The Lake House: Mad Libs version

What an incredible weekend! I drove down to Lake Anna on Saturday morning with my pals Heather, Skelbs, and Caroline, for what was an event many months in the making. Even though the forecast didn't bode well for a weekend by the water, we knew we'd make the best of it. After all, with beer, snacks, music and friends, what else did we really need?

We started with a ridiculously amusing game of Vacation Mad Libs, which began my weekend of girly giggles and laughs. Who knew they were just as fun as they were over 10 years ago?

Anyway, when we finally arrived at the Cable Lake House (not to be confused with the new, cheesy flick starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves), it was a bit overcast, but eventually when the sun broke through a bit, we headed out on the boat, Neptoon, manned by Heather's Dad, the skilled and experienced Cap'n Cable.

Then we went out dueling tube rides! Oh boy were these crazy. I just imagined your ordinary, run-of-the-mill tube being pulled by a boat at a leisurely pace, but what I didn't realize is that Mr. Cable takes joy in seeing his tube riders squeal and bounce and fly up into the air. It was actually an exhausting and adrenaline-inducing experience, and even if we woke up the next day with sore butts and feeling like we'd lifted weights, it was extremely fun and completely worth it!

Day 2 began with lots of rain, thus we had time to squeeze in an intense game of Scrabble, which entertained us far more than any Sunday morning board game should. Long story short: I played with much aplomb, and with the same aforementioned word I scored an early 39 points. After an admirable effort from Skelbs who battled me til the end, I ended up the big winner. Then, clearly having reached cabin fever mode, we started snapping photos of the Scrabble board like we were the paparazzi, including a shameless self-promoting board that featured all of our names on display. Huge dorks? Yes.

Thankfully at this point, the sun came out and looked like it was around to stay. We quickly suited up for the lake and headed out a lovely swim and lots of lounging under the sun. After cannonballs and other silly jumps off the dock, we headed back inside to prep for our last boat ride. Despite what looked like ominous clouds in the distance, we decided to take a chance and take Neptoon out for one last spin. The Cables treated us to dinner at what is believed to be Lake Anna's only real dining establishment, the Lakeview Restaurant. (How is that possible, right? Anyone looking for an untapped restaurant market, look no further!)

Well, as if Mother Nature was laughing at us again, as soon as we set foot on the boat to take the last ride back to the house, a huge bolt of lightning cracked and the sky opened up with rain. We all huddled underneath the small awning of the boat and covered ourselves with towels, but within about 5 minutes of the 30 minute ride, we realized our attempts to stay dry were fruitless. It was as if we were on a real-life Kings Dominion water ride, the rain coming down hard at first, then softer, then stopping momentarily, then beginning again almost like hail. There was even a small waterfall just like the amusement ride, splashing wildly as we crossed under the drain of the bridge. On this given day, Skelbs and Caroline were the ones who got the "good" seats on the ride, and by that I mean they looked like they had jumped in the lake.

Suddenly we all had a greater appreciation for what Heather had experienced all weekend long in her makeshift bathing suit: denim shorts and a t-shirt (p.s. if you remember to pack anything for a weekend at your own lake house, make it your bathing suit!).

After the stormy boat ride, we figured we'd done it all and there was no better way to end the lake experience. Little did we know, the trip back home would provide the real adventure.

Since I'd so enthusiastically volunteered to drive everyone to the lake -- I believe my exact words in an email were, "I don't mind driving at all. In fact, since I don't drive at all during the week, I kinda miss zipping around in my car..." -- I was behind the wheel as we approached 95 North, expecting nothing more than maybe a few weekend stragglers on the road. Boy, did I eat my words.

Almost the entire way home -- no exaggeration, it was a good 60 miles straight -- we were driving in torrential downpour and probably what was the craziest, longest-lasting storm I'd ever seen, much less driven through. I was averaging a steady 30 miles per hour almost the entire way, with visibility at about two car lengths. Anyway, as you can imagine, it was pretty exciting, and what I actually mean is miserable and slightly scary.

Just as it looked like things were calming down after I made my Springfield stops, Caroline and I headed back out to the main roads on our way to dropping her off in Georgetown. We hopped on the HOV lanes into DC and were cruising nicely before we slowed down a bit to witness the massive flooding on the regular lanes, right before the exit for 495 toward Tysons. A tractor-trailer had come to a complete stop, partially submerged, and up ahead, at least two cars were literally floating in a mini-lake that had formed across all lanes on the highway. No one was moving, and people who were stuck in traffic behind the lake were out of their cars and walking around, clearly with no way out. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped, as I'd never seen anything like that in all my years in this area. Just then, Caroline and I were having our smug "Glad that's not us!" conversation, and about 3 minutes later we found ourselves at a complete standstill, caused by what we presumed had to be a similar situation in the HOV lanes up ahead.

This is when we went into a minor panic attack, during which we pictured ourselves at 3 am still in the same place, questioning if we'd call in sick to work, where we would sleep, if at all. Just before the pee-in-your-pants moment set in, we started moving, and in what was just the next natural progression of this ironic experience, discovered that the half hour of non-movement on the HOV lanes was caused by rubbernecking an accident on the regular lanes. Yes, there was an enormous wreck on the far left of the regular lanes, yet that traffic was zipping by at regular speed. I guess we shouldn't have been so surprised. I wanted to scream with anger and relief at the same time.

Finally, just after the clock had struck midnight, I found myself indoors at Huan's place, definitely not willing to battle the floods back to Springfield and also vowing to never so quickly volunteer myself as driver for the weekend.

That said, it was an awesome and memorable weekend, and despite Mother Nature's mood swings and all the unexpected adventures, I can't wait to do it all over again!

The entire weekend album is on Flickr.