How to vacation on the cheap

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Hopefully someone out there missed me. I must say that this past trip, however mundane some people might think it was, left me recharged. I'm not totally ready to go back to the office, but I'm absolutely stoked about starting rehearsals for A Chorus Line tonight.

Here's a brief (hopefully) recap of the trip with some lessons learned in the process.

We left on Tuesday night after work. The Maestro picked me up, we packed my luggage and clubs in his car and went on our merry way. At about 6 pm on a Tuesday evening, the roads weren't too packed. We headed to Bedford, Pennsylvania and had dinner with some friends from college. We hung around and watched the Olympics with them for a bit, got a tour of their new house, and got back on the road. We arrived in Indiana, Pennsylvania (Maestro's mama's hometown) a little after 11 and found our way to his grandparents' house.

Wednesday, we took our time getting up and Maestro's grandma made us breakfast. In passing, he asked her how long she'd been married to his grandfather, jogging her memory to remind her that today was in fact their 59th wedding anniversary. I'm so glad we kids were around to keep them honest. I lounged around a bit and tried to convince the Maestro's grandfather that Barack Obama doesn't have terrorist ties while Maestro took a walk into downtown Indiana. When we finally got on the road, we drove around for a little bit and then found a Par 3 executive golf course right out of town. Thank goodness it was only par 3 golf... because I haven't golfed in quite awhile. My clubs were dusty and my drive was even dustier. We had fun, nonetheless. We went to a huge church pot luck (300 people... seriously the biggest pot luck I've ever seen in my life) at the Maestro's grandparent's parish. In return for telling the priest that it was their 59th anniversary, he put the Maestro on the spot and had him sing "O Danny Boy" for a riveted audience. The Maestro wasn't pleased, but sometimes you suck it up for the people you love, eh? We came back home and played a round or two of cards with the grandparents and tried to get them to not make out.

Ahhh... young love.


Eventually they came up for air so that I could take a picture with them.


On Thursday, we tried to get an early start so that we could head into Pittsburgh. But by tried, I mean failed, and by "we," I mean the Maestro. We finally headed out a little after noon, and changed plans slightly. We headed instead to Grove City College to visit a friend who had just moved back on to campus for the school year. Clearly, he's getting a lot accomplished at school.



He feigned some excuse about being in some orientation leader skit at school. I'm still thinking about showing his mother and staging an intervention.

We hit the outlets outside the city for a few minutes and then headed back to Indiana to grab dinner with the Maestro's pap pap. Grandma, you see, had abandoned him for the day to go the casinos.

By Friday morning, we still liked one another. This in itself was a small victory as I don't think we'd seen each other that many full days in a row in three months. The Maestro's grandma made us a fantastic breakfast and sent us on our way with a gallon bag full of white chocolate-covered trail mix. I think grandmas secretly want everyone but them to be fat. That woman stuffed me to within an inch of my life over two days. At any rate, we left Indiana and headed for Troy. No, not best friend-of-mine Troy, but Troy, Pennsylvania. It's a pretty long trek, but we took a scenic route and made stops along the way. Noteworthy pit stops were in Punxsutawney (home of Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day) and The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. It was a nice leisurely trip.





As we got closer and closer to Aunt Jean and Uncle Dwayne's house, I smelled more pig manure, rode on more dirt roads, and saw more waving Confederate flags than I think I've experienced in my lifetime. My phone lost service, and I'll admit I heard banjos in my head coming after me. When we got to our destination, however, it was great. I haven't seen the stars like I've seen up at their house in years, and it was beautiful to be in the middle of nowhere for a little bit. Aunt Jean cooked us a fantastic dinner and we played a board game and watched the Olympics for a little bit.

When we got up on Saturday morning, we had a hearty breakfast and headed over to a cousin's house and met their new puppies. They were adorable and I begged the Maestro to bring one home. He looked at me like I had crazy all over my face. How can you say no to these little guys, though?



We had one of the most scenic drives home on Saturday. We were a little under the gun, but it was completely worth it.




So what did we learn on our trip?

1. Leave as soon as possible. Being musicians, The Maestro and I are both night owls. We don't have a problem being up late... in fact, we're used to it. Leaving after work afforded us the opportunity to wake up at our first destination. It extended our days of true vacation from three to four solely by getting on the road as soon as we possibly could.

2. Stay with friends and family. We killed two birds with one stone by staying with family: we saved TONS of money that would've otherwise gone to hotel and restaurant bills and got to spend time with friends and family we rarely see. It wasn't our plan to mooch off of people. It was our intention to thank our hosts by taking them out to dinner, but all of them had already made plans to prepare home-cooked meals for us.

3. Don't be afraid to veg out. Not every vacation is about cramming as much as humanly possible into each day. The Maestro and I got a fair amount accomplished, but we also made sleep a huge priority (something we don't get a lot of in our day-to-day lives). I was equally as comfortable in National parks and on the golf course as I was sitting on the couch and walking America's Next Top Model reruns. And I went to bed early (for me) every night to ensure at least 8 hours of sleep.

4. Lay some basic plans, but be flexible. Don't be afraid if it doesn't all get done. This time is supposed to be about relaxing and rejuvenating-- not about crossing line items off a list. We didn't get to Pittsburgh, but we also didn't get upset about it. We found other things to keep us occupied and satisfied.

And there it is, kids. For the price of 3 gallons of gas, and a cheap meal or two on the road, we had an amazingly satisfying getaway. It wasn't a Vegas vacation or trip to Cabo like some of the smart people with money non-musicians I went to school with are enjoying now, but it was perfect for us.