No Service? No Problem
The countdown had already started. Two weeks until school would begin again. The summer of 2008 was slowly coming to an end. My best Kerry and I had figured our fun was over for this year. We had gone on all our family vacations, spent the endless days tanning, and stayed up all those warm nights. For the most part, we were satisfied with our summer. But it wouldn’t hurt to have just one more shot at fun. Our wish was granted one night when Kerry texted me to announce some big news. Kerry’s dad had told her that she and I could go up to the Pocono’s the following week to spend four days in the Bingham’s cabin. We knew this was it, the last chance to have the summer be one to remember, and we wanted to make the most out of those four days. That's when the planning began.
"Let's get tanning oil and then buy like...like that hair lightening stuff! Ya know, to make our hair blonder!”Kerry shrieked excitedly.
"Hair dye, Ker? Is that what you're getting at? Okay, sure you can take care of buying that. I want food. Can we get food to bring up there? "
Ideas and products filled our heads at all times with things that we could bring with us to the mountains in order to make it the best it could be. No matter what hour of the day it was, if a new addition to the list popped in our heads, it was shared immediately. Kerry and I were constantly sending text messages back and forth between our houses, although they were right next to each other. Four days, that's all we had. Four days to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. The only things stopping us were her grandparents, Marie and Gerald, who were staying at the cabin as well.
"Alright Ker, they're like 110 years old. I don't think they'll even notice we're there. And if they do, we can run outside and pretend to be bears or something." I tried my best to persuade Kerry that her grandparents would not be an issue, but she just laughed.
The day before our departure, the two of us shoved our belongings into duffel bags. While chatting on our cell phones about what was needed and what we wouldn't have to bring, Kerry and I felt the excitement building. We packed the last of our precious necessities. Cell phone chargers, make up, and cute clothes to walk around town in. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized the cell phones wouldn't be used enough to be charged, the make up would wash off in the fishy lake, and the only male to show off the cute clothes to, was Gerald.
The car ride up to LakeWallenpaupak was the first sign that this wouldn't be the getaway we expected. First of all, the car was extremely hot. Kerry and I sat in the backseat cracking up and gagging for some fresh air.
"Now what music do you kids listen to? Rock? Classical? Jazz?" Marie asked, completely oblivious to our ages and the generation we were from. This was going to be a tough four days to survive and it took all of our strength not to scream in the three-hour drive.
We arrived at the cabin, and the second sign that the trip would be torture became clear when our cell phone screens read, 'ENTERING EXTENDED NETWORK'. I had no idea what that meant until I realized I could no longer text other people. The signal was lost in the secluded area and it had been pretty obvious why. We were staying in one of the few houses up at the Pocono's. The only signs of life were the chipmunks and stray cats. Basically, we were in the middle of the woods. I remember stretching out the window with Kerry that first night trying to get just one bar of service. The trip was hopeless. Marie and Gerald were huge fans of classical music, skim milk, and being constantly busy. Kerry and I however, weren't. The last resort was obviously to mope. And that's just what we did for the first two days. 48 hours was all it took for two teenage girls to realize what needed to be done.
Eventually, on the third day, Kerry and I woke up with new attitudes. So what if we were in the middle of nowhere with two oldies? Who cares if we couldn't talk to anyone in the real world? And who doesn't love wheat bread with low fat peanut butter for lunch? We knew we had to make the most of that vacation, and that's just what we did.
"We're going for a walk down the road to the...to the um...the uh...end of the road!" Kerry and I would lie as we went outside to feed the stray kittens with the cat food we had snuck into the cart at the store with Marie.
That wasn't the only adventure we took part in to keep ourselves entertained. We would swim all day in the lake, although we couldn't go under water because of the giant life preservers Marie and Gerald strapped on us. I'll never forget getting ready to go out on the boat to water ski when Gerald pulled out two remarkably hideous camping hats for us to wear.
"It'll protect you from the sun!” he said as he handed over the hats along with a tube of SPF 75 sunscreen.
It didn't matter though; nothing was going to ruin this trip now. My best friend and I took tons of pictures with our new kittens, water skied and tubed till we couldn't feel our legs, and ate so many waffles at midnight it suddenly felt like a routine. With every new jazz c.d, we turned our Akon songs a little louder. With every failed text message, we imitated Gerald a little better.
On one of the nights we played Scrabble with Marie. I remember taking pictures of her reading the dictionary trying to figure out if some French word was acceptable. We would wake up and see her raking leaves and take more pictures until she finally turned around. Sure, it took our mean sides to get through the four days, but it was worth it. There were a lot of memories that came out of that trip and I can't think of the Pocono's without laughing. I don't care if we weren't allowed to tan on the dock alone, or if we couldn't make sandwiches without Marie hovering over us. It didn't matter that Gerald wouldn't let us watch a kidnapping show on 60 minutes, forcing us to watch the only other channel, the weather. Those were the funniest four days of my life and looking back at all the pictures, Kerry and I reminisce a little more each time.
Finally on our last day, before we were on our way, Marie gave us our sippy cups. No joke. A green cup for me, and a yellow one for Kerry. We hopped into the car as they put in the Mama Mia c.d and started humming along. An hour later and I was just dozing off when Kerry had poked me.
"Sam, Sam--look! We have service!" I was aroused from my nap by the sound of my nickname. Kerry held up her shiny black cell phone to show me the much-missed white bars in the top left corner of the screen.
We were at last back to reality, but not without learning one thing. Those four days were like living in the 1800's but it didn't stop us from having a blast. We made the most out of that trip and it changed me. I no longer throw a fit if my cell phone decides not to work for a day. I don't have to spend the weekends inside texting or watching TV. Board games aren't nightmares anymore. We took a situation and turned it completely around. Things went from being unbelievably bad to extremely funny. I may have lost my dignity and respect for Marie and Gerald in those woods, but I also gained a lot. You can't always have what you want. It may take some effort, but a bad time can be reversed. Take what you have, and make the most of it.