A while back I told you that Matthew wanted to go to Spokane, Washington and Idaho. I never told you how the trip went.
Here goes:
As soon as our plane landed at the Spokane Airport, we picked up our rental car and started our journey, listening to Roy Orbison, the Beatles and Jimmy Buffett CD’s that Matthew had stowed in his back pack. Matthew noted that we would probably have time to drive accross the border of Montana, too. “That would be three states,” he said earnestly, and I agreed. What the heck.
“We could even go to Canada,” I suggested.
“Canada is not a state. Only states,” Matthew replied flatly, “and we’re not going to talk about it anymore.”
There was little conversation except for when we saw state welcome signs. “WELCOME TO IDAHO!” Matthew would announce with a face breaking smile. Those moments alone, along with the breath taking scenery, made the trip worthwhile. I was struck by how well this trip was going. I was actually looking forward to the fact that we had another entire day to explore the area some more.
After turning around after the Montana border, I asked Matthew where we should have dinner. Idaho or Washington?
“We had lunch in Idaho. We should have dinner in Washington.”
When we arrived at out hotel in Spokane and asked for a restaurant recommendation, the trouble started.
When I planned the trip to Washington, I could never have known that the hotel I picked was also the hotel that a team of female college Lacrosse players had also selected, and that they would be bouncing around the pool (right by the front desk) in bikini’s. I could never have known that they would mistake handsome Matthew for a “neurotypical” 23 year old man, and invite him to join them in the Jacuzzi later. I could not have predicted that after a quick dinner in the hotel restaurant, Matthew would wait by the Jacuzzi for two hours until the girls showed up, and that they would giggle nervously when they figured out that Matthew was not what they expected –and then vanish.
Once back in our hotel room, as I tried to comfort my sobbing son, I came up with my “help Matthew meet women” plan.
We’ve made progress. More next week.