“Well, then we both win.”
We giggled over that, but I always liked games where everyone could win, or at least when there were no losers. After I showedhim all the snacks I had, we played the sign game while munching on chips and sipping some juice boxes.
The first stop for the night was the Long Pine Key campground, and it took like five hours to get there, which was a long-long drive, and we only stopped once to potty.
“Are we here? Are we here?” I squealed as we pulled into the campground.
“We are here. Settle down while I get our site.” Daddy got out of the car and stood near a lot of other people from our group who had started gathering around the check-in point. I shifted back and forth to get a better look and saw Drew raise his hand to get everyone’s attention. He was the bossman, so he probably was giving out the assignments.
“Don’t worry, Joey. I’m sure they’ll put us on the same site or right next to each other.”
“I not worried.”
“Okay. Me either.” That was as close as I’d get to admitting I really was. I wanted my friend close because I suspected I was going to need a diversion. The weight of this issue was building inside, and as much as I tried to forget about it, I needed to figure my shit out. I’d ignored the whole moving-in issue, pushing it to the back burner, and it was causing cracks in our relationship. I hated that, so I gave myself a deadline for the end of this trip to decide what to do, and now the pressure was building like water boiling in a tea kettle.
Daddy jogged back to the car and handed Daddy Vince the paperwork. “Okay, let’s get over and set up camp. There’s a nature hike tomorrow, so we should make sure we get some rest tonight.”
“Yay! Hiking is fun.” I was ready for some Mother Nature.
We all pitched in to set up the tents. Daddy Vince and Joey were camping on our site, and thankfully, it was big enough for both tents and a picnic table area. If we were staying longer, thatwould be our food and water station. But since it was a short time, everything was cut back. Daddy did set up a cooler with water, because that was essential.
On the first night, Drew provided us with a central area with folding tables outside one of the big RVs we brought, and they put out all the fixings for sandwiches and chips. Normally, I loved that, but I was kind of chipped out from snacking all day. I plopped cold cuts and cheese on my plate, along with some grapes, but skipped the bread and chips.
“That’s all you’re eating?” Daddy asked, setting a juice box in front of me at the table and rubbing my back.
“Not that hungry.”
Joey pointed at me from across the table. “He ate the whole bag of Doritos.”
“Tattletale.” I stuck my tongue out at him, but Joey just laughed.
After dinner, we washed up and went to our tents to crash.
“No smores or even a fire. Boo.”
“We’ll have time for that tomorrow after the hike. Don’t worry.”
“Fine.” I snuggled under the blanket on our air mattress that Daddy had pumped up. They were fun because every time someone moved, the other person did too. Up and down. Up and down. I bobbed up when Daddy got on beside me and settled in. “Good thing I don’t get seasick.”
Everyone was tired from riding in the car all day though, so I crashed out fast.
Anhinga Trail was less than a mile long, but it took us more than an hour to get through it, because we stopped along the way a lot. It was a drive to a nearby park and then from the main entrance to the trailhead, and all around us was sawgrass and marsh, trees dripping with Spanish moss, and the bluest skies that couldn’t have been more gorgeous if we’d ordered them. Maybe Daddy did? I didn’t know, but the boardwalk along the trail overlooked water in a lot of places, so we saw alligators and all kinds of birds. Joey bounced up next to me. “I love aminimals.”
“Even those?” I pointed out three decent-sized gators lazing along the banks farther down the waterway.
“Yep. They have big teef.” He made a funny face, trying to show off his own chompers.
I bumped my shoulder into his. “The better to eat you with, my dear.”
Joey giggled and snapped a few more pictures on his phone. There were a lot of different birds too, but the gators captured our imaginations, and Joey chatted with me about them all the way back to our camp.
It was lunch time when we got back, and I hoped we’d get something better than sammies and chips. “Daddy? What’s for lunch?” We piled out of the car, smelling the air.
“Barbeque sandwiches.”
The tangy sauce was calling to me. “Yum.”
We ate and then Joey and I were allowed to go to the pool for a while. It was fun, but I liked Daddy’s pool better. It was private and more comfortable, where I could be myself. Here, there were tons of people around, including real kids from other campers outside of our community. It honestly didn’t stop Joey much. He cannonballed into the deep end, splashing everyone and encouraging others to play around too, but I hung back, contemplating everything.
