Take a beach condo with 3 rooms and 2 baths and add 9 adults, 3 teenagers, and a 3 year old. To that add sun, sand, salt water and you've got the ingredients for a grand vacation filled with all the hilarity and drama of an mtv reality show.H. and I were lucky enough to be invited by her family to join them at their annual trip to Myrtle Beach. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim have been going there for the last 21 years, if not longer. H. hadn't been in 14 or so years and in a rare alignment of planets and good horoscope juju, we were able to get away for a week to enjoy some time with the family (why does that line make me think of an REK song?). (I'll not mention that we drove through some of my favorite mtb riding areas twice with no bike - oh the horror!)
While some were able to read and relax on vacation...
Some of us had our hands full.
With 2 teenage boys, one would think the day would be filled with water sports and beach activities, but instead they were busy with sleeping in, texting (that's the same as text-paging, Joe), and watching cars go buy and discussing what a sweet ride it was or wasn't. Ah, youth. It didn't bother me as I've always been one who can happily entertain myself. I boogy boarded until the abraisions got too painful, then just swam and played in the surf. Aunt Nancy felt sorry for me and texted the boys to come down and play and they appeared instantly out in the surf alongside me. If only I could wield such power over man.
Luckily Hagan showed up on Wednesday so I had someone non-forced to play with on the beach. We played in the waves, "swam" in the tidal pools, built sand piles, dug holes, and generally ran around in our ADD manor enjoying all things beach.
Hagan Swimming. The batman sunglasses were shortly lost to the waves and replaced with spiderman backups. 
Brothers: Landon and Hagan chill out to a little Crocodile Hunter TV before geriatric dinner
Thursday morning, H. and I snuck out early in search of some wifi. After following billboards reportedly offering free wifi at a McD's allegedly "just ahead on the left" for miles, she spotted a better free wifi offering: Krispy Kreme. The connection was slow and made the web mail apps act up so we just tended to the high priority ones and left blog updates and such for later. Later is now. Now or later.
The beach was fun, despite not having a bike, and it was a rare ability to spend quality time with relatives scattered about the states. The trip home proved to be just as comical. About 3 hours into the trip there was a knocking coming from under the front. We stopped at a Subway to grab some lunch and investigate the noise. The skid plate decided to drop off the left side and drag/knock while driving down the interstate (Landon I'm looking at you). Most bolts on the Mazda are 10mm and before the trip I decided to take my 10mm wrench with me just in case. Well it was a just case so I just removed the skid plate, easy peasy right?
We get our food and start back down the interstate only to hear a louder knocking coming from the front right. What the F?!!! Another stop and some duck tape later, we were back on our way. The skid plate holds another plastic shield in place over the serpentine belt. Without the skid plate, the part just knocks against the shell of the belts. First taping didn't hold so well, but H. fixed it up after the next stop. They don't call it "100mph tape" for nothing. It held all the way home despite the torrential rain and winds and is still holding strong as of today.
Ah, vacations.
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