Day 917 Post Vacation Daydreams

 

No, I’m not back in Tortola, but I couldn’t resist posting one more photo of the beautiful landscape. I’m back home now, tackling the post-vacation tasks: unpacking, laundry, mail, groceries—the never-ending list goes on. I took a much-needed break when my daughter came to visit. She had to endure all my vacation stories, along with a flood of photos. As I was quickly scrolling through the pictures with her, I couldn’t help but stop on this one, which perfectly captured the tropical beauty of the island. I might just have to get this photo enlarged and framed so that I can visually revisit the island every day. My parents visited St. Thomas in the late '60s and purchased two framed photographs of the island, which I’ve always had hanging in my kitchen. Maybe having two photos from 2025 Tortola hanging next to them would be perfect?

With the travel crisis behind me, it was time to move on to the next problem: my car. AAA tried twice but had no luck jump-starting the battery, so my beautiful car ended up getting a ride on a flatbed to the garage. There had been talk of an electrical problem, possibly needing a reset from the dealership, and even the possibility of a new alternator. Neither sounded like a cheap fix. Since a reset might be necessary, I was thankful that a friend intervened on my behalf. She called her husband, who works at a Toyota dealership, and since Lexus is basically a fancy Toyota, it would work. He connected me with his friend who runs the service department. Within hours of my car arriving at the garage, I got a call, and the news wasn’t bad at all. They had to replace the battery after all, as it was so dead that a jump wouldn’t have worked. But once replaced, the car started up without issue. The mechanic wanted to keep the car overnight, just to make sure it continued to start without trouble. He believes that’s all it will need. Phew! Fingers crossed that’s all it is.

With no less than a million trivial things to do, I took 30 minutes to write to Southwest Airlines to let them know about the amazing service Tim and I encountered in Miami. I hope my words of praise somehow reach the kind woman at the ticket counter, the baggage staff who went back for our bags and got them onto the plane, and the gate staff who greeted us so warmly. I imagine most of their communications are from people with bad experiences, so maybe my letter will tip the scales slightly and make someone’s day.

I’ll be looking through vacation photos again, with every intention of making a photo book—though I still haven’t made one from our trip to Europe two years ago. Maybe the best I can do is get the photos printed, a couple enlarged, and maybe one or two framed. There’s snow in the forecast for the upcoming weekend, so it might be the perfect time to look through tropical island and beach photos and relive those fun vacation memories. I can’t seem to get Tortola out of my mind as I enjoy my post vacation daydreams. I just know there’s more to explore there.

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