Life Without Running

It was back to Stacie’s for a quick turnaround to pack and head home. Charlie was still in charge of downstairs and decided whether Barley could come down or not. 😂😂😂 The week after I left was another big one for the kids. Haley was inducted into the NJHS and Chase went with McKenna to her homecoming, his second of the season.  The trip home was uneventful and this time of year with iffy weather that’s a good thing. I took I 70 which I haven’t done in a while and stopped to walk Charlie and get some pictures of the foliage at Georgetown Lake. And then overlooking Dillon Lake.  The only issue we had with traffic was on the cutoff to Salt Lake City on the way to Ogden. They were cleaning up the remnants of what looked like a fiery wreck so traffic was down to one lane west of Helper, Utah. 

I almost didn’t do this part of my trip even though I had planned to when I left Oregon. On the drive back to Stacie’s from the trip to Florida and Georgia I was just worn out and the idea of more travel seemed like to much.  When I told Stacie after a night of rest she asked, “Will you regret it if you don’t go?”  I said “probably” and that’s when I decided I needed to go it was a chance to catch up with old friends including some newer “old friends” Doug and Cherie our hosts in Illinois. I had first met them at the Midway Reunion in San Diego four years ago.  That night at dinner Tom told me to find out what kind of AB beer they drank and he’d get it for us. Once I sent out the beer request and got their answers I was committed. 🙂 The drive over wasn’t bad and I knew I made the right decision when I arrived and Doug came out to help me unload the beer. 🍺 Smitty, Denise and Cherie were in the dining room when we went in and CNN was on in the background. It was nice to ...

Back in St. Louis it was pumpkin spice season as it is every year at this time. I bought muffins and pumpkin bread to kick off my contribution to the season. 😊  Food both at home and eating out is always a big part of my visits with family and this time was no different, from Tom’s grilling to Stacie’s cooking of my favorites, to going out to eat with friends and family. I’ve posted many times in the past about why I often show food pictures because of the memories they evoke and these are no different. 😊 The weekend I got back was Wildwood Days so we went to the parade before Haley’s first Dec Game of the season. It was the first of two games I was going to get to see while I was there.  That night we went to the Wildwood Days celebration and had dinner at Benedetto’s before walking home to watch fireworks from the deck.  There was another hockey game while I was there, I got both my flu and Covid vaccines and Chase had Spirit Week for homecoming. This was the second ...