My traveling companions

After a marvelous trip that was over in a flash I was back home. I loved being back with Nick and I enjoyed showing him my pictures and telling him about everyone. But this trip was anticipated so intently it was a bit sad to realize that it will probably be a year before I get to see these wonderful women again. So I wanted to tell you about each of my friends – what we can tell here, mostly because I want to ‘capture’ each of them again.

Taking them in the order I met them on line…

I’ve been talking with Terps for nearly nine years. I was so happy to finally meet her in person. She is the youngest, and hasn’t quite

the boldness some of us older gals have, but she is growing in that direction. It’s almost like we could watch her blossem as she became more comfortable with us all. She seemed to really enjoy listening, but I enjoyed listening to her. She made all of us feel valued and wise (chuckle here). She is tall and beautiful and a pure joy to be around.

Next comes Sunny. This was our third trip together and I was so happy to see her again. With Sunny what you see is what you get!

She will warn you when you meet – if it runs through her head it will probably come out her mouth and nearly all that comes out makes me laugh. I would say she has a mature wisdom, but I think I’ll just leave it at wisdom, mature… well the jury’s still out on that. She knew our area and guided us to some fantastic places to eat. Good enough, I’m afraid, to get me spanked if I don’t work to get the extra pounds off this week. So for the good food and the chance to get spanked, thanks Sunny!

I’m not really positive who came next but I think I began talking to Meredith before Katie. Meredith’s had an interesting life with her Jack, and I enjoyed hearing her tell us about it. She was also wonderful at asking question, she wanted to know about each of us

(we all did) and it’s always fun to get to talk about yourself. She really listens and by the end of our trip she was correctly using phrases like, ‘fine as frog’s hair’ and ‘bless your heart’. She ate her grits like a champ and she now knows what it means if I said, “There’s a dope and some nabs in that poke over there.” Her biggest disappointment seems to be that Sunny and I were not independently wealthy off the proceeds of our books – trust me, Sunny and I share this disappointment.  

It was wonderful to see Katie T again! We enjoyed out trip together with Sunny last year and I wondered if we’d be able have as good a

time this year. We did! When I showed Nick a picture of us all he zeroed in on Katie and said, “Now she looks like a wild one.” LOL! Wild, not really – confident, fun and compute savvy would be better a better description. As we swam in the ultra-calm gulf and had our talks, Katie was as comfortable talking about sex toys and she was talking about cooking and she helped to make everyone else just relax and say what was on our minds.

And then there was Ella, my newest friend. She is just as sweet and kind as she appears on her blog. I couldn’t wait to get my first hugs, and we weren’t stingy with the hugs there after either. We teased Ella about being a girly-girl. She would spend time on make-up,

while I just looked in the mirror and shrugged. And I will tell you when she finished with her make-up she was beautiful – but what she might have failed to realize is that she was beautiful before she ever started! She told us she had a fiery temper and I have no reason to disbelieve her, but we never saw it. She was just as wonderful as I had imagined her, and I know Cassie would love her too.

The trip was like a little rip in time – an other-worldly place where we could be our complete selves, no hiding, no pretending. If you’ve never had the chance to experience such a time, I hope someday you are able to. We exchanged gifts, some lovely and useful, others will be hidden away somewhere out of Nick’s sight. I can tell you everything works as it was meant to – darn it.

But to tell a few final things I learned –  if you sit down to a meal with us I know who is going to drink water, who’s ordering a soft-drink, a beer, wine or a mixed drink. And there is one certainty – we all love ice cream!

So I wish to offer one final toast – to all of us who were able to gather this year and to those we hope to meet in the future!