Chapter 146: On The Road

Saturday, June 2, 1984

We were all up by seven. It felt almost like a school day. Though I suspected we would keep to a somewhat early schedule for the most part, this was perhaps earlier than we would usually get up.

We introduced Cammie to The Kettle. She approved of it, which didn’t surprise us.

Jas, Angie, Paige, and I were on the road to Houston by nine. Angie drove my car back, while I drove the Subaru.

Angie’s keys were safely under Cammie’s care. We’d arranged to cover insurance for Cammie (justifying it as a business requirement for her to have a car to legally drive), and she had unlimited use of the car. It was entirely possible that she was still on her parents’ insurance, too. We couldn’t count on that, though. Plus, if she was in a wreck, it was possible that her insurance company could use the agreement to show that she should not have been still on it.

I suspected she wouldn’t do that much with it, but I was pretty sure she would visit Mel some. And vice versa, most likely, since Mel would have access to my car.

We arrived at the RV place just before eleven. Our Winnebago was prepped and ready and waiting for us, along with the rest of the towing setup for the Subaru. It took me only a few minutes to learn how to attach the Subaru, both towing-wise and electrically. It wasn’t much different from the car they’d used for the demonstration.

By the time I’d done a couple of cycles of attaching and unhooking the Subaru and two short practice drives, it was one in the afternoon. We knew how to get the Winnebago hooked up to water and power, refill the LP gas tank, the regular fuel tank, and the water tank, and how to drain the sewage system. We also knew where to find the directions for everything.

We decided to just grab some burgers from McDonald’s (using the Subaru!) before heading home.

By popular consensus, we went to Jasmine’s house first. Camille and Francis toured the RV while Jasmine, Angie, and Paige dragged clothes and supplies out to the RV. She already had her suitcase, of course, so she had those clothes, plus toiletries.

Once we were set, everyone said goodbye — especially Jas — and we hit the road to Paige’s house, where the process repeated, and then to Angie’s and my house.

Mom and Dad were fascinated by the RV, and Dad was clearly envious. I hoped that those gears spinning in his head would translate to future vacations. Or, perhaps, the ones spinning in Mom’s head.

It was nearly five by the time we’d finished loading the RV. We had a quick discussion and decided that sticking to the plan (such as it was) was our best option. We could have slept (in whatever combination) at our homes, or used the bed at Gene’s — or just all slept at Gene’s! — but we had about three hours of daylight left and no one was tired, so we said farewell to Mom and Dad, promised to be back no later than the 19th, and hit the road.

After much consideration, our first destination was East. East meant Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Disney World (such as it was in 1984 — only I really knew what that meant) and other tourist spots would be on the itinerary, and who knew what all else?

Our first stopping point was an RV park located in Vidor, a town between Beaumont and Orange. The clerk (owner? I suspected she might be) was a pleasant middle-aged woman who’d obviously seen everything, but was nice about it. She chided us at least three times about ‘keeping it down’ and ‘respecting the families around us.’ She also made sure we had a space which wouldn’t cause the car carrier to be in anyone’s way.

I suspected — hoped! — that she would be pleasantly surprised with our behavior.

Once we’d gotten the RV settled — a slightly annoying process that I knew would get quicker with practice — I unhooked the Subaru and we all piled in. We were just in time to get to the grocery store and do a bit of shopping before they closed, and we needed that. It was too late for most restaurants, and we wanted snacks, supplies, and breakfast.

The Dairy Queen was open, though, so we got dinner and dessert there. We would try to prepare more meals ourselves, and to avoid fast food, but this wasn’t the day.

I gave Cammie a call from the pay phone. She’d settled in fine and was enjoying the house. That was good to hear. It’d be a little while before the contractors started to bother her. By then, she’d be ready for it.

Jas and Paige called home, too. Paige got her parents, but Jas didn’t. Paige’s were happy to hear from her, and glad the trip was going well.

We didn’t get to bed until nearly midnight, but that was fine. Everyone was going to sleep well, I thought. We were all worn out.

Jas and I used the bathroom first, then retreated into the bedroom. Angie and Paige had the other bed. That required making sure all of the windows were properly curtained, of course, but that was easy enough.

Before long, Jas and I were all snuggled up.

“Happy?” I said.

“Very!” she said. “This is fun, and this was likely the most stressful day. At least, I hope it was!”

“Me, too!” I said.

“Tomorrow?”

“New Orleans, I’m sure. We’ll likely wind up with the RV in Kenner or thereabouts, maybe a bit closer in.”

“I wasn’t sure how far that was,” she said.

“It’s about two hundred and forty miles. My daily limit is probably a bit over four hundred. Easy-peasy!”

She giggled. “Good! I could do with more time in New Orleans.”

“Me, too.”

“Let’s get some sleep.”

“I agree!” I said.

“I love you so much!”

“I love you so much, too!”

Sunday, June 3, 1984

We got up around eight-thirty, which seemed about average for the campground. Angie and Paige took kitchen duty and cooked breakfast, while I took care of making sure the RV was set for the road and getting the Subaru back in place.

We were on the road by ten, stopped for lunch at a truck stop that had decent Cajun food around one (calling home and letting our parents know we were safe and on the move), and arrived in Kenner by five.

After we had the RV plugged in and set for the evening, Angie and I called home, then Jas did, and finally Paige. We got Mom and Dad, and Jas got Camille. They were happy for the update. Paige left a message.

