After almost 28 years of marriage you would think I would be MUCH less gullable/trusting of my husband ESPECIALLY around the time of my birthday, our anniversary, Christmas, and Valentine's Day BUT I guess I'll never learn and he'll continue to "get" me! (Just to set the scenario a bit, my birthday is the sixth of June. Also, bear with me because the story WILL ultimately make sense!)
One of the "accessories" Doug has been seeking for "Bella" is a Onan generator. Being the "eBay King" that he is, he was successful in his search, bid on and obtained one at a VERY good price AND still under warranty. It was shipped from Kentucky last week and he picked it up from the shipper (saving a $250 "door-to-door" delivery fee) and took it directly to a Onan dealer for a "check-up" on Wednesday. (I never saw it.) As we are spending the weekend at the "country estate" in Bella for some much needed R&R and to celebrate my father's birthday, the plan was to pick up the generator in route on Friday.
Friday morning came bright and early with Piccola, Lupo and I going to our respective "beautiful parlors" (groomer for them, beautician for me...name comes from my nephew when he was about three years old); Doug and I meeting for breakfast and doing the go to the store to replenish Bella's pantry trip; and then me going to pick up the "kids" and meeting Doug back at the house to load up "Bruto" for the trip up to Bella. Doug started loading the truck while I finished throwing together my "must haves" for the weekend. He insisted that everything needed to go into the cab of truck as otherwise there would be no room for the generator in the back and, besides, it was likely going to rain on the way and he didn't want anything to get wet. (Mind you I thought he was a bit "off" on his rationale as I was pretty certain that the generator would fit in the back with room to spare AND the tonno cover would go over the generator, but I attributed to the "Mars and Venus" thing rolled my eyes a bit and just worked on stuffing the last bits and pieces into the rear portion of the cab. OH, and we received the replacement coffee table by drop shipment the day before, but its not THAT big.) While I am usually the "packer" of the family, I really didn't think much about Doug doing the loading this time as we were trying to get on the road as soon as possible so we could pick up the generator and get out of the greater Orlando area well before rush hour traffic (which I figured, with the three day weekend, would start earlier than normal). Just before we walked out of the door, Doug gave a call to the shop and let them know we were on our way and would arrive in about 45 minutes and he just wanted to be sure "it" would be ready. Again, didn't think much about it.
We drove to Winter Park a college town where Rollins College is located (Mr. Rogers of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" was an alumni). In the center of town we turned off the main road and went behind a bunch of stores which are located right in front of a railroad line. I had a fleeting thought "This is a bit of an unusual place for a generator shop." but, mentally shrugged my shoulders as there WAS a railroad track (which equals "industrial" to me) right there. Doug backed into the parking area (the rear of the shops were in a bit of a "U" shape) and the dogs, he, and I got out of the truck. I looked at the back of one shop and exclaimed "Oh! Look at all the Vespas! Isn't that neat!?" and we walked through an alleyway to the front of the shops and Doug led me into a Vespa shop. AGAIN, only thought in my mind was "Oh, we're window shopping again." (Doug is VERY big on "window shopping" for vehicles so I really don't think much about these little forays anymore.) The salesman greeted Doug by name (NOPE, still no clue) and Doug introduced him to me as well as Piccola and Lupo and said "Its in the back." (NOOOOO, still no clue!) And Doug said to me "Come on" and I looked at him and said "What?" His response was "I bought you your birthday present." I said "What are you talking about?" (Yeah, Wayne I was DEFINITELY no where near being "situationally aware.") He said "I bought you a Vespa." (And, I swear I heard "you Dodo bird" in that sentence as well, but I KNOW it wasn't said out loud! Guess we've been married too long!
) So we all trooped back to the back room with me babbling to Doug "What have you done?? Tell me quick, I'm going to be sick!" (Surprises still totally unnerve me!) Low and behold there was a 2008 Vespa 150 LX in black!
LONG story short, as we were "PDI-ing" the Vespa it revealed an electrical problem with the emergency cut off switch and we wound up "trading" it for a sky blue one. FINALLY all was clear as to why we couldn't put anything into the back of the truck as the Vespa had to be loaded there and there was no way to cover the back end with the tonno cover.
(It DID rain on the way up to Bella.)
Vespas are near and dear to both of our hearts as we both grew up with them. Doug had a sky blue one as a kid growing up in southern (Davie) Florida (Hence the reason he didn't originally pick that color out as he was afraid he'd have "issues" with me riding "his" Vespa! LOL) and I had loads of stories about my Italian girlfriend and I scooting all over Naples and Pozzuoli, Italy when I was there with my family for three and a half years.
Now we'll be "commuting" to work on two wheels...me on the Vespa and him on the Harley. This takes me "full circle" from the last Vespa he bought me when we were in Naples. (I used to be the "leader of the pack" with a pistachio green Vespa with our motorcycle clube until I "graduated" to a Harley...talk about making heads turn!) With gas fast approaching $5.00 a gallon the Vespa will likely have paid for itself before the end of the summer! (Sad state of affairs isn't it?) I KNOW it will take longer than that, but not much!
Today was my first opportunity to really ride it (it is FINALLY raining in central Florida) and I shouted "Weeee" as I drove down and out of the driveway. Went and filled her up ($5.34!) and she should be good for about 75 miles! As today we celebrated my father's birthday, my next opportunity to ride is tomorrow.
The man is totally amazing in that he can ALWAYS surprise me...I didn't even see my motorcycle helmet in the truck when I was putting the last bits and bobs in the rear of the cab! Gotta love the man! Happy Birthday to me!
(Of course, now I am REALLY interested in the thread about a motorcycle hitch mount!
)
Robin