To say I was a bit excited when The Big Guy agreed to go away for the weekend would be a serious understatement.

You see, it’s been six and a half years since the last time the two of us went away without les enfants. The purpose was to visit The Big Guy’s niece at university in Kingston, since the poor girl doesn’t get home too often and visits from family are even more rare.

I was so excited, that I didn’t even give him a hard time when we left over an hour late from our mutually agreed upon departure time. I simply programmed the GPS and slipped behind the steering wheel.

That’s when we hit the first bump in the road — pun intended. The Big Guy is old school when it comes to driving. He’s not a fan of the GPS and reaches for the map every time. I agreed to the “scenic route” he wanted, keeping off the 401 on a Friday afternoon is a no-brainer for me! However, when he started arguing with the GPS lady, I knew we were going to have problems. While the route he opted for was lovely (hard to fully appreciate while driving) we were losing light fast and needed to stop for dinner. Passing several opportunities, I begged him to decide on a location. Losing strength and hallucinating platers of food, I was relieved when The Big Guy declared that a tiny roadside diner with a full parking lot was our destination. What made it special from the dozen or so eateries we had passed? Hullo – the parking lot was FULL!

Upon entry, I knew we were in for an experience. It was like stepping back in time to when smokers could kill you indoors and drinking and driving was politically correct. The decor was part corrugated steel wainscotting, part rough cut lumber. The Big Guy was THRILLED! My doubts were reinforced when I entered the ladies’ room.

NEVER a good sign!

Take a good look at this picture. Exactly what is going on in that stall that required the occupant to use such force that they broke the lock on multiple occasions?!?

Then there was the rest of the bathroom decor…

Hey, I don’t have anything against a good karaoke session, but one has to question the half naked females used to promote it (cropped it out of shot!!). Don’t even START me on the Halloween poster! Top it off with that lovely chemical toilet smell and you can imagine how I anticipated my meal.

In spite of my reservations, the food was amazing. It gave me a little pain to say so, but The Big Guy nailed it. Chicken Marsala – that’s all I need to say about that!

While The Big Guy flirted with the waitress, which earned him extra serviettes and wet wipes, I realized that the sun had set. So much for the “scenic route”. Determined to stick to his plan The Big Guy insisted we could still take the path less traveled. We stuck with this less than bright idea for about 45 minutes, when I begged him to let me hit the 401 so we could arrive a the hotel the same night.

Long trip short – the four hour drive we were anticipating morphed into a 7 hour adventure. Yes, we are still married.

It was a wonderful weekend of food and family, landmarks and laughs.

The Big Guy’s first selfie. After all, his arms are longer than mine!

But like all good things, the weekend came to an end and it was time to head home.

While the return trip was much shorter, it was dinner by the time we got home. Imagine my surprise when we walked in the door to this…

Yes folks, that’s two teenaged boys making dinner in a spotless kitchen! I managed this shot just before losing consciousness.

I think I’m going away next weekend too!