My first real vacation, Part 1

Up to the point that I was 27 years old, I'd never been on an actual vacation that didn't involve being around my family for almost the entire duration. In July of 1992, I did see my family, but it was only for two days during the week that I had off. Most of the rest of the time I was going to spend driving.

My itinerary included driving to Alamogordo the first day and spending the night at Kird's house. The next day, I was going to drive to Roswell and see if I might be able to see Chez. I would then go home to Artesia that same day and spend time with Mom, Dad and Loyd. Two days later, I was going to drive to Denver and spend all of the next day there before taking Knod with me to Disneyland and then back to San Diego.

It had been a long time since I'd done hours of driving during the daytime. I didn't realize how blistering the summer sun would get while I was driving. During the first part of the trip, I got a bad sunburn on my arm. Then I realized that I needed to have something cover my arm if I was going to be driving around in direct sunlight. (My car did not have an air conditioner.) Fortunately, my sunburn didn't get any worse for the rest of the day.

I remember stopping at some town in Arizona along the way at a Circle K. I got gas and some Gatorade. I sat there in the store and drank it before I was on my way again. I didn't have any mishaps the rest of the way to Alamogordo. I got to Kird's house around 9pm. His wife was was there, but he wasn't. She said he would be home from work at the Air Force base in a few minutes and she got me some food so I could make a sandwich. We talked while I ate and waited for Kird. He finally came home and gave me a hug. We talked for a little bit before I went to sleep on their couch in the living room.

I got up the next morning and took a shower. I remember the drain in the bathtub was clogged, so I had to take the shower in standing water. Just as I was finishing up, Kird told me to stay in the shower with the curtain drawn. His daughter needed to use the restroom. I just had to wait for her to finish before I could get out and dry off.

I don't remember much else happening with Kird. I left the house and started driving toward Roswell through Ruidoso. During this stretch, I recalled how my family would drive up to Ruidoso almost every weekend during the winters between 1975 and 1978 and go skiing. I remember how, every time we came back home, we would see a sign in Ruidoso Downs that said, "See the Mystery." Loyd and I would beg Mom and Dad to stop so we see what it was all about. Dad would usually respond with something like, "The Mystery is where your money disappears to!" He later explained that it was something where you'd see rocks and other things moving uphill. Even though he downplayed it, it still sounded like something cool, but Dad was never going to take us there.

While I was driving, I said to myself, "Hey, I'm an adult now. I have money and I'm going to go see that Mystery!" But when I drove through the area where I recalled seeing the signs, they were no longer there. It was such a let down, thinking that I could avenge my childhood and then not have it come to fruition. Justifiably, I guess Dad was aware that the tour was going to take about an hour. He and Mom were already tired from skiing all day and just wanted to get home to rest. But he never told us this and he never made any plans to take us during warmer months, when it probably would have been a lot more enjoyable.

(In 2006, Ms. Ogolon and I planned a trip to Santa Cruz for the annual Clam Chowder Cookoff and Festival. Along the way, I wanted to stop by the Mystery Spot and we got to do it. Yes, I have to admit that Dad was absolutely right what it was all about, but I would have preferred to have experienced that as a child in New Mexico instead of waiting 30 years and moving halfway across the country for this wish fulfillment.)

In the previous months, I had kept in contact with Chez. I would call her from time to time and talk to her for a little bit. The conversations were rather strained. I could tell she was really trying hard not to sound excited about talking to me. The last physical communication I got from her was this Christmas card.

As you can see, she didn't bother to write much.

Prior to my departure from San Diego, I told her what day I was going to be in Roswell. I had some stuff I wanted to give her. She said she didn't know where she was going to be that day and didn't think she was going to be coming by her parents' house. I just figured her step-mother would be at home and I would just drop off the stuff there and go to Artesia. I found my way to the cul-de-sac and parked the car at the entrance. I walked up toward the house. Along the way, I saw this man with a beard working on a car outside. He looked up at me. At first, I kind of wondered if this was Road, but hoped that it wasn't.

I knocked on the door. I could hear a child screaming inside. Then I heard Chez' voice. "Who is it?" I replied, "It's Fayd!" It took a few seconds for her to open the door. She didn't look too pleased to see me. She told me to come in and have a seat while she went back to what she was doing. A few seconds later, the man with the beard came in the house. He said, "Chez! What's going on?" It was this moment I knew for certain that he was Road. Chez went up to him and said, "I didn't know he was going to be here!" They went back and forth for a few seconds, with her emphasizing each time that she didn't know I was coming. Then she suddenly realized, "Hey! Where's Joad?" "I left him out in the car." "YOU DID WHAT?" Chez then ran out of the house. (The child I heard screaming earlier was her step-mother's daughter.)

During this time, Chez' step-mother introduced us. It was kind of awkward. We shook hands and he tried to do a manly grasp on me. Chez had previously told me Road wanted to kill me, but I tried hard not to look worried about it. I think it worked.

Chez came back in and told Road to go back out to the car and watch Joad. After he left, she kept insisting to her step-mother that she didn't know I was going to be there.

(I found out later that Chez and Road had originally expected to be at the house for about 20 minutes so he could borrow some tools to work on the car. Road considered it an unusual coincidence that I happened to come to the house when they were there. He thought Chez and I planned it that way and he never let her hear the end of it.)

During this time that Chez was talking to her step-mother, I noticed what she was wearing. It was a pink t-shirt with blue jeans and a baseball cap. This was the closest I had ever seen her to dressing feminine. She actually looked much cuter and more attractive. I seriously wanted to hold her in my arms and kiss her right then and there.

I gave Chez the stuff I brought and we went outside. She got in the car. Joad was sitting in the front seat between her and Road. She introduced me to him. Road told me he had read the letters I had written Chez and he didn't appreciate how I was threatening to come take his family away. I told him I didn't write those letters with the intention of him reading them, but I could tell nothing like that was going to happen. I told them goodbye and went to my car.

I went inside and started it up. Then, Chez came up to my open window, which had chrome on the outside of the window. Remember how hot it was the day before? It was just as hot that day and when her arms touched the chrome, she got a sharp burning sensation, said "Ow!" and quickly lifted her arms. She told me she was sorry for what just happened and told me to keep in touch. I told her I would.

And I was off on my way to Artesia. However, I would encounter Chez again the next day. I'll get to that tomorrow.