It's Okay! I'm on Pumpkin Delight Road!

Today I went to the beach with Amber and Jocelyn, who are two of my best friends. The three of us have been in need of a beach day for a long long time and today was when we decided to finally make that happen. Unfortunately, the weather was not behaving for us. On our way down we were looking up at the sky and wondering what happened to the sun. They said there was supposed to be thunder storms and stuff, but not until later. So what do the three of us do? Go to the beach! Getting there was so much fun. My GPS decided the be a jerk and take me on the strangest route to the Silver Sands Park in Milford. We drove around on Pumpkin Delight Road, which made me very happy for a while before I started to scream profanities at my GPS. Oh the joys of driving with me!

We eventually made it to the beach and low and behold the sun came out and it was beautiful!! We had an amazing time chatting, plotting summer road trips to Florida, the boys as well as tanning and beach combing for some truly spectacular shells. We were out there for quite a while on our quiet Corona beach with the water and the wildlife. That's when we heard it. Thunder. Faint rumbles. The sky still looked okay so we decided to keep an eye on it and stay out. Thunder kept rumbling and the sky got darker and darker. And then the phone calls saying the storm was coming. Yet we waited. Maybe it would blow by. The clouds grew darker and the thunder grew louder. We packed up and the three of us booked it. None of us like thunder storms and being out in the open like that makes me very very nervous. We lucked out and made it to the car with no problems.

Driving to Naugatuck wasn't bad. We got some raindrops here and there, but nothing too bad. Then the sky got darker. And darker. And darker. Then came the raindrops. Big ones at first and then it was as if the entire sky just opened up and dumped a continuous swimming pool amount of water on us. Let me just say I have driven in lots of big storms. Lots and lots of them. I have been in some pretty interesting situations. Here are just a few.

1. Driving home from summer class in Vernon last year. Heading towards Hartford. Dark clouds and bolts of lightning. Okay. I know I am going to get hit. I am driving on 84 heading into Hartford. I am waiting for the storm to hit. The street lights go on because it's so dark. I snap a few pictures on my cell phone and actually catch a bolt of lightning, which scares the crap out of me. I get into Hartford on 84. I am waiting for the rain. The lightning is terrifying. I am shaking and clinging to the wheel in a death grip. The rain lets loose. I get into the tunnel. That's better. I come out the other side. I am now going 17 on 84 where the speed limit is like 50. My windshield wipers can't go any faster. My music is drowned out by the rain and thunder, which for me it is indeed loud.

2. Driving home from my old barn after a lesson. Around noontime. A strom had rolled over the barn and it was incredible. I decided that I should be okay with going home now because it passed. I was so wrong. I get a mile and a half down the road. It is raining like none other. Incredible lightning. Deafening thunder. I can't see. I do the only thing I can do. I pull in a golf course parking lot. I stop the car. The lightning is right over me. It's the flash bang thing. The rain is unrelenting. The road looks like a river. If that wasn't bad enough there is hail. Quarter-sized pieces of hail. Somehow in all of this I am on the phone with my mom telling her I think I am going to get struck by lightning and that my Dad's car (mine was at the auto body due to accident) was going to get destroyed from the hail. I have no idea how she heard me. I did what any sensible person would do. I turned and went back to the barn. Later I found out that I was smack dab in the middle of the purple spot on the radar. How do I get so lucky?

3. Driving to my old barn with my sister. Bad thunder storms afoot. Almost to the barn when it starts pouring. I can't see anything yet again and I wish my windshield wipers would move faster. We get to the barn and ride a river of water to the barn where my horse is in. We get down there. He's nowhere to be found. His paddock is empty and so is his stall. So I ran around in the pouring rain, violent lightning and deafening thunder looking for my baby. Guess where he was? Nice and dry in a stall in the back. He obviously didn't get his smarts from me.

Today was one of those priceless stories. We are on Route 8 and almost to the exit we need to take for Amber's house, when the rain dumps out of the sky. At first it isn't so bad. Then just to spite me it became even heavier. Now, Naugatuck is just like the rest of Connecticut. Hilly. Hills, monsoons and poor drainage equal raging rivers of water. I have never seen such water rushing down hills at my little car. I didn't think we would make it. We finally did and the rain let up. So we dashed for the house. We were almost there when it let loose again. Oh yes. What an amazing driving adventure.

We spent the next few hours laughing and chatting at Amber's house before Jocelyn and I took off for home. It was a great day. I got some color without burning, had an amazing time with my friends, and got some pretty amazing seashells. I just have to get my wallet from Jocelyn tomorrow since it is still in her bag.

Room cleaning update: Well, I had a slight mental break down over my room. I chatted with my mom for a bit and then we came up with a plan. Wall storage. Sounds like an awesome idea to me. I also ended up breaking BOTH of my closet doors. I then made my room an absolute mess, and then Ali helped me pick it up. Half of the room looks nice and there are lots of piles of things to go into the attic. It wasn't a total failure. My sister snapped a picture of me lying in the middle of the floor of my bombed out room. It's quite special. Facebook profile picture worthy!

~Dragon Eyes~