Wonderful, Winter Weather

Last night, I went to bed at 7:30 and slept through the night. I’m still not feeling up to par as a result of my encounter with the dust, insulation, and wasp spray. I took some Nyquil and read for about 5 minutes then slept through until 6 this morning. I feel much better today, though I’m still coughing.

I am so glad I had my sleeping bag with me; the weather was wintry – cold but no snow. It got down to 60 degrees or so. For someone who has lived in Florida for 20+ years, it seemed like winter.

My brother Ray, his wife Margie and my niece Kristian arrived yesterday. We met at Ramblers’ Rest (or better known by my sister-in-law Kathy as Ramblin’ Wreck), a favorite of my family since I was a kid. We used to go there for hot dogs and fries with their delicious meat sauce and then afterwards get a milkshake or ice cream cone. They are still the only restaurant in the area that I know of that serves dill pickle relish. They also have sweet relish, but the dill just adds that extra bit of pizzazz. The hot dogs are as good as I remember. In fact, I had another one today while I was out rambling around.

I finally finished all of my photo presentations for Saturday at brunch: one for Mom, one for my cousin Alger and one for Mark(his had been done; I just had to find it on my old laptop). There are lots of pictures most of the family hasn’t seen, pictures that will bring back good memories, pictures that will make us smile and pictures that will bring a tear to the eye.

Today, as I was coming back to my cousin’s where I’m staying, I spotted a deer about 15 feet from their driveway. What beautiful creatures they are (and they’re so tasty too!).

Last night I spoke with my brother-in-law Don Dillenbeck and his wife Rose. They’ve been seeing a lot of wildlife near their house: turkeys, deer, etc. They’ll be picking up my sister-in-law Esther who is flying in today at 4 pm to the Ithaca airport. She’ll be here for the buffet on Saturday, then will go to visit my sister-in-law Joyce and her husband Mike Knefley. I’m going to be taking her back to the Ithaca airport some day next week then I’ll go visit Don and Rose for a day or so.

I can’t believe how fast the time is flying by.

It won’t be long and I’ll be hitching the camper up and heading back toward Florida. I have a wedding to attend on July 24th near Atlanta, then it’s on my way to Florida via visits to my niece Dawn and her family, my nephew Bruce and his family, and my friend Kathy McGrath whom I haven’t seen in 30+ years. I’ll probably also stop to see my brother Jeff in Lawrenceville, GA.

Well, I guess I’ve blabbed enough.

Until next time…