On October 2nd, 2009, I set out on my annual visit to Andrew. This time, everyone was sure we had out-foxed Murphy, as they had arranged to pick me up in Niagara Falls and return me there on October 9th, ignoring the bus from there to Dunnville entirely. All went well, though it was raining when I left home, and rained for the whole trip to Niagara Falls. The bus was only about half full, at most, so I had a whole double seat to myself. I settled in and relaxed, watching the scenery go by, partly obscured by the rain on the window.
It was actually a restful ride, and when we arrived at Niagara Falls I was not stiff and aching – I had thought I would be, what with the chilly wet weather. It was only a few minutes before Andrew’s friends, my rescuers from last year, arrived. John came in and took over the suitcase, and said “We have a surprise for you in the van.” And what a pleasant surprise it was, too – they had brought Andrew with them. Instead of taking the most direct way to Dunnville, we took a more scenic route, and were able to enjoy the changing colours of fall in spite of the rain, as we chatted, laughed and teased Andrew.
By the time we were in Dunnville, it was long past supper time at Edgewater, so Marilyn decided we should go to their place, and she would make spaghetti and sauce for supper for us. It was very pleasant, and we had a great time. Andrew finally suggested that we head off to Edgewater, as it was half past eight, and I still had to get settled in. He had taken the precaution of collecting the room key and some of the meal tickets for me, so Murphy was foiled again; for the time being, anyway. So shortly we were saying goodnight to them, my bags were stored in my room, and Andrew and I were in his room, logging in to Second Life to spend time with our friends there.
When I went back to my room that night I started to unpack – and found that Murphy had made a sneak attack. I knew I had prepared a bottle of mouthwash, and had a new tube of toothpaste ready to pack. But on unpacking, I found that they were nowhere to be seen. Since we had both decided to sleep late and forego breakfast, all I could do was hope that my breath wasn’t too bad when I went for lunch on Saturday. I wondered what I would do for the rest of the week, and hoped the gift shop could accommodate me. Then someone’s guardian angel stepped in, and Marilyn turned up at my door, to find out the last name of my nephew, whom they hoped would be able to take me back to Niagara Falls on the following Friday. She was going shopping, and was quite willing to pick up what I needed, so that problem was solved, quickly and with no fuss. That trick failed, Murphy!
It was a lovely visit, though it seemed that I had brought the chilly, rainy, weather with me. A few days started out sunny, or had the sun breakthrough for a while, but mostly it was dreary, wet, fall weather. We didn’t go outside at all, but took our exercise by walking the long way back to his room after our meals. I saw again the folks I had made friends with the year before and made new friends, and they all seemed happy to see me. But for the most part, Andrew and I were in his room, on the computer. Some of the time I crocheted or read while he worked away, helping people set up things, or working on his own projects. It was nice just to sit and be together.
Now, as I said, I had been told not to buy tickets for the Dunnville bus, either way, as John and Marilyn were making arrangements to cover that part of the trip. However, the plan to get my nephew to take me back didn’t work out, probably because they couldn’t get away from the farm. John and Marilyn were already booked to be in Hamilton for medical treatments (they are both over 70). In the end, they decided that they could do it themselves. They arrived back in Dunnville from Hamilton around one, had lunch, but were so tired that they both took a short nap. Only they overslept, and it was after three before they woke up. Murphy’s fine hand at work again, of course.
My bus was due to leave Niagara Falls at five thirty. At the best of times, with perfect traffic conditions, it is about an hour and a half drive, so they had planned to pick me up at three. This would have given plenty of time for me to go to the rest room, and buy something at the snack bar if I wanted to. As it turned out, it was after three thirty before John came in, and we were up and out very quickly, as I had already said goodbye to Andrew. All went well, traffic was light (though it was still raining), and we were making good time – until we reached the old Welland Canal. There, the bridge was up, and when we got almost to the bridge entrance, there were signs saying it was being repaired and the road was closed. There was no indication of a detour until then, much to John’s disgust.
Marilyn got the maps out, and started trying to find the best way to go. The light was poor, and she had a hard time seeing the highway numbers and street names, but gave John directions. Well, Murphy swept in with glee, and managed to get us going in the wrong direction, and every time she corrected, it took us farther from the Falls. We went around and around, always almost getting it right, only to find that there was a problem and we had to turn back, or work our way around to find another route.
In the end, it was five o’clock as we hit the outskirts of the Falls, and we were all on edge. Marilyn was getting quite upset, worried that I would miss the bus and they would have to drive all the way to Toronto, much too far when they were already tired. I said if I got to the terminal, I could change my ticket to a later bus, and still get home, and John was just driving and trying to calm Marilyn. My warped sense of humour kicked in, and I was having trouble keeping from bursting out laughing and announcing that ‘Murphy Strikes Again’.
In the end, we arrived at the terminal with about two minutes to spare. John and I jumped out, I grabbed my carry-on bags and he got the suitcase. I didn’t wait for him, I just went rushing into and across the terminal and out to where a bus was loading – not a Greyhound bus, though. The driver had already closed the luggage compartment when I stopped in front of him and asked “are you taking Greyhound passengers to Toronto?”. He said he was, I gave him my ticket, John arrived with my suitcase, I kissed and hugged him thanks and goodbye, and I made it – with about half a minute to spare. And no chance at the rest room.
Fortunately, they do have them on buses – but it is not exactly easy to try to keep your balance while making ready to use it. Or afterwards! Still, I made it, though I nearly landed in a young man’s lap as I made my way back to my seat. So in the end, Murphy was foiled – just barely – and I made it back to Toronto and home. And the promise I made to the people in Dunnville that I would bring the rain back with me? Well, that worked out, too. All of us had sun today. But it was cold!
Oh, and the missing mouthwash and toothpaste? I found those, too – the Tuesday after I got home. I was getting ready to go to my therapy when I glanced down at the wastepaper basket beside the bathroom sink, and there was the bottle of mouthwash. I muttered a few unkind words about Murphy and picked it up, brushed it off, and stood for a moment looking at it. Well, it was unharmed, still sealed, so why not? I opened it and the original bottle, poured the liquid back in, and closed the lid. Then I rinsed the small bottle and put it away – never know when it will come in handy. But what about the toothpaste? Hmmm…maybe…I looked in the wastebasket again, and sure enough, there it was. Well, Murphy, you may have caused me to buy extra in Dunnville, but I thumb my nose at you. Now I won’t have to buy mouthwash or toothpaste next month. So there!
