Both our daughters are grown and our “grandbaby” is already seven years old. With everyone’s hectic schedules, we rarely have the opportunity to be together at the same time and we’ve become increasingly aware of how quickly the years slip by. So Hubby and I decided to take a couple of days off and enjoy a lovely mini-vacation with our girls. We’re lucky enough to live fairly close to Santa Claus, Indiana and we’ve always enjoyed our visits to Holiday World. It’s a nice clean family theme park complete with not only the usual delightful rides but also a water park and even more convenient: an air-conditioned kennel for the family pet.
What could be better than taking a couple of vacation days off from work, loading up the camper and heading to Indiana for a long weekend filled with fun?
Well. Apparently, Jasper decided otherwise. You see. He overheard us discussing the air-conditioned kennel at the park. I admit it. We don’t consider Jasper a dog…and he doesn’t consider himself a dog either. He’s one of the family, holding the same rank as the kids – although, they’ll be the first to tell you that Jasper rates higher than anyone.
We didn’t want to leave Jasper cooped up in the camper while we spent Saturday and Sunday at the park. So Hubby called Holiday World and got a complete rundown about the kennel because we also weren’t about to entrust dear Jasper to just any old establishment. After considerable checking and reassurance from the park’s staff, we decided we’d give it a try – with the understanding that if we arrived and it didn’t look to be up to Jasper’s standards, then he and I would go back to the camper. Jasper and I both are old and set in our ways. He hates to be left alone and I’m loathe to put him through it unless I’m positive he’ll be okay. I know. I’m hopeless. But he loves me anyway.
Bear with me. I’m getting to the part about the magic.
We arrived at the campground safe and sound on Friday night, a little concerned because the forecast mentioned a slight possibility of rain on Saturday, but surely it wouldn’t storm all day and it was supposed to be sunny on Sunday. It would be a great weekend enjoying all the rides.
Wrong. Intermittent thunderstorms is code for: rains and blows like hell all day long. No theme park on Saturday. We would’ve drowned.
While playing Yahtzee in the camper, I teased everyone stating that Jasper had dodged the “kennel” bullet on Saturday by conjuring up the storm. One of my daughters laughed, shook her finger at Jasper and told him he was still going to go to “jail” on Sunday because we were going to the park!
She shouldn’t have done that.
Sunday morning at about 6 a.m., a fierce storm blew through the campground, uprooted two trees and knocked out all the power in the area. Yep. Jasper used extra fairy dust on that one. How dare we threaten him with a kennel! The deluge continued throughout the morning. We admitted defeat and folded up camp BEFORE Jasper obliterated the place off the face of the earth. I figure we packed up at least twenty pounds of Indiana mud and brought it back to Kentucky.
Needless to say, we didn’t visit Holiday World this weekend and Jasper “missed out” on the promise of an air-conditioned kennel. I’m also pretty sure I heard him snicker as we left the campground and turned our rig toward home.
He did see fit to allow us to visit the local water park on Monday while he slept at home on the couch. I guess all that conjuring wore him out. And he is pretty fond of the grandbaby so, he didn’t want her to suffer for the grown-up’s error in judgment.
So what do you think? Was it coincidence that it stormed and Jasper escaped the kennel or did he conjure up his own idea of a perfect weekend: his damp little body snuggled against mine for three solid days?
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