Snapshots 4.0
Chapter 16 – S'mores Anyone?
"Geez, Gen, are you and Steve going to just attach yourselves to us and go everywhere we go once you retire?" Jane had asked when Gen had called her. Gen had teased Jane that she wants to go to Italy also via text earlier in the week.
"Why not, we want to go the same places and it seems as if we want to see and do the same things." Jane had shared their list of places they wanted to go and visit on their cruise across the country.
"Well, you are not seeing and doing my wife, I can tell you that much. She is all mine and I don't share." Jane snickered and Gen laughed.
"Jane. I don't want to sleep with Maura, although she is very beautiful and if I was, and I repeat if I was into women then I would be interested, but I am not into women except as friends." Gen explained as she shared a laugh with Jane.
"Well, I glad we got that cleared up. Hey, aren't you at work right now?" Jane asked wondering why Gen was calling her mid-afternoon.
"Yes, but I needed to ask you something?" Gen quickly replied. She had been on the phone with Jane for several minutes already and needed to get down to business. She had an afternoon meeting to prepare for.
"Sure, spit it out already. I have things to do y'know." Jane said as she muted the TV.
"Oh, you are so funny Jane. I happen to know that you are retired and probably sitting in front of that large screen TV of yours watching ESPN with a beer in your hand." Gen could picture Jane doing just that. She knew that Jane loved to catch up on sporting events in her spare time.
"What if I am?" Jane questioned, wondering how Gen knew exactly what she was doing at that moment in time.
"More power to you, but seriously the reason I called, will you assist me with my last radio call at my retirement ceremony? I liked that we were able to bring Korsak in for you and when I got thinking about special people that I would like to do that for me you were at the top of the list." Gen said with a little sadness in her voice. Not sad that Jane was on the top of her list but sad that she would be retiring soon. She loved being a police officer but she also knew that she wanted to spend time with her husband and see some of the world while they were still able to.
"I would be honored Gen, thank you! I don't have to wear my uniform to I?" Jane snarled up her face in the thought of having to wear her uniform.
"No, of course not. The only time you would probably ever wear your uniform again is at an active officer's funeral and I hope we don't have any of those any time soon. I have been to enough of those throughout my career."
"Me too. In that case I hope I never have to wear my uniform again. I am still trying to get use to the fact that I am retired." Jane stated reflecting on the fact that as she had spent most of her, almost all of her adult life as a police officer.
"I sure do miss you here. It is not the same at HQ without you and Maura. You always brought humor to my day and now there is none. That is why when Steve and I talked about when I should retire, I told him once you retired that I wouldn't be too far behind. I knew things would be different without you and Maura here. I am just happy that the selection committee selected Nina as my replacement."
"Me too, and you are not retired yet so you better get back to work." Jane stated in a commanding voice and Gen laughed at her again.
"Yeah, I probably should. Talk to you soon Jane, and tell Maura hello for me."
"Yes, I will tell her that you want to sleep with her and I said no."
"Oh Jane! Bye." Gen was still laughing.
"Bye Gen." Jane smirked even though Gen couldn't see her. She thought it was funny.
Maura had gone to the store to get the last of their supplies they needed for the next little trip they were going to take in their RV and she was due back in less than an hour. Jane was supposed to be mapping out their trip and hadn't even started yet. She turned off the TV and pulled out her laptop. She would have to hurry up and map out the route they would be taking.
They had decided that they would take a trip to Toronto, Canada and watch the Red Sox play the Toronto Blue Jays. This was another item on their list of things they wanted to do, to watch the Red Sox play in their opponent's stadiums. It was under six hundred miles to Toronto however, they decided to take two days to drive there so they could break the trip up. They wanted some additional practice with their RV before they set out on their cross-country trip.
Jane and Maura had both sat down and read through the manual. There were things they needed to pay attention to, just like with a motor vehicle except now they had to worry about such things as tank levels. They had watched many videos on YouTube about what to expect with their RV. Their first trip and had been successful and they learned a few things that would help them on future trips.
Maura walked in the door almost an hour after Jane had turned off the TV just as Jane had finished mapping out their trip and where they would park the RV for their stopover. Jane was pleased with herself. Maura had been gone for over three hours and in less than one hour she had accomplished her task. She knew next time, she had to accomplish the task and then she could kick back and watch TV.
