The drive up was fine, even coming up through the flood ravaged city of Nashville. A few days before I decided to make the trip, a severe flood hit the Cumberland River which cuts right through the center of town. The route I take had the last of the interstate road problems, but, going north it was already cleared up before I hit town. You could tell there water still standing everywhere and a fishy smell was in the air. It is odd that no one I talked to up North had much knowledge of the extent of the devastion in Nashville.
First up was a show in Park Ridge, Illinois. For those of you kind of familiar with Chicago Land, that is north and a bit east of Ohare. It was a one day show in a little city park surrounded by a nice shopping district. It took a bit to find since my mapquest map's ink was lacking and I refuse to give into the GPS thing. A funny thing happened with the weather on this one. It was 41 degrees. No kidding--from hot and humid to cold. It was also very cloudy and WINDY--I guess it is Chicago after all. AND then it rained! LOL So, the first show of the season was not one for the record books--but I met some awesome crafters and also a great promotor--Nancy--who made sure I was not isolated in the park alone.
Next up was a brief interlude in Rockford involving my Dad's MRI to check into his back pain. Looks like he has a steroid injection in his future which will hopefully stave off any additional surgery for a couple years. Cross fingers, please! I also was able to help Mom work on the setup for a funeral at the church for one of their friends. During all of this--it was cold. I don't think it got into the sixties until the end of the week.
I was also lucky enough to be up there for Mother's Day--we all got together and went out for a buffet. AND, nephew Roger turned 21 so I got to take him out for his first legal beer...and make him a cheesecake for his birthday.
I also managed to put a freeze lock on Mom's computer...it just would not wake up one day so now I am thinking I may need to bring my backup computer with me on the next trip. I am thinking I may need to bring all my soap stuff with me to just make soap up there and forget trying to make as many trip home this summer. The main downside of this is that I won't get to see Rod as much! Which is a MAJOR downside.
The drive home was not bad--I even got to hear the benefit concert the Country Music Television channel put on for Nashville--they simulcasted on the radio. We left on Sunday to get back to Orlando quick since Roger and Richele had arrived late on Saturday. Rod was getting the house ready down there and had a bit of trouble with getting the Honda ready for the kids to drive. I made it home early Monday...and the fun times started up right away.
Rabbits: 3
Bonnie: 0
Jackie Letting Bonnie out of the car before putting the leash on: 2
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