovi song says, you really can't go home.