November 24, 2007
Albertville, AL
Given that Erik was marching in it, we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. I think it was the first time I’ve actually watched the whole thing, to be honest. It’s usually on but my short attention span causes me to lose focus at some point. We also watched the dog show, but that was probably because we weren’t ready to head over to the nursing home yet to see Mom (guilt, guilt). We stopped over there for a while in the afternoon, and she was doing better, sitting up and watching TV. She seems to have lost the remote for the TV, but somebody must have turned it on for her.
Thursday may have been Thanksgiving but not “Turkey Day” for us. Since it was just Geri, Alyson and myself, we made a pork roast. It was cold and rainy out (temperatures dropping to near 40°F in the afternoon), so I decided to pass on grilling it, but it came out fine in the oven with roasted potatoes and Geri’s sautéed carrots.
Yesterday (Friday), the weather cleared but it turned even colder, below freezing overnight. It was a sunny and brisk fall day, just like we remember from living in New England (and part of the reason we love wintering in Arizona). In the morning, I did some odd jobs (replaced a mangled fitting on Rick’s garden hose, lubricated their garage door) after a quick trip to Lowe’s and the local Food Land grocery for some last-minute items. We visited with Mom in the afternoon, but she was tired and wanted to nap so we didn't stay long.
Rick and Annette got home late in the afternoon; their flights from Albany to Baltimore and on to Birmingham were uneventful and on time, thank goodness. Since they were traveling, we’d volunteered to make dinner. We planned ahead and brought the filet mignons with us from home. I’d bought a whole beef tenderloin at Costco, and trimmed it up and vacuum packed it before we left. Annette’s parents (Gerry and Lois) joined us for dinner, so the only one missing was Erik (he had to ride the band bus back from NYC).
Rick’s making the turkey dinner today (Saturday) since everyone’s back in town from New York. And it’s already in the oven and starting to fill the house with nice aromas. Geri and Annette are brave enough to be out shopping (is it “Gray Saturday” after “Black Friday”?), and Annette’s parents will join us again for dinner.
I spent a bit of time over the last few days working on our travel plan for the rest of the trip. Before we left Arizona, I had enough details mapped out to get us here. I thought it’d be a good idea to get us back home, especially since Geri has a doctor’s appointment on December 6th. That means we need to get home early enough on the 5th to unload and get the coach into storage. When mapping out a route like this, I like to make sure we know where we’re going to get fuel and sleep. Food, we usually bring with us. I list out all the rest areas as well, so we know where we can easily stop for meals and bio-breaks. In our case, I also had to make accommodations for a detour, since a big part of I-10 in Louisiana will be closed due to a gas well explosion. I’ve got us mapped out in a way that will allow us to add an extra day to the trip somewhere. This will be good, since I’d like to break up the drive across the country. Maybe we'll stop in San Antonio and see the Alamo.
Well, gotta pack up and put my trip planning stuff (atlas, rest area guide, exit services guide) away before Geri gets home…
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