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porkwithbonesSet during our protagonists' college years.
Val might be from a farm, but he emailed them links to the cloud documents of adjustable packing lists for the upcoming trip, what everyone else's lists were, estimated time of departure, maps and so on.
(group text)
Anton: look at all the free time someone's got
Gwen: Look who'd get there unprepared if it was left to him
Anton: You talkin' to me? you talkin' to me? besides there's a small store on the way
Val: some of us aren't trust fund kiddies. Better to bring everything we need and be prepared.
Anton: I'm a trust fund baby you can trust me!
Gwen: Are you ever going to stop quoting Hamilton?
Camille: Can we use sticks for toasting marshmallows? Because if so, I'm bringing marshmallows
Gwen: don't see any reason why not. Get graham crackers and herskeys bars too
Gwen: Hersheys. Where's autocorrect when you really need it?
Anton: At least there's toilets at this place
Val: taking it easy on you city slickers
Gwen: Besides, some things you just don't want to bury in the woods
Camille: Gwen! Ew!
Gwen: just saying! ;)
~ ~ ~
The Jeep didn't have a CD player, or even a tape deck. It was that old. It did have a radio.
"And I brought a road trip mix," Anton sighed theatrically, helping pack the gear into the back.
"Now who's got too much time on his hands?"
"Oh, like it's hard to burn songs to a CD. The hardest part was finding a blank CD."
"Camille, do you want to sit up front?" Val asked.
"Yeah. We'll let these two bicker and flirt in the back, and we can ride in peace."
Camille also helped with the GPS and directions. Val didn't fully trust the GPS, though he acknowledged that was silly, and he wasn't familiar with the network of roads and highways that looped and sprawled around Houston yet, not with just getting this vehicle over Thanksgiving.
"My parents said I should have a way to come home easily," he said, "especially over holidays or if there's an emergency. We just couldn't find me something before the school year started. That's why I had to wait until now." It was a stick shift, too, which meant he would be the only one likely to ever drive this vehicle. Even thieves might think twice about that.
"Well, this ought to get you through in any kind of weather," Camille noted.
"It should," Val said with a nod. "It's old, but still got plenty of life left, and in the city it won't work too hard. But I read up about the hurricanes you all have sometimes here, and how the city can flood."
"Smart to have a plan for that. You know not to drive into standing water though, right?"
"Yep. Lots of that back home, too." Val's eyes were fixed on the road ahead, hands gripped tightly on the wheel. They'd left early on this Saturday, to avoid traffic, but he was still a very conservative driver, and now that he was on unfamiliar highways he was nervous again. "Can you keep track of the map for me?"
"No problem. I'll watch the map and the highway signs both." Camille's voice seemed solid, something you could steady yourself against.
"Oh, you did not!" came a gleeful laugh from the separate conversation in the backseat.
They made it out of the city without incident, but Val didn't seem to relax until they were well away and the sky had lightened. He vetoed Anton's request to hit a drive-thru for coffee, pointing out that there were no cupholders, "and we'll make coffee when we get there. I thought you said you'd gone camping before."
"Sure, and sometimes we'd stop for coffee. What a grouch."
"Someone did bring coffee, right? Or are we all doomed to live with Anton being a grouch for the next two days?"
"There's coffee in a thermos in the back," Val said, "and we can make more. But we'll have real coffee. Not candy coffee." That was Val's term for the fancy coffees with flavors and syrups and whipped cream and everything else added in.
"I do drink regular coffee, you know," Anton's aggrieved voice came from the back seat.
"You okay, Cam? Not having a seizure or anything?" Gwen asked, the very picture of mischievous concern.
"You stop that!" Talking made the giggles Camille had been shaking with come bursting out. "I was trying not to laugh, and now you've ruined it."
"Just because you don't drink coffee doesn't mean you get to laugh at our very real concerns." Gwen's put-upon voice was very well done.
"I was trying not to!"
"And doing a terrible job of it. I saved you the trouble."
