A Weekend Getaway

When: June 27-28, 2009
Travel: 3 hrs drive
iPod Playlist: 2 songs
We were heading to Chincoteague Island in Virginia Saturday morning for our camping trip with the Mnyandus, our wonderful and close friends from New Jersey. I started to crank up some music when I heard a voice ever so gentle yet loud enough to be heard over the music and from the backseat. "McQueen song please Daddy" was Edric's request. Lately he's been fond of 'Life is A Highway' by Rascal Flatts, from the soundtrack of the Disney movie 'Cars'. Just as the song got done we heard, "Again please". Such was the demand over and over and over again. After about 4 or 5 times when I noticed he wasn't paying attention to the song, I snuck in some slow jams by MJ (you know who, the King of Pop who just passed away 2 days prior). A couple of songs later, we heard "Again please" and this time it was 'I'll Be There'. From then on, it was just those two songs; 'Life is A Highway' and 'I'll Be There' back to back over and over... Never planned it but they turned out to be the anthems of our trip, courtesy of our 2-year old buddy at the back. Come to think of it, they're good titles for traveling. We three simply enjoyed singing along during most parts of both songs. My favorite part though was when Edric, in perfect timing would shout along with MJ's 'oooohhhhh' right after the the adlib; 'just look over your shoulders honey'. 'Twas a blast and at the same time a special moment for us to be singing at the top of our lungs (well, not really!) in unison as a family while we cruised down the road. We did get to listen to a few other songs but for very limited times when he got busy with his toys.



In our age of technological advancements and busy lives, it's quite refreshing to step back sometimes and get closer to mother nature. Indeed we had a swell time camping. It was my first time going fishing after a long while. I think my last fishing was when I was about 10 yrs old back home. I grew up approximately a couple hundred meters away from the beach. Back then, it was just some nylon strings, a hook and some worms we picked up from the beach during low tides. This time I had to figure out how to setup our rod. We didn't catch any fish. Talk about being so rusty since my last fishing. But hey, I can't feel bad 'coz my friend Ellis (Mnyandu) didn't catch one either. His first time too. "We'll get 'em next time!" was our battle cry heading back to our camp.

Edric had so much fun playing with Wandile and Thami throughout the camp while Pam and I as always had pleasant times catching up with Ellis and Loraine. It's great to simply enjoy nature, relax and unwind with friends. Short as they may be at times but well worth it. We thought we'd make this one of our family traditions, to go camping or nature trip at least once a year.

As a side note, I may not understand MJ's life (I didn't really follow him beyond his music) and I may not applaud all the drama and issues surrounding him, nevertheless I do enjoy and appreciate much of his music. And yes, I did the 'moonwalk' too. Who hasn't?