The Adventures of the Wayward Flip Flops
Crocs by another name
My first recollection of my adventures was my journey from Germany to the United States. It was wintertime and usually not the right season for my kind to travel. Placed in a small rectangular box it was dark and cold. The trip took many days and only God knows the course and after many days of being thrown around ended up in a small alpine town in Georgia. It looked and had the feel of my former area in Germany. When my new companion opened the box there were many lights around, some in trees, on buildings and it seemed festive enough to have a party.
Normally I’m only taken out in warmer weather, but this was different, we went out everyday in all kinds of weather. I heard stories about my previous pair living in Alaska and being on the go in frigid and nasty weather. To hear of the Hawaiian shirts and Margaritaville flip flops being taken on adventures in minus twenty below seems almost unheard of, but this new companion is a bit odd and takes us everywhere.
The first couple of years there were camping trips in various places, a beautiful lake in Tennessee. A fun adventure with Alaskan friends In Helen, Savannah, and Charleston. Walks on sandy beaches among miles of driftwood and great food. Never offered me anything to eat but expected me to take him miles and miles with nothing. If I could speak, I would have told you to share all the great food eaten over our time together. The walks along the beach were fun until we walked along and into the water where it was hard to come up for air. His gait allowed breathing but when stopped for longer periods of time I thought I was a goner for sure.
Several years I went to an ice cream convention in various places, Orlando, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, and Savannah but this year he wore some other shoes and were not invited to see new things or meet up with people my companion knew. It was a letdown staying in some hotel room and only being taken out for leisure time. I’m happy to work to earn my way in life but for some reason this year I guess I was second fiddle to some rarely used pair.
There was a medivac trip to Texas with his daughter’s family with a side trip to Oklahoma City that was enjoyable even if the cause of the trip was not. There were a couple of hot air ballooning adventures with his friends, but I could not see very well being in the bottom of the basket. From what I heard it was lovely and beautiful.
There were many more, but this leads me to the current situation.
On a road trip to Key West, what started out as a wonderful trip seeing multiple friends along the way and seeing new sights while basking in the Florida sunshine took a nasty turn. After a leisurely morning breakfast with friends, a visit to the Butterfly Habitat and a walk along Duvall Street we returned to the RV campsite for a little rest. Little did I know what was to come a little later.
When we returned my companion did a few chores then took me off and placed me on an 8’ x 12’ rug outside the RV. There was a nice Flamingo welcome mat at the door of the motorcoach, and we were left by ourselves for a couple of hours.
Suddenly things changed, the sky turned dark with ominous looking clouds and the calm waters of the Gulf started churning along the shoreline. Inside no one seemed to notice the changes to the weather. One was finishing reading, “A Salty Piece of Land” while my companion was on the laptop writing something or another.
It was like someone turned on a switch to a massive wind machine. What was once calm and wonderful immediately turned into chaos. I was lifted up in the air, spinning and turning over and over again until I hit the side of a kayak in the next campsite. I was stunned for a few seconds before watching the aftermath. The flamingo rug was hurled over the yellow mini-Cooper and landed over on another campsite across the street about 50 feet away. The 8’x10’ rug flapped a few times before it shot up into the air, higher than the RV and quickly left the campsite. It came to rest on a bicycle the man was trying to put away and clean up the debris at his campsite.
What happened next was almost unimaginable.
My other half was violently thrown up into the air riding the 8’x10’ rug at first but continued to rise higher, tumbling over and over until I could not see him anymore. Gone in a flash!
My companion came out of the RV realizing I was gone and had to find some other shoes before coming outside to look for me. He found the Flamingo mat, brought it back against the wind and after struggling to get the door open it was placed inside.
Next, he went around the Mini and I could see the other campsite and briefly talked with the bicycle man who was struggling to put his things away. He had trouble folding the rug to walk back over to the RV. The wind pushed him almost, knocking him to the ground but finally after struggling to take the large rug to the camper door, again the struggle to open the door.
Finally, he starts looking around for me and the other one but does not see either of us at first. Coming over by the kayak I screamed over the howling noises of the wind, “Look here, over here!” He saw me and reached down to pick me up and the wind whisked me away once again, over the kayak and into the roadway. I was picked up and brought over to the RV and place inside while my companion went out in search of my other half. What seemed like a very long time he returned empty handed.
The search would have to wait until morning as the wind howled, the darkness set in strangely after a beautiful sunset, and the waves crashed up along the shoreline all night long.
Does this story have a happy ending? Not at this time as the search continues.
After an exhausting search including talking to several neighbors, no one has seen the wayward flip flop, taken from the windward side of Sigsbee Island.
Now comes the awkward search for replacement flip flops that have that same character and je ne sais quoi that this pair had.
Epilog
Later this morning when leaving to go to brunch, I moved the Mini and looked under where it had been sitting, low and behold there sat the other flip flop. It had been hiding behind the rear wheel inside where it could not be seen. It was unhappy that it was outside in the dark windy night and was so happy to be reunited making the set and looking forward to more adventures.