A Household Word: Can You Cash a Rain Check?

The place sounded ideal. Sure, it was a little more than I wanted to spend on a week’s rental, but it would probably be worth it. The only thing the ad didn’t promise was sunshine. But, hey, we were owed a week of good weather. After all, my family had paid their dues to the vacation gods.

Last year, we were rained on at the seashore. The year before that, were rained on in the mountains. We’ve seen precipitation from Portland to Puerto Vallarta. (Su vacacion, amigos? Pobre usted!)

Our family vacations are notorious for their bad timing. In fact, at my husband’s office, his co-workers wait until he’s booked his vacation before they schedule their own time off. They know that the rain will always fall on the Band family’s week away.

But this time, the weather seemed more promising. As we packed the car, the sun was rising on what looked to be a beautiful day at our house.

“Red sky at morning, sailor’s delight!” I sang out as we hit the highway.

“That’s red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” corrected my oldest son. “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.”

Undaunted, we hurtled down the highway straight toward the steely clouds forming in the distance. Two hours later, we turned on the windshield wipers.

I used my finger on the foggy window to calculate the cabin’s daily rental rate. One afternoon of rain would be fine. Besides, we could use the time to unpack all the inflatable rafts and sunscreen.

As we lurched down the dirt driveway to the cabin, it was still raining. Hard.