2022: an epic summer continues
July 11
Emma walks through back door saying she feels like a “sack of meat” after long day. I came across Firestarter today, in my boxes of books, and give it to her to read – she seems excited. I make this creamy ravioli from Dinnerly for Erin and me, light on the lemon. Plain tomato sauce with spaghetti for the girls.
July 12
After work, I drive over to the Walle house to swim, joining everybody else. It’s Erin, Emma, McKayla, Elaine, Katelyn F, Lauren, and her kids already here. Today is also of course Jill’s birthday, so some of us have sent her good cheer via text or social media or such. Jennifer meanwhile is hanging out inside and telling me I deserve a gold medal for dealing with Jill’s mom for as long as I have, that she personally would have killed that woman by now.
There’s some drama I’m not privy to, later in our stay here. Emma goes outside to talk to Jill on the phone. Then afterwards Erin and Jennifer go outside to talk to Emma, I don’t know about what.
Later, we fire up the grill, make burgers and hot dogs. Ryan is my helper. He insists upon holding the spatula, which is referred to as the “flipper,” while I stand there coaching (& moving dogs with my fingers). They’re apparently cracking up inside the house because he’s scratching his butt with his free hand - “well, he’s got that down, at least,” they’re saying. He keeps opening the door and shouting commands to people inside, too.
Emma’s referring to her backpack as “the great leave-in conditioner disaster of 2022,” and asks me to wash it. McKayla jokingly refers to me as “Dad,” without the “summer” modifier.
July 13
We meet at Mom and Dad’s house at 6. Tom and Elaine drive separately (it’s a surprise to my parents that they’re even coming) and they beat us here. This is their first look at the house, and Emma’s too. I forgot to bring the Jackson Browne vinyl album that I bought for Dad eons ago (at Bin 5 in Morganton), but had forgotten about then, too, and only recently stumbled upon. Meanwhile, Dad has a motorcycle helmet for Erin, a joke tied in with her recent concussion - she recently gave herself one getting into the car, accidentally cracking her dome on the top of the door frame. For me, he’s got some nice items he picked up at Goodwill, a hoodie and some Fila sneakers. My sneaker situation is actually a dire one, and these fit, look pretty much brand new. So I’m grateful for these donations.
After checking out the house, Tom and Elaine both love it. And Emma does as well. Then we all pile into vehicles, Mom and Dad riding with Tom and Elaine. For some reason Dad's flagging me down, asking what I'm doing, backing down the driveway like this. He's telling me to turn around, but I explain that we have a rearview camera.
They follow us across town to this restaurant, Restaurant 101. Arriving there, when I point thru the window at a nearby handicapped spot they could pull into, we still have to go around for another pass. I even stop here so they can get the hint. But then traffic is piling up behind them and they’re not taking the bait for some reason, so I have to drive around, take a series of lefts for another pass around the block. Then I point at it again on our 2nd time through, and this time they finally take it.
We have to stand around outside for a few waiting on a table, though fortunately not too long. Dad always finds these situations completely ridiculous.
They seat us at a tall, long table in the middle area, just past the bar, right where the 3 of us, Erin, Emma, and I, sat last time we were here. This time we're on some tall, pushed together tables. It takes awhile for our server to get to us, but once he does (I think his name is Chris), he's pretty attentive. I'm the only one drinking at first, but after seeing me order a draft, Dad changes his mind and does so as well. He orders this meatball appetizer as his dinner, which sounds ridiculous, but it ends up being as substantial as a meal.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, though, Emma's spaghetti is so small she scarfs it up in an instant. Elaine says something to our server about it, though, and he's cool about bringing Emma a second one for free. I feel really bad, though, because at one point I look over and she's crying – talking to Elaine and Erin and Tom about college, and Jill, etc, and getting worked up about it.
At another point Elaine asks our waiter, “are you a Sicilian?” and he instantly fires back, “no, but I'm a vegetarian.”
We head back to my parents' house to chill. It's decided today that Thanksgiving will be here - though unfortunately this will never happen. Dad builds a fire, which he and Tom and Elaine and I are chilling out around. The sky looks extremely weird tonight but it doesn't really show up in photos, during this orange twilight/sunset phase. Tom smokes some of Dad's pot (Dad says it's really strong) and is clearly pretty loopy. Back at the house later, Emma and McK do the whole painting rotation thing, up until around midnight. It looks really cool. I sit and watch The Bear with Cruz attached to my hip, basically.