They secured all of the supplies Maura had picked up and then they sat down to review the plans for their trip. Maura was pleased with the plans. They had decided to leave in the morning so that they could add an extra day so they could visit Niagara Falls, NY. Neither one of them had been there and they really wanted to visit the falls. They had researched the area and that is how they made their decision to add an extra day.
Niagara Falls was just under 500 miles from Boston so they would get an early start. They wanted to make sure they were settled in their campsite before dusk so they could take advantage of seeing the falls at night.
They arrived at the campsite at 3:30 PM and settled the RV and unhooked their SUV. Their first order of business was obtaining tickets for the Maid of the Mist evening tour. It was a week night and the last tour was at 5 PM so they didn't waste any time getting their tickets and boarding the boat. They had changed into casual evening clothes and had a rain jacket and hat.
It was late September and the Red Sox were playing three games against the Blue Jays. Before they left, they had decided to stay for all three games and were able to obtain the same seats for all three games.
They had extended their stay in the campground before they left and decided they would use the campground as their home base as Toronto was only 83 miles from the campground. Well, the first night they would stay at a hotel in Toronto as it was a night game. The second and third games were afternoon games. They would be able to take in additional sights at Niagara Falls this way.
Jane knew there was a strong possibility that they would get wet during the boat ride and sure enough, once they went to the outside the boat was hit with a large gush of water. Maura took the brunt of the water as Jane had held the door open for her and Maura had just walked by Jane when the water struck the boat. Jane had a little bit of a laugh to her voice when she said, "Are you alright Maur?"
"Yes Jane, but you don't have to laugh about it."
"Sorry, it's just I knew we might get wet. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. I promise I am not laughing at you but rather with you." Jane tried to convince her wife. Maura wasn't too sure about that. She was just happy that her camera didn't get wet as it was still tucked inside her jacket.
They had watched all of the videos that they could find of the falls and were still amazed by the amount of water that went over the falls. They didn't expect the sound of the waterfall to be as loud as it was. They both felt it was truly a beautiful sight. Maura took quite a few pictures as she snuggled into Jane. Jane had her arms wrapped around her from behind. A few times Maura had to break their embrace so she could get the shot she wanted but she quickly resumed her spot secured in Jane's embrace when she finished taking her picture.
Maura had purchased a GoPro video camera for Jane for her retirement. She knew Jane was taking an interest in photography and videos. She had also purchased some wearable accessories so Jane could wear the camera while she was participating in different activities.
Jane decided she wanted to record their boat ride, so she strapped the camera to her jacket. Jane controlled the camera with her phone so once it was secured, she didn't have to worry about it. They would edit the videos when they got home and make a video of their trip.
Jane laughed as she watched some of the video as it was being shot, as it was of her wife being silly making faces at her as she set up her camera equipment not realizing that Jane had started recording already.
After their boat ride they went back to the campsite and lit a fire so they could sit outside and make some smores. Jane stated that they must make smores, as it is a Rizzoli camping tradition and even though they are in an RV they should still make them. Besides Jane knew this might be the only way that she would get to eat some chocolate on this trip.
Maura had discovered over the years that she really liked smores so she didn't object. She just wanted Jane to think she was objecting, she loved the banter that took place between them. Jane played along with it because she knew Maura loved smores. They had made so many of them over the years.
They went to bed about 11 PM after the fire had died down quite a bit. Jane hadn't even bothered to pull the outdoor TV out. She figured they were on vacation and they would be watching three baseball games in person so she figured the TV could stay locked in the side compartment of the RV.
In the morning when they woke up, they looked at the activities planner they had been given when they checked into the campsite and saw the times of the activities they wanted to visit and planned out their morning. They had a night game that night so they figured they had until 2 PM to check out the sights in Niagara Falls. They decided they would visit the aquarium and see the penguins and then take in the museum.
Jane was impressed with Rogers Centre, commonly referred to as the SkyDome, because of the retractable roof. The stadium had been upgraded over the years and it was beautiful. Jane was so grateful that they had added the goal of seeing all the stadiums that the Red Sox played in.
They received some funny looks from people as they walked around the stadium in their Red Sox jerseys. They weren't sure if it was because of the jerseys or the fact that they were holding hands. They really didn't care. They were going to have a great time and enjoy the game, win or lose.
They were happy to see other Red Sox fans sitting behind the Visitor's dugout with them. It made them feel better about wearing their jerseys. The game was scoreless until the ninth inning when the Blue Jays had a single homerun by their first baseman. The Red Sox were not able to score. In the ninth inning, they had two players on base with two outs when their left fielder stuck out.
