My dad’s 80th birthday was yesterday, and he came down with my mom for lunch. I’m glad that my octogenarian father is still willing and able to do road trips. I think he looks pretty damned good for his age, too. I’ve decided that means I have really good genes…
I’ve wandered the entire country eating lasagna. I’ve enjoyed a lot of variations and suffered many unfortunate interpretations over the years, but for my favorite of all time, I didn’t even need to go one step past the first place I ever tasted the stuff: Anton’s in Greensboro. Even without the cellar (it’s being “renovated”), it’s still my preferred place for an occasion dinner, like my pre-birthday visit to Mom and Dad last night…
Unrelated: I’m seriously considering dumping the Message Board because no one really uses it much anymore and because I’m tired of deleting all the poker and casino spam. Just an advisory…
I get to have my husband back tomorrow night, after nearly three weeks. I was thinking about it last night as I drove home from visiting my parents in Greensboro (and taking the really wrong scenic route, which gave me lots of extra time for thinking), and I’m pretty sure they’ve probably never been away from each other for more than a week or so at a time…
Of course, there was never family on the other end of the country in their case — other than me, and I was shared. In fact, all my aunts and uncles but one have lived within thirty miles of the towns where they were born for their entire lives. Men of their generation got their wanderlust out of the way in the military, but sometimes I think some of the women — my mom and my aunts — feel just a little regret at never having lived away for a while…
That said, I’m really glad my mom is at least comfortable traveling even if my dad prefers to stay at home. She gets around pretty well, and I keep encouraging her to blow my inheritance getting around even more…
Went up to Greensboro overnight to visit the folks after putting Mark on a plane in Raleigh. This may come as no surprise, but my cable internet service was still down upon my return an hour ago. It may be something fairly major, as all of Time Warner’s phone lines are busy now, so I can’t even call for an ETA or update. Heaven forbid they should have system status updates on their website like Pair and any number of ISPs do…
Dang, dialup sure is slow. Especially when you have actual work to do…
Sunday morning brought a quick breakfast and goodbyes in Fresno before moving south on Highway 99. The car was definitely running much cooler and smoother, I must say. Much of my paranoia was gone and I was ready to start enjoying the trip and to stop worrying about the car, San Francisco, etc…
Our drive was a bit convoluted; we went from Fresno to near Riverside to check in to our motel and then back across to the other end of the LA basin for dinner. Long story. Suffice to say, the Motel 6 is Rubidoux is just about the creepiest place we stayed on the trip. Upon check-in, we were required to sign a non-aggression pact promising we wouldn’t harass any other guests. There were parking permits, liability waivers, and all these signs reminding us that Riverside County ordinance prohibited us from moving into the motel in a residential capacity. All this, mind you, was for a very suburban, almost rural location. I was a touch nervous, but the place seemed OK otherwise…
Dinner at the Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabassas was wonderful. Mark had elk. I had buffalo. There were large dead animals everywhere. There was also, for no apparent reason, mandatory valet parking despite the fact that the lot was both spacious and immediately adjacent. Standard LA, I guess. I once went to a Sizzler there which had valet parking…
After dinner, we drove around LA and the Valley for a while and I realized once again how much I was going to miss this strangely wonderful and exciting place. We planned a long visit soon…
We dropped the car off at Midas, had breakfast with the in-laws, and then returned home to wait for the damage report. The total was $450 for pretty much an entire new exhaust system. Other than that, though, everything seemed fine with the car…
Relieved to be through this first challenge, we hit Wal-Mart for shorts (I owned very few which still fit) and assorted road provisions. Then we picked up Mark’s brother-in-law and had a final dinner at Me-n-Ed’s…
The best thing for me about our altered itinerary was the extra day with my mom and dad. On this last day we finally made it to Libby Hill and managed also to squeeze in both one more cafeteria visit and one more cousin…
It’s always a little sad going to bed the night before leaving…
The past few days were a rush (OK, not exactly a “rush”) or food, family, and forays about the city and countryside which were probably a little much for Mark, but he performed admirably. We saw all my relatives. I was shocked at how old some of them have gotten, but what admirable shape they’re in generally. They all seemed to like Mark unquestioningly, although I’m sure several were trying to grasp just what our relationship was all about…
On Monday, we largely just toured the city and its assorted changes, etc. On Tuesday, we visited my dad’s side of the family in Reidsville. On Wednesday, we drove to Winston-Salem and High Point…
I took Mark out the The 360 to see a Marilyn Rivers show and finally meet one of my oldest friends. As we arrived, they were playing “The Glamourous Life” by Sheila E, and I remarked that it was sort of like I’d never moved away, and that 1985 had just moved down the street into a new building. Greensboro is like that, for better or for worse, particularly with respect to nightlife…
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we made the rounds of relatives on my mom’s side of the family. The family was good, the food was great, and the only mildly unpleasant moment was when one of my cousins made a few very presumptuous (if also very politely and sweetly-phrased) comments about how I should spend more time with my parents. She meant well, but it pissed me off just a little, particularly since a siginificant proportion of the major changes Mark and I are about to make in our lives are aimed at doing just that…
Gastronomic excess in Greensboro included Yum-Yum, J&S Cafeteria, K&W Cafeteria, Ghassan’s, and Stamey’s Barbecue…
More exploration of Charlotte today, although our attempt to see al the church ladies and their hats at McDonald’s Cafeteria was thwarted by the fact that it no longer seems to exist. Instead, we settled for tortas at a really good Mexican place in a former Bojangles at Central and Sharon-Amity. Yes, there IS real Mexican food in Charlotte now that are real Mexican people. We like…
About 3:00 or so, we left for Greensboro via the nightmare construction zone known as I-85. Another big difference about the East Coast: freeways are maintained and sometimes ever improved there, rather than demolished or just left to rot…
I was very excited about seeing my mommy and daddy…
Fresno. Halloween. David and Mark’s Anniversary Weekend (observed)…
We did the spooky Halloween thing at Hobbs Grove, had dinner at the “anniversary Denny’s” where we ate on our first date, attended a bitchin’ Halloween party (again, just like pn our first date), and then saw Sippy and Old Guzzler at Starline…
