Rant #2,917: Almost Summer

Well, the pool is still as green as a cucumber, so off to the pool store to find out what we can do about it.
 
If the water was clear, I would have already  jumped into it, so it is bit frustrating that I can’t even put my hand into it now, much less my entire body.
 
The pool sitting there not being used yet just gives me thoughts of summer, which officially begins next week.
 
My family and I are finally going to go on our long-postponed vacation later in the summer, and I know that I can’t wait.
 
We have not had a real vacation in a couple years; first we were going to go on a cruise, but with everything happening related to the pandemic—even now, cruises are not thought to be the best place to be—we canceled that cruise, but plan on cruising next year.
 
This year will be a driving vacation, and yes, I know, we might be staring at $6 a gallon of gas by the time we go.
 
The way I look at it—and the way many people evidently are looking at it, from what I see and hear on the news shows—is that yes, the price of gas is outrageous, but after being cooped up in our homes for a couple of years, it is time to get out and move about.
 
And that is just what we are gong to do.
 
I consider the gas as a vacation expense, and my family and I have put away money specifically to be used for gas.
 
We are going to need it, because we are going to be driving up and down the Eastern Seaboard during our vacation, going to two specific spots, and the gas will be a necessity to do this, no matter how much it costs.
 
We have made some changes to our vacation related to gas costs, though.
 
We have cut out one place we were going to go—the lesser of the three places we were originally going to travel to—so it is just two places now.
 
We are going to Baltimore, Maryland, but not to the downtown area; we are going to the Camden Yards area, and will take in the sights there.
 
Part of those sights is a baseball game, and we will be rooting on the New York Yankees in person when they play at the stadium there against the Baltimore Orioles.
 
Camden Yards is a stadium that I have always wanted to see a game in, so I can check off one other thing on my personal bucket list when we see the game there.
 
I have also heard from a lot of people that there is plenty of other things to do in that area, so we are really looking forward to finally getting there, as it is a place that we have passed numerous times on past car trips that we have taken.
 
Then we are going down to Georgia, to Senoia, a place we have been to several times in the past and which we like a lot.
 
Senoia is to Atlanta what Nassau County is to New York City, so it is about 30 to 40 miles out of Atlanta and has all the amenities that Nassau County has, plus one—palm trees line the streets.
 
This city has become a large tourist area because Hollywood has adopted it as sort of “Hollywood Southeast,” as many shows and movies are shot there.
 
In fact, the very popular “Walking Dead” franchise of shows is filmed at least partially there, and literally an entire downtown has sprung up around this show and the other entertainment vehicles that have been filmed there, such as the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.”
 
My wife is a huge fan of “The Walking Dead,” and they offer themed tours related to that show that are very interesting even to a non-fan like myself.
 
We are also going to be doing some other things while we are in Senoia, including taking a tour of the Coca-Cola complex and seeing a WWE wrestling show, both in Atlanta, just 30 miles or so away from where our hotel is.
 
This is the first driving vacation my family and I have been on in several years, and who knows, it might be the final one, so we are going to make it as good as we can, in spite of what gas is going to cost us.
 
(I figure it is going to cost us a minimum of $500 for gas during the trip, but it could even be more than that based on, of course, how much gas costs at the moment we need it, also taking into account that the price fluctuates by state.)
 
So here we are in June, it isn’t even summer yet, and I look out at my green pool, and I sit here frustrated, because the opening of the pool usually means "summer has arrived" to my family and I—
 
But this year it only means--at least right now—total frustration.
 
Let’s see if the pool store can help us out with the problem, because all I want to do is jump into the pool, but not in its present condition.
 
What would Green Lantern do in such a situation?
 
How about Lorne Greene?
 
Here comes summer … ?