The sox had lost the game that night by one run. They were sad about losing but they knew they still had two more games to watch and maybe the sox could win one or both of the games. They went back to the hotel, Jane opened the door and let Maura in. Maura immediately checked the temperature in the hot tub and told Jane, "Retired Superintendent Rizzoli, you have sixty seconds to get your beautiful naked body in the hot tub."
"Geez, Maur, so bossy still after all these years." Jane was grinning she remembered the first time that Maura had told her that.
"With you, always, better hurry your time is ticking away."
"I'm working on it, why aren't you naked?"
"I will be right there and you need to be in the hot tub when I arrive."
"Okay, I am there. The water is not and hot." Maura walked in with two wine glasses and a plate of cheese and crackers. "When did you have time to put this together?"
"This is a five-star hotel and I might have placed a phone call earlier to make a few arrangements."
"Well Dr. Rizzoli-Isles, I rather like this little surprise."
"I thought you might." Maura said with a little smirk as she climbed into the hot tub. Jane had stood up and extended her hand to help her wife. Once Maura was in, they both sat down and Maura poured a glass of wine for both of them. After Jane took a sip of her wine, Maura took the glass from her and placed it on the side of the tub and then proceeded to kiss her passionately. Jane liked this surprise quite a bit. She could do this every night. Maura and Jane kissed for a little bit and then made love. They continued to make love in their hot tub until around 1 AM and then took a quick shower to rinse off.
When Jane woke up in the morning, she decided to wake Maura up by kissing her. She had planted kisses all over her face, neck, shoulders and was taking a particular interest in her breasts when she felt Maura stir. Jane stopped kissing her and moved so that she was looking down on her. Maura smiled and then opened her eyes to see a grinning Jane.
They made love and barely made their 11 AM check out time following their quick shower. They drove to the CN Tower as it was one of the items on their list. That was the only item on their list that they had time to see before the start of the game. They vowed they would have to come back to Toronto for a proper tour and maybe catch some more games in the future.
As they were walking in for the second baseball game Jane told Maura, "We can check off Ontario on our list of states we have made love in."
"Oh, are we adding all the Canadian provinces to the list now?"
"Yes, there is a state list, country list and because of the size of Canada I added each province separately."
"Well, that is nice to know. I guess we better plan some activities for Canada. I didn't realize they had been added to the list."
"I guess that means that you don't know everything in the world."
"I never said that I did." She replied as she shook her head from side to side.
"I know but it sure seems like it. You never seem to surprise me with the amount of knowledge you have in that big brain of yours." Maura just smiled at Jane.
The Blue Jays had a single homerun in the first inning and didn't score again. The Red Sox were able to score three runs in the fifth inning and then two more in the seventh inning. Jane and Maura were so happy that the Red Sox won the game. Immediately after the game they drove back to campground. They were exhausted so they just went to bed. The got up early and after cooking breakfast they took in the sights around the falls and then went to the stadium for the third game.
The Red Sox won the third game with a solo home run in the sixth inning. It was the only run scored in the game. Both teams had opportunities to score and ended up leaving players on base. Maura was surprised that Jane wasn't the loudest Red Sox fan in attendance. There was one man that sat behind them a few rows. He had his face painted and was shouting the entire game. Maura was just happy that Jane didn't try to keep up with him. Jane was actually rather tame compared to how she normally yelled in excitement during the Red Sox games.
After the third game they took a bus tour of Toronto before heading back to the campground. They had discovered that a couple that was sitting by them at the game was camped near them in the campground so when they got back to the campground, they built a fire and the other couple came over and had smores with them and they drank wine and chatted about everything Boston but mostly the Red Sox. Jane of course had a big Red Sox Sticker on the RV and that is how the other couple had initially spotted them and then when they saw them at the game they chatted for a bit and then made plans to meet for smores later that night.
Maura had enjoyed the interaction with the other couple and Jane was proud that over the years it had become easier for Maura to socialize with others. About 10 PM the other couple left and Jane and Maura decided they needed to start securing things as they would be leaving in the morning to head back to Boston. The majority of the packing up of the campsite had already been completed before they left for the game but they put away some items they wouldn't need in the morning and went to bed.
By 6 AM they were on the road with plans to be home before 6 PM that night. They enjoyed their little adventure to Toronto and they both agreed that the next time they went to Toronto they were going to fly and stay in the same hotel that they had stayed in the night of the first game. Now it was time to plan their next adventure.