It was pouring rain as we packed up the three cars this morning. Each of them had a different destination: Treat and Josh were off to camp and hike Katahdin tomorrow; Victor, Emily, Nadika, and Rosie were driving Emily Primes RAV 4 first to Mahwah, NJ and then home to Arlington. Bill and Emily were riding in the mini-van to a hotel in Bar Harbor for a couple days; Courtney and Annabelle were mini-van passengers as well, bound for Bangor to stay over for an early flight tomorrow, and Heidi and I were taking the mini-van to our friend Ruth's, once everyone else was in place.
So many moving pieces made organizing and packing even more complicated than the regular whirlwind of vacating a week-long rental. In addition to cleaning and stripping and packing and pitching, we also divided our things into what we needed over the next two days and what we could do without, and then found room for them in the car we were in or a car that had extra space, trusting that we would be reunited with all of our possessions at the end of the trip.
It was a fitting way to end a vacation with so many hiccups, and when Treat texted this evening that he was pretty sure he had left his guitar by the door in the rental house, I couldn't be surprised. I dialed the after-hours number of the agency, expecting to get the same recording I got last Saturday when we were locked out on our arrival, but a pleasant voice answered the call. When I explained the situation, she paused.
"Um, the tenants have had a rather rough check in," she reported. "I don't think it's a good idea to bother them tonight to pick up a forgotten item. They have had a really long day."
I thought back over the last 12 hours, and then the last seven days. "I can certainly understand that," I told her, and we agreed to touch base again tomorrow.
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