July 14
on the way to drop girls off at Walle house, McKayla's telling some story (after seeing similar car) about how her mom's old car had this weird almost bubblegum smell all the time, and it made her want to vomit, always, but Julia never did anything about it. A very long yet comical tale.
We stopped at Cookout along the way, to get them lunch. “I don't know why my mom has to call me every day!” Emma says, as we're leaving the house.
“That's what moms do,” I say.
“Is it, now?” Emma says, mockingly.
We're in line at Cookout, approaching the speaker, when Erin calls. She was thinking about coming here (is just driving past Chili's up the road) but decides to go to our snazzy new Chipotle instead. Statesville is moving up in the world! We finally got a Chipotle!
Here at Cookout, though, McKayla gets a shake and somehow manages to stab her straw through the bottom of the cup. So then we pull into the driveway, and she's still telling this story, about Julia’s car, but also holding her shake cup sideways, to attempt not spilling it everywhere, as she walks into the house. Elaine is in the living room, and of course is like WTF. I drop them off and go home.
July 15
drive in movie. I'm kind of dreading the logistics but it ends up not being horrible. I go and get Daniel first, as well as his dog Elle. I wasn't sure about this dog business, but she's actually extremely calm and well behaved. Next, we stop back at my house, to scoop Emma up. Then we drive out to get McKayla, down to Mooresville to pick up Holden.
So there are 6 of us now (if you count the dog, on Daniel's lap), in Erin's car. But it is an awesome time. The kids really don't talk much in the back seat, the whole way there. It ends up being basically the same drive timewise, as the one in Albemarle, but this Kings Mountain one (our 1st time here) is much nicer. This is a 3 screen operation with double features on each.
It never does fill up here, though, not even close. Although I suppose that's a good thing. The concession stand operation is an impressive one, close to the car and extremely reasonable. The only problem is it's manned by a bunch of kids. They could definitely use some adult supervision here. Things take way longer than they should, often for reasons like the counter girl going back and pouring one drink, returning to look at her note pad, then waltzing back to pour another. So this takes an eternity sometimes.
We have lawn chairs, but it starts drizzling at some point. So Emma and McKayla move to the front seats of the car and will remain there. I take out some umbrellas from the trunk and rig at least one to cover the chairs, although the rain isn't too intrusive anyway, without it. Paws Of Fury is the first movie, but nobody cares about seeing it. I'm just sitting there zoning out to the extent that the movie's almost over before I recognize one of the voices, and observe that it sounds like Mel Brooks. “It is,” Daniel confirms with a nod. We would have left if the movies were flip-flopped, because everyone only really wants to see Rise of Gru. Although I have to admit to mostly sitting there and zoning out through this one as well. Late in the movie I go get a coffee, and find the concession area blessedly deserted. Daniel sees this and does the same.
Erin meanwhile was up in Taylorsville tonight with some of her chick friends, hanging out at Brushy Mountain Brews. Some southern rock dudes were playing and she films a short clip of them doing Marshall Tucker Band’s Can’t You See.
Then it's time for us to leave the movies. We stop at some highly sketchy convenience store in Gastonia – cigarettes for Daniel, caffeine for me – then head back to my house, where everyone crashes.
July 16
Blackberry Festival in Lenoir. Before this, though, Daniel and I went to The Pit Stop baseball card shop in downtown Statesville this morning. He manages to trade in $715 of old unopened product for some newer stuff. I buy this jumbo pack of 2022 Topps. I’m cracking up for some reason because the owner's daughter is stuck hanging out behind the counter too, a little girl who happens to be thoroughly engrossed with some female wrestlers on the mounted TV.
Back at the house, we eventually climb into the two cars (Erin and Emma; me, Daniel, Holden, and Elle) and meet at the Conover Walmart or whatever that area is considered. Erin wants new lawn chairs, Holden needs new shoes – his busted at the drive-in.
Then we hit the interstate again. Erin manages to fall way back almost right away. But then calls me soon after with some bizarre information to impart – not that I am surprised. The first part is that she has called to ask me not to lose them, now that they have caught back up.
“What do you have your cruise control set to?” she asks.