Angie gave Curtis and Marsha a call, too. They were in town and wanted to have us over for dinner tomorrow. Since we weren’t on any sort of schedule, and had planned to stay in New Orleans at least a couple of nights, that was great with us.

By six, we were eating more Cajun food in Metairie. We couldn’t continue all of this restaurant eating, probably, but we didn’t plan to. Louisiana was an exception, though. When in Louisiana, always eat Louisiana food if you can.

After dinner, we did some sightseeing by car. Paige and Angie were somewhat in favor of hitting Bourbon Street and getting some sort of tourist cocktails (‘Hurricanes’ were mentioned), but we decided to put it off until tomorrow. I wasn’t actually sure if we could drink legally here. I suspected we wouldn’t get carded, but it might make more sense to do it another night when we were traveling by streetcar. We could always claim we’d left our IDs at the hotel.

We were back at the RV by ten and in bed by eleven. Jas and I decided to break in the bed, but we were pretty restrained about it. The next RV was just a row over, and I doubted that this thing was as soundproof as a house.

We would have to hit a laundromat before too long. We hadn’t packed a ton of clothes, and — even with a strategically placed towel — eventually we’d run out of spare sheets.

Monday, June 4, 1984

Today was all about playing tourist. We drove in and parked in a garage around Canal Street, then had a brunch of coffee, po-boy sandwiches, and beignets. After that, we headed into the French Quarter and browsed shop after shop. Each of the girls wound up with at least one piece of clothing, which didn’t surprise me at all. I did not, but I had a great deal of fun watching them shop.

We wound up at Pat O’Brien’s, sipping Hurricanes (no one even really looked at me, much less carded me) and watching the other tourists. I somewhat annoyed the girls when I mentioned that the first (and only) other time I’d gone to Pat O’Brien’s was in 1989, when I’d come here during grad school for a computer science conference. Angie was less annoyed, but only marginally so.

I was highly unlikely to repeat that this time. Computer industry conventions? That was entirely possible. Technical computer science conferences, though? Unless I was there to support Laura, or someone I didn’t know yet, the odds were low.

We took the streetcar out to Curtis and Marsha’s house, arriving about five-thirty. As before, we all really liked riding on them (though we liked the weather considerably less), and we wanted to keep coming back here from time to time.

Curtis greeted us at the door. He shook my hand, but the girls were having none of that and greeted him with hugs.

Marsha came out as we were greeting Curtis, and everyone hugged her.

They were apparently starving, so we went right to having dinner. That turned out to be crawfish étouffée and red beans and rice. Like last time, the food was wonderful. So was the conversation.

We moved to the couches and kept talking for a bit. After a while, Curtis said, “So, you’re all set for A&M? We heard Cammie had mostly moved out and into your place up there.”

Jas said, “We were there a few days ago. We’ve got the first batch of stuff in the house, and Cammie is living there. We’re remodeling, so it’ll be a mess for a while. We still have furniture in your house, though. We’ll get it moved when we’re back in the state. If worse comes to worst, we’ll pay for shipping it.”

“Actually,” Marsha said, “We’d be happy if you leave it until we sell — or until you need it, of course! The realtor is much happier showing the house furnished.”

“In that case, we’re happy to help,” Jas said, with the rest of us nodding.

“We’ll arrange to have it shipped if things happen suddenly, along with anything Cammie still has there,” Curtis said.

“Sounds good!” Angie said. “I think Cammie will commute back and forth a bit, and she’ll haul a bunch of stuff each time.”

“Gene and Sue are heading up to look for apartments near Wellesley in a week,” Marsha said. As she did, her eyes paused on Angie and Paige holding hands. It wasn’t as if they were subtle about it.

“I hope they find a great place,” Angie said. “We’d love to get to visit. I’ve never been up there, except for our Debate trip to Lexington, and that’s not quite the same.”

“Me, neither,” the rest of us agreed.

“I saw a few articles in the paper about Memorial’s prom and the school,” Curtis said. “Some very big changes over the past couple of years.”

Paige grinned, while Angie said, “Yes, and we’re part of it now, I guess. Still, Lizzie and Janet paved the way. We just followed.”

“How’s that looking for A&M?” Curtis said. “It’s got a very conservative reputation, and for good reason.”

Angie shrugged. “The donor on my scholarship changed. Might be a coincidence, might not. Other than that ... well, we’ll manage. We’re public record now, so...”

“We’ll make the best of things,” Paige said, grinning.

“It was terrible what happened to Cammie,” Marsha said. “We’re very glad that you were able to help.”

“And she’s very glad that you were able to help, too, I know,” I said.

Marsha waved that out. “We would do that anytime. She’s a great person, and it made us happy to help.”

Curtis nodded a bit. “You’re thinking it’ll work out fine, then?”

Angie shrugged. “Anywhere you go, there’ll be some problem people. I’ve heard of people getting messed with at UT, and it’s supposed to be much less conservative. I’m ... we’re! ... appropriately cautious, I think. Be safe, carry bear spray, watch for people who are acting strangely, but be ourselves.”

“Sounds good to me!” Marsha said. “Too many girls think college campuses are crime-free zones, and they’re not.”

Curtis said, “Interesting times. Very interesting times.”

It wasn’t lost on me that the Fifth Circuit might be considering the A&M vs Gay Student Services case right now. He couldn’t mention it, and I shouldn’t even know it was on their radar now — the case had been under appeal for years — but I did know that, and he probably did, too. If so ... well, we would see. GSS had won in my first life. I’d hate to have inadvertently screwed that up!