Thumbs Up!

Leaving Minnesota for me was the real beginning of leaving everything I know. I am not too familiar with the northwestern states and the drive south on I35 to catch I90 was full of anticipation of what was to come.

It was 85 degrees, sunny and a wind of gusts over 40 mph. I sat anxiously in the middle of the first row of seats watching the Twin Cities dissolve into cornfields. The winds met us head on yet our merriment grew stronger with every mile.

A car drove up along side us and an attractive blond waved at my husband and pointed upwards. Thinking that our kayak cover came loose again, my husband waved back, gave an eager smile with a thumbs up. We continued driving listening to the radio as another vehicle came up along side us and this time a balding middle-aged man urgently motioned to us and pointed. Again, my husband gave a jolly thumbs up with a knowingly and calm "I'll-get-to-it" nod.

About a mile passed and another song was about to start when a faint metal scraping sound could be detected from the side of our trailer. My husband looked in his side mirror and pulled off onto the shoulder immediately.

"What's wrong!" I asked.
"The awning!" he replied as he jumped out of the van.
I followed him to the side and there it was: the awning and all its metal framing on the ground alongside the trailer.

"Oh my God!" I said with my hand over my mouth.
"Must have dragged it a good mile," he paused, "Oh geez! Everyone must uv looked at me smiling and giving the 'ol thumbs up and thought, 'What an idiot!'"
I stared at the ripped awning and mangled metalin disbelief.

"How are we going to move this thing?" I asked.
"Going to have to stabalize it to get to the nearest exit. Maybe there is a gas station--where all those people might uv stopped--and then I'll come dragging in and they'll all go, 'Hey! There's that idiot!'"

Sean groaned and worked at getting the awning off at the next exit, watching if anyone recognized him. The awning had ripped from the sewing patch job he had done the day earlier when he had an accident while trying to wash it. He had spent a couple hours trying to sew it together and the high winds undid his patchwork.

We finally got back on the road and for the next few hours I listened to him mock what onlookers must have thought and I remained quiet. If he would have turned back to look at me I would have smiled at him and given the 'ol thumbs up!