I continually gripe about people who don’t read the fine print and consequently, do something wrong. Today I am griping about myself. For a week, I planned to be in Spearfish early Friday morning because the Arts Festival started then. I wanted to be one of the first to look around and enjoy the day in the park beside the creek. When Hubby and I arrived there shortly after nine on Friday morning, I finally read the signs. It started at 4 pm on Friday, not at 9 am as I presumed. I didn’t read the fine print.
We’d made the 45-minute drive for nothing. We watched vendors start setting up their canopies and set out their wares. We walked to the Booth Fish Hatchery across the creek and watched the trout swim around. With nothing left to do in the park other than wade in the creek, we decided to drive through our old neighborhood to see how much it has changed. The lilacs, honeysuckle, and trees we planted were doing beautifully. The place is well taken care of and looked wonderful.
As we drove past our old neighbor’s house, we saw her outside working in the flowerbeds. We stopped and reintroduced ourselves to which she reciprocated with a huge hug. It’s been about 26 years since we left there, but our sons were best friends all through elementary school, junior high, and freshman year of high school. Our daughter used to drive her kids to school after she turned 16. She remembered us. We got caught up with what our kids and grandkids were doing. They’ve had health problems but have overcome them. It was great catching up. Knowing they remembered us and warmly welcomed us made the trip to Spearfish worthwhile.
Next, we went to a friend of Hubby’s place to see their new Mercedes camper van. (Hubby wants one but $$$$$$). His wife was the only one at home, but she gave us a nice tour of their new camping digs and told us of their journeys in it. We sat under their shaded back patio and visited for a while. I don’t know her well, but we’ve met before. Her hospitality was very generous and appreciated.
The best Mexican food restaurant in the area is in Spearfish, and we enjoyed a nice lunch there. With nothing else to do, we drove around looking at the town for a bit. Hubby complains I’m on my phone all the time, but this time, I found a message on a post from another old friend. They were camping nearby and asked us to come visit. We made our way out to the campground and enjoyed a long visit in the shade of a tree. It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen them, and it was a delight to visit again. Again, we talked of our children and grandchildren, but this time we talked about ourselves as well. We’re about the same ages which gives a lot of common ground.
As we left Spearfish, we stopped for gas. As I got out of the truck, a wallet was laying on the ground. It had credit cards and money in it, but I didn’t go through it to know whose it was. We turned it in to the cashier and hoped that the one who lost it would come check back there. We did our good deed for the day, but as I write this, I wonder if we should have called the police and turned it into them. I don’t know for sure.
So despite messing up the day by not reading the fine print, good things came out of our trip to Spearfish. We’ve lived a lot of places, but we don’t forget our good neighbors. It was good to see them and know they’re doing well. It was a day well spent.