It’s good to be home.

Friday we finally got our truck running at about 7:30 in Sharonville, OH. We had to pack but as quickly as possible, we hit the road. We had a five and a half hour drive ahead of us. It was incredibly cold on the way home. The temp was -9 in Ohio.

Stopping for Gas in Beaverdam, OH, was numbing. Poor Willow needed to “go” but it was just to cold to stand still outside. I finally smuggled her into the restroom of the Flying J Gas Station and put papers down for her. She was also not feeling well so it was necessary.

She’d been ill for a couple of days (a bad digestive problem).

When we got home (I don’t even know what time it was, but late late), the furnace wasn’t working. John messed with it and got it going. But when we got up Saturday morning at 7:00 (after a few hours sleep), we had to assess the situation. A winter snow warning blanketed our area (and there was a blizzard out there), Willow was sick, the furnace wasn’t working right, we were pooped, and I had already sent in my reports, so my absence wouldn’t be critical. We decided to stay home. And boy, I’m glad we did. We got between 8″ and a foot of snow. It was a white-out most of the day.

Today we drove to St. John’s (an hour trip). The roads were fairly clear, but even today, we stuck to the main highway.

This week is going to be hectic. We have Monday-Friday to get our house spick and span for a crowd. Saturday, January 24th, we’ll host an all-day Snowfest Concert in Frankenmuth, MI. Six folks will come back and stay overnight here.

Sunday we’ll feed them a nice breakfast and we’ll all head back to Frankenmuth where Glen and Judi Morningstar will present a contra dance. John and I will do the “sound” and keep things working smoothly.

Our initial plan was to leave on Monday at 8:00 a.m. but thinking about how we’ll feel after two full days in Frankenmuth and then having to pack, we decided to revise our schedule. Now the plan is to take off Tuesday a.m. but do the nearly 1,300 mile trip in two days instead of three. We’ll go as far as Knoxville, TN, which is 605 miles, the first day, and the second (last) lap will be 685 miles. We will be economizing by doing sandwiches for lunches during the trip and maybe eating dinner in our room (which is supposed to have a microwave).

We should arrive at our condo by about 7:00 Wednesday night the 28th.