Wow! Finally safe and sound in our cozy little home… Oh yeah, cozy – that’s for sure. Is there somebody saying there must be a lighted fireplace to make a room cozy? Here we needn’t such a thing – the weather is so boiling hot, a fire would only make me sweat more! It’s lovely, though, to have to warm air after the chilly countryside weather…

Now the trip back home was *ahem* quite exciting. Let’s say, it turned out great at the end, but started quite, let’s say… freaky. We left at about 3:00 PM (needless to say, my dad, the driver, was quite exhausted by then) and we were barely an hour and a half through the drive when a HUGE truck passed us abruptly and slipped right in front of us. It wasn’t really dangerous but when he started going slower and faster and the slowing down again… we wondered what the HELL was going on. Finally when he was going so slow, somebody honked a horn behind us (at least, right then we thought it was because he was going slow… but let me finish my story first), we decided to pass him. As we looked up we saw the guy shaking his arm and gawking at us with enormous eyes, obviously trying to get a message across. So we couldn’t do anything but park by the side of the highway…

So the trucker parked right behind us (I cringed when I saw this MONSTRUOUS machine at our heels, but fear not, readers – he knew how to park…) and my dad got out to speak to him. Turns out we had lost some stuff… See, we are a very messy family. We bring our messes with us when we travel. We have a FULL car. And a FULL trailer. And, also, a FULL rooftop trunk or whatcha-may-callit… You know, a big grey box that you open and close and stick to the roof of the car. And yes, it was not locked! So after a while it finally opened *argh* and stuff flew right out… Thank God for this wonderful trucker. I have a totally new opinion on them now – nope, they aren’t all devils who fall asleep on the highway like one of them once did in front of us… Oh, I’m not telling you they’re all bad. Just a few! If I could go back to any moment in the past I’d like to go hug this very trucker and say thanks.

So we had no choice but drive on to the next exit, which was fifteen minutes away. As we turned in the intersection we saw a car parked by the side of the road and yes, two ladies frantically waving at us. Here are the two thoughts that crossed my mind right then: “What the Hell?” (I think that a lot these days) and “Nooo, please, no more trouble…” But acting as the good Samaritans we might or might not be, we stopped by the side of the road and opened the window. I had the surprise of my life just then. “Did you lose anything on the road?” asked one of the ladies.

They were two kind French tourists who were driving right behind us when the rooftop trunk or whatcha-may-callit opened. And yes, the people who had honked at us. Let’s say, I first thought they had stopped at the next exit to wait for us, but then realized – they didn’t have much choice. Under their car, stuck there… our bicycle bag… So, they’d waited for us and recognized us. We’re very recognizable with our trailer and watcha-may-callit… plus, we’ve got about the oldest car in the neighbourhood. Older than I am!

So, Dad got out and helped them lift the car to tear the bicycle bag away. Let’s say I won’t refer to it anymore as a bicycle bag. By then, it was a bunch of melted, torn fabric… Never mind the “bicycle bag”…

The ladies spoke to us for a few minutes, letting us know about where the stuff flew out and how many items they spotted; they said they saw two helmets (*ahem* and they had to drive over one of them) and an “un-identified object” (my dad is the only person I know who keeps EVERYTHING that has to do with shaving or brushing your hair, in a little leather bag…). So, after having thanked them, away we drive (I never thought once in my life that someday we would spend half-an-hour slowly driving at the side of a four-lane highway… looking for helmets!) and finally we arrive to the spot where everything flew away. Thank goodness, my own helmet was the first thing we saw – safe and sound. My dad found his little leather bag. Thankfully the stuff inside was all okay, but the bag… well, the bag… let’s say I won’t mention how it looked. All I can say is, too bad they don’t make them anymore.

The last thing we found was a little strap of nylon – the last thing we ever saw of my disappointed sister’s helmet. Yes, her brand new $40 helmet… That was sad. But, life’s like that!!

Through all this the cats were fine. Sacha slept all along under the driver’s seat (waking up at every stop, asking us with his eyes: ARE WE THERE YET?), and the two kittens that get bigger by the day were crammed in their kitten-cage. Soon enough, Kashmir started attacking his brother, so finally I DRAGGED him out of that frickin’ cage and forced him on my knees. He slept peacefully for the rest of the trip. My legs still hurt…

I have to go now… Hopefully this has somehow updated you on me and my kitties. The cats are doing GREAT! And thanks to Stacy who sent em those delicious treats, they are mad about them. That’s why I have to go now – they keep begging… Stacy, it’s all your fault if I gotta go! Just kidding.