We went to Jacksonville Saturday evening for Sophie’s 1st birthday party. We drove to High Springs on Friday and stayed with C&C. Christian drove us up to J’ville for the party. We left for home on Monday.
Friday: We’ve developed a decent packing list for our trips now and it seems to work OK. The biggest problem we normally have is to find Brie and put her in her carrier. About 2 hours before we planned to leave she vanished. I’m not sure what she cues on but she usually hides before we leave and I have to find her and extract her from her hidey-hole. I tricked her this time. We had some Popeye’s chicken left over that we were eating for lunch before we hit the road. I suggested that we eat lunch back in the bedroom watching TV. I thought the aroma of the chicken might draw out the cat. Sure enough shortly after we started eating Brie appeared licking her chops. I let her sit for a while then snatched her up and put her in the carrier.
For this trip I couldn’t find Penny’s or my Bluetooth earpieces. We didn’t use them for the return trip last time and I put them away someplace real safe. We also brought our bikes along thinking maybe we would tour High Springs on Sunday with C&C as guides. The drive over was not eventful. There were patches of light rain on the drive over but nothing heavy. Christian was home when we arrived. When Christy got home we headed out to Conestoga’s Steakhouse for dinner.
Saturday: We did our Waffle House thing with C&C. They had a picnic to go to so Penny and I puttered around their house. Penny washed dishes and I fixed the screen on their back porch. We ate a small lunch at the local burger king and the waitress chuckled when the bill totaled $6.66.
I conned Christian into driving to J’ville by filling his tank. The drive up was miserable. Heavy rain and terrible drivers showed up all along the route. Christian handled it all masterfully.
When we arrived at Karen’s things were just beginning. They had a Wii set up and running—I played my first game on a Wii and got my pants beaten off me by B in a game of bowling.
We didn’t get much in the way of quality time with anyone, including the birthday girl, and it felt a little strange. It was good to see everyone and we had a good time.
Karen and Tim being the smart parents they are provided Sophie with her own little cake. She had a great time squishing it up and eating some of it. She was extremely serious in her work of demolishing that cake. We have many pictures to testify for her demolition expertise.
The drive back saw more rain.
Sunday: Sunday began with early church. The church there has an Indian (not native American Indian but Asian Indian) priest. It boggles me a little to see him. He is difficult to understand. He started his homily with a joke that no one got—so he had to explain it to get a forced laugh. We once again hit Waffle house for breakfast and the waitress remembered us and our preferences.
It then was time to go shopping at Sam’s Club to stock up C&C’s pantry and freezer. We ate lunch at hungry Howie’s and 2 guys came in. One was barefooted the other had sandals on but no shirt. The cashier explained no shirt, no shoes, no service. The guy in the sandals kicked them off and gave them to his friend, told him his order and went outside. Between the two of them they satisfied the dress code.
Penny made portabella mushroom ravioli for dinner. We didn’t get in a bike ride—the weather was too iffy.
Monday: Once again Penny and I went to Waffle House. This time the little blonde waitress told us her whole life story before we even got a cup of coffee. We loaded up the car and left by late morning.
We got home around 2:30 and found everything in order. We found out from our phone messages that Nana apparently suffered a stroke on Friday and ha pneumonia. Today she is getting better.
When we left on Friday I set out a can of soft cat food as a farewell present for the kitties. This afternoon It was still there, uneaten and rotting with the dish filled with water from the rain. It’s 7:30 now and haven’t seen any of the cats so far. I don’t know what’s up. It would be nice to see them and put my mind at ease. (UPDATE: 3 cats showed up at 9:30!)
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