Val might be from a farm, but he emailed them links to the cloud documents of adjustable packing lists for the upcoming trip, what everyone else's lists were, estimated time of departure, maps and so on.
(group text)
Anton: look at all the free time someone's got
Gwen: Look who'd get there unprepared if it was left to him
Anton: You talkin' to me? you talkin' to me? besides there's a small store on the way
Val: some of us aren't trust fund kiddies. Better to bring everything we need and be prepared.
Anton: I'm a trust fund baby you can trust me!
Gwen: Are you ever going to stop quoting Hamilton?
Camille: Can we use sticks for toasting marshmallows? Because if so, I'm bringing marshmallows
Gwen: don't see any reason why not. Get graham crackers and herskeys bars too
Gwen: Hersheys. Where's autocorrect when you really need it?
Anton: At least there's toilets at this place
Val: taking it easy on you city slickers
Gwen: Besides, some things you just don't want to bury in the woods
Camille: Gwen! Ew!
Gwen: just saying! ;)
~ ~ ~
The Jeep didn't have a CD player, or even a tape deck. It was that old. It did have a radio.
"And I brought a road trip mix," Anton sighed theatrically, helping pack the gear into the back.
"Now who's got too much time on his hands?"
"Oh, like it's hard to burn songs to a CD. The hardest part was finding a blank CD."
"Camille, do you want to sit up front?" Val asked.
"Yeah. We'll let these two bicker and flirt in the back, and we can ride in peace."
Camille also helped with the GPS and directions. Val didn't fully trust the GPS, though he acknowledged that was silly, and he wasn't familiar with the network of roads and highways that looped and sprawled around Houston yet, not with just getting this vehicle over Thanksgiving.
"My parents said I should have a way to come home easily," he said, "especially over holidays or if there's an emergency. We just couldn't find me something before the school year started. That's why I had to wait until now." It was a stick shift, too, which meant he would be the only one likely to ever drive this vehicle. Even thieves might think twice about that.
"Well, this ought to get you through in any kind of weather," Camille noted.
"It should," Val said with a nod. "It's old, but still got plenty of life left, and in the city it won't work too hard. But I read up about the hurricanes you all have sometimes here, and how the city can flood."
"Smart to have a plan for that. You know not to drive into standing water though, right?"
"Yep. Lots of that back home, too." Val's eyes were fixed on the road ahead, hands gripped tightly on the wheel. They'd left early on this Saturday, to avoid traffic, but he was still a very conservative driver, and now that he was on unfamiliar highways he was nervous again. "Can you keep track of the map for me?"
"No problem. I'll watch the map and the highway signs both." Camille's voice seemed solid, something you could steady yourself against.
"Oh, you did not!" came a gleeful laugh from the separate conversation in the backseat.
They made it out of the city without incident, but Val didn't seem to relax until they were well away and the sky had lightened. He vetoed Anton's request to hit a drive-thru for coffee, pointing out that there were no cupholders, "and we'll make coffee when we get there. I thought you said you'd gone camping before."
"Sure, and sometimes we'd stop for coffee. What a grouch."
"Someone did bring coffee, right? Or are we all doomed to live with Anton being a grouch for the next two days?"
"There's coffee in a thermos in the back," Val said, "and we can make more. But we'll have real coffee. Not candy coffee." That was Val's term for the fancy coffees with flavors and syrups and whipped cream and everything else added in.
"I do drink regular coffee, you know," Anton's aggrieved voice came from the back seat.
"You okay, Cam? Not having a seizure or anything?" Gwen asked, the very picture of mischievous concern.
"You stop that!" Talking made the giggles Camille had been shaking with come bursting out. "I was trying not to laugh, and now you've ruined it."
"Just because you don't drink coffee doesn't mean you get to laugh at our very real concerns." Gwen's put-upon voice was very well done.
"I was trying not to!"
"And doing a terrible job of it. I saved you the trouble."
