Day One-hundred-and-ninety-one: One thing worse

There is one thing worse than driving into the wind with snow spitting, road salt spraying, and lines of trucks, some of which cut over into my lane right in front of me going ten miles slower, and that would be being a truck driver. I'm going to have to get my window washer fluid topped off after today and I was only driving about four hours. Thank goodness winter travel is not a metaphor for my Life after Layoff. As bad as the road is, it will make the arrival that much better.

I had a great lunch time visit with my cousins. We talked about a lot of things, including some of the writing that he is doing. It's great that these memories are going to be available for others. He also talked about how he and my parents met, at a common aunt's funeral. It's even better when friendship with formerly unknown relatives can form out of what would otherwise been a sad event.

Even though I drove with my lights on all day because it was so gray, and my frequent windshield wiper running, I did stop before it became truly dark. The hotel clocks are on EST even though I am sure that Indiana is in Central time. It's so cold, I decided to bring in my gallons of water. The room has a refrigerator so I put the sourdough starter, the soy milk, and the cold pack in it.

So far, I've left something at every place I've stayed. The latest was the Metamucil at my sister and brother in law's. I took the jar out into the kitchen to have some and took the glass back into the bedroom to take my vitamins. After I took the vitamins I took the glass back to the kitchen and didn't take the Metamucil back, so it missed the packing I later did. Except for the Metamucil, I was quite orderly. I methodically checked everything and before I loaded the car, I moved the whole mess into the living room. My brother in law helped me move stuff out to the car. After the first trip out, he put on his coat.

Rather than go back and edit in my youngest daughter's and her husband's first White Castle experience into the day it happened or my rather uneventful last two entries, I will include it here. And to think, she actually ate two sliders. This is the person that wouldn't go with me to In and Out Burger, the premier fast food chain on the West Coast. The other stars in the video are one of my nieces, daughter of my brother in law, and my brother in law.

With the large lunch, the snacking on the road, and I definitely don't want to brave the cold to travel to a restaurant, so it's a good thing I'm not hungry. Unfortunately, I left some Clementines in the car. If I don't go get them, they will definitely be frozen by tomorrow.

Day One-hundred-and-ninety: Ready for the road

Today I tried my non-drowsy decongestant and was able to function so I will start on my road trip back tomorrow. Other than popping pills, drinking hot liquids, and eating spicy foods, nothing much happened today. I did take a nap in the afternoon, which leads me to think that maybe I shouldn't make it such a long day tomorrow but I'm sure I can make it through Indiana.

Since I had so little to report, I was going to share my documentation of my youngest daughter and her husband eating their first White Castle sliders. From her face, it might be her last. I know my son didn't want a repeat after I took him to White Castle in 2004. They are definitely something to eat right away before the grease gets cold. In moments like this I'm glad I became a vegan.

When I say that I am ready for the road, I am really saying that I'm mentally ready. I have a lot of packing and loading to do. Hopefully I can do that after my hosts leave for work so I am the least disruptive and still make it to Springfield for lunch. Until my Life after Layoff, I didn't think of "ready" in stages. It used to be binary, I either wasn't or I was.