“It's down to 64 now.”
“Thaaaaaat explains it,” she says, “I wondered why we were going so slow.”
“Huh? I had to keep slowing it down, because you guys were disappearing behind me.”
“Yeah but I'm talking about now.”
“So you call me to say I'm losing you, but then I'm also somehow driving too slow? What kind of sense does that make?”
“Hey! Listen...,” she says, though obviously smiling, apparently realizing the contradiction.
“It's the same thing you guys were doing coming back from Myrtle Beach,” I tell her, “telling me not to lose you, but then I kept having to drive slower and slower because you kept falling behind. Then at the end you're complaining that I was driving too slow.”
Here's the basic scenario: despite all their sassy smack talking, these girls are mostly not using their cruise control! Or they had it on, spazz out and hit their brake without even realizing, because they're talking the entire time. Then at some point, they realize they are waaaaaaaay the fuck behind you, and floor it. So then they are hauling ass as they finally catch back up to you. At which point they agree that you sure are driving really slow.
“Well, I'm gonna put it back up to 70, and the next thing I know you're gonna be a half mile behind me,” I say now.
“That's fine. Go 70. Don't worry about us.”
After we hang up, I tell Daniel, “I really don't get chick logic sometimes.”
I tell him about the drive back from Myrtle Beach last summer. I’m in the lead car, Lauren and Erin are following. They tell me they don’t know their way and that I absolutely should not lose them. So I set the cruise control to five MPH above the speed limit, in the middle of absolutely nowhere with no traffic to speak of; the women always swear they are using cruise, too, but the next thing you know, they’re mysteriously fading over the horizon behind me. So I drop it down a mile per hour. The same thing begins to happen. Drop it down another MPH. They’re still losing you. Eventually I’m down to exactly the speed limit, and hang out there, possibly going even a little lower.
Then from out of nowhere, here comes their car, flying up the highway behind me, hauling ass until they are on my back bumper. So I figure, okay, now we’re talking, and bump it back up to five over. But then repeat the entire cycle again. Repeat. Repeat. At the halfway point, we stop for lunch at Highway 55 and they ask me why I’m driving so slow. And then the cycle continues for much of the drive home from here.
Obviously what is happening is they are NOT sticking to the cruise control, are yakking nonstop, totally distracted, and only occasionally realize they are completely losing me. Still, apparently are heard complaining to others later that I’m the reason it took us an eternity to get home from Myrtle Beach.
Anyway, regarding today, we soon hit 321 and make our way up to Lenoir. Parking pretty close to the event, we can hear some band playing Skynrd's What's Your Name. We are groaning and explaining to Holden how putrid these guys are. I add that at this point I'm even burned out on the Allman Bros, too, and Daniel agrees with me. By my count, seriously 3 out of the first 10 songs they play are Skynrd tunes.
After walking around for a very short while, we end up eating...at a restaurant. Chosen because they have sidewalk seating, in deference to the dog. But first must wait around, until one of their outside tables opens up, in this sectioned off area on the other side of the sidewalk. It's called 1841 Cafe and it's pretty good but not amazing. But at least we can have the dog out here, which is part of the point. Daniel and I both order a berry flavored beer.
Then we walk around for a short while, though we never find anything all that amazing. Emma and I walk all the way down to the end of the one strip, stopping to watch this very bad comedy/magic act. Then we return, wander around this huge antique store with Holden. Yet nobody buys anything here.
After this, we drive clear back down to Claremont for some other outdoor festival. This proves to be even lamer than the Lenoir one, however, plus it seems to be approximately 122 degrees out now.
They do have some soapy bubbles cranking out on the small lawn in front of the City Of Claremont and library building. More importantly, though, at least to Daniel and me, there's this little truck dispensing draft beer right beside it. Although even this (IPA) admittedly doesn't go down all that well in this ridiculous heat, and we both only have one.
Lauren, Chris, and the kids meet us here to hang out. There's an Aerosmith tribute band setting up to play, which is the main attraction. Emma and I kill time by walking up to the ice cream shop, where they serve Hershey's brand – she gets something, I do not. We sit on this bench along the main drag while she eats it. A little later, I see Lauren and Chris heading over to the ice cream place themselves. Yet we all leave before the band even starts.
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Thanks and have a great week!