July 22
Tomorrow we're headed south once more. This time, we're going as far as Georgia; but we will still be camping near the shore, so I hope we don't have another storm like we did the other night! I swear, I've never seen anything like that. Or maybe I have, and I just didn't realize just how bad it was because I was in a nice safe brick house. Honestly, I've never realized just how much living in an actual house cuts you off from the outside world.
And I'm not sure if it was because of the storm or not, but the refrigerator has stopped working again. Thorin doesn't know what is wrong with it, so we're going to have to improvise and make do. I mean, we have a cooler, at least; and we've begun freezing gallon-size zipper-bags full of water in our outside freezer to keep everything nice and chilly. It should last for a while, anyway, and we'll keep a constant rotation of ice-bags going if need-be. Inconvenient, perhaps, but you do what you have to do!
I wish that my sunburn was so easy to take care of. It's not as bad as it was, of course, but it has made sleeping a bit of an ordeal – especially with all the sand that ends up in the bed. If we were at home, you can bet that I would be taking nice long cool baths every night. That is certainly out of the question in the trailer, but Thorin did let me in on an old family trick. He dabbed cold, wet tea bags all over my shoulders and arms, so to cool the skin and help the burn heal faster. It made me a bit sticky and stiff (oh, and how shocking they were on my burned skin!), but it really did help!
Anyway, since the other night, the cat and dog have been constant companions! But, unfortunately, the dog has started eating the cat's food. And every time we try to put the cat food bowl somewhere that Hershey won't be able to reach it, Rolly will knock it over and bat the food around until it is somewhere the dog can get at it! And, well, as happy as I am that Rolly is "sharing" with Hershey, I don't know if it is good for her to eat cat food. I have to look that up. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid, and always it was my parents who took care of ours! I hope I'm doing this right.
Goodness! That sounds just like me, doesn't it? I remember worrying so much when we first adopted Frodo. "Am I doing this right?" I'd ask Thorin whenever anything went wrong – when I scolded Frodo for reaching for something hot and he ended up crying because I'd frightened him, when he slipped in the tub and bumped his head, when I didn't notice him getting into the baking chocolate and he got a tummy ache after eating it all up...
And Thorin would always kiss me and tell me: "Of course you are!" – then he'd correct himself and say "Of course we are! Frodo is healthy and happy and safe... and that's what really matters."
But I wonder still. Frodo and Fíli and Kíli and Gimli are always getting bruised up and nicked and scratched and stung these days! This trip was supposed to be fun – not painful and scary. Sometimes I think we should have long ago bought stock in Band-Aids and bug spray and sunblock, as we've certainly used a lot of them since we began this adventure! But, well... bruises and nicks and scratches and stings notwithstanding, I guess they are still healthy and happy and safe. And I do hope they remember the fun parts of this trip more than they do the frustrations!
Oh, listen to me, getting all emotional! I have to go get everything stowed away for the next leg of our trip!