The next day, after spending the whole night awake for the vigil and swapping Saturnalia gifts with people who brought them—Caleb and I handed out single AA batteries—we all went home to get some sleep. I had already told my mom we couldn’t be there until the 22nd because the Pagan Society’s event had been planned by the time she called, but we still wanted to get there early. That meant dozing off a bit, then packing, then going to bed for real around 8:00 P.M. We were so exhausted that we slept like rocks until morning.
The car ride was long, but mostly uneventful. Caleb and I took turns driving and napping between rest stops. I awoke at one point to Caleb blurting expletives because he thought he had left his laptop charger at home. All was reassured when I crawled into the back seat,
