To Depart or Not To Depart... That is the Question

Date: 10-17-13
Location: Ogunquit, Maine
Written by: Joey

TAKE NOTE: This post was written while DJ & Joey were on their RV roadtrip across America. Sadly, their trip ended before it really got started. No worries, Shelly & Lucia are taking the Connextions Out n About Roadtrip to new heights, exploring one RV park at a time!

One of the many wonderful things that both Joey and I have learned during our trip was to be flexible and impulsive, especially with our schedule.  It is harder than you might think.  I am a planner by nature and it has been a challenge for me to resist my inherent discipline to adhere to an itinerary and schedule but I am.  I made a commitment to myself before we left that I would follow my instincts when an unplanned opportunity presented it self.  The way I see it there are two ways you can travel, the first is to depart from point A and arrive at point B and the second is to just depart and embrace the journey itself rather than focus on getting to the destination.  Joey and I chose the latter, and we are both better for it.  It has been when we deviated from our planned itinerary that we have experienced the most memorable moments of our journey so far.

As we visited with Amy and waited for Mike to arrive I was glad that he had text me when he did and that we had decided to head back to meet him.  After a while Mike walked in and I recognized him right way from his photo.  He was smiling ear to ear as we shook hands and introduced ourselves and he joined our conversation with Amy.  I could sense right away that we would get along fine.  He was easy going and friendly and as we sat down at a table to continue chatting we decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunny day and walk toward the beach.  Joey and I packed up our stuff and dropped it off onboard Priscilla before all three of us headed toward the ocean.

We arrived at the beach and marveled at its beauty and the sparse spattering of people that walked along its shores.  Joey, camera in hand immediately took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pant legs and I followed suit shortly afterward.  The water was cool at first but we both enjoyed the feeling of water caressing our feet as we walked.  Our conversation with Mike touched on philosophy, Gay life, relationships, politics and everything in between as we moved at a casual pace laughing and chatting without a care in the world slowly making our way toward Kennebunk.  

After what seemed like minutes we reached the end of the sandy part of the beach and stopped to take in the view…  I love this journey and the people we have met and will meet and in that moment at that time I felt like we were EXACTLY where we were supposed to be.  We turned to head back to where we began as the sun began to set.  We stopped along the way and Mike offered to take some photos of Joey and me.  We all stopped and watched the sun set low in the sky as the colors spread across the darkening sky.  We arrived back at Mikes car and shook off the sand from our feet and clothes before starting the drive back to Priscilla.  As Mike began moving I noticed a full moon glowing like an orb high in the sky and a middle aged comely woman standing there admiring it.  I don’t know why but I felt compelled to say something to her.  Without preamble I blurted out “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”  She turned and walked up to the car and said, “Yes it is.” and I apologized for interrupting her moment to which she replied, “You did not”.  She invited us to stay and chat but Mike had to meet friends for dinner and we needed to hit the road before it got too late so I told her I wish we could but we had to go.

Her reply puzzled me at first but has stayed with me.  She said, “You are exactly where you should be and when you are supposed to be”.  I thanked her for invitation and comment and we drove off…  we said our goodbyes to Mike and he proffered a case of local beer as a gift, Joey’s eyes lit up and we promised to stay in touch.  As we began to drive away I couldn’t help but think about what the lady at the beach had said to me and wished we would have accepted her gracious invitation to linger.

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