Thanksgiving in Florida
We had a very nice Thanksgiving in Florida this year. Usually we go for Christmas, but this year we are going to Portland instead. We couldn't go to Portland for Thanksgiving this year because Eleanor and Wesley went to Australia.
Jack wanted us to help him clean out his storage units this year, so we drove down. Despite having the Garmin, the trip down was somewhat annoying. We got about 20 miles, and then I couldn't remember if we had locked the front door, so we went back to check. It was locked. Next we got in the wrong lane at a toll booth. It said "Correct change only". We had correct change -- a dollar bill -- but the machine only accepted coins. We just had to drive through. At lunch time, Michael broke a tooth. Immediately after lunch we got into a traffic jam, which lasted an hour. Next Michael had a nose bleed -- a serious annoyance when you are trying to keep from getting blood all over when you are driving at 65 MPH. Luckily we came to a rest stop soon. Finally we got to Washington DC. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a huge traffic jam on NY St. It took us an hour to go a mile to the next freeway entrance. Finally we got through Washington and spent the night in Fredericksburg, VA. It had taken us 2.5 hours longer than it should have, so we didn't get far enough the first day. The second day was light traffic and uneventful, but it took us until 9 PM to get to Gainesville. (We stopped for dinner in Brunswick, GA.)
Monday morning we started right away on the storage bins. Jack is SO organized. He had a list of all the boxes in the storage area and what they contained. Michael organized the list into categories, and we started trying to decide what to do with the various things. There were old files and records which could be thrown away after 10 years -- and they had been in storage for 12 years. So we brought those home and either threw them away or got them shredded. There were a few boxes from Ina, so we took as many as we could fit to Sharon to go through. There were a lot of old photos, which we brought home to scan. And a bunch of Edith's things - vases, coral, dishes, etc. We managed to get 2/3 of the boxes out of the unit. In the other storage unit were limited edition prints. We brought them all home and closed the unit.
Tuesday morning Jack went to Tai Chi, and we put all the books in the bedrooms into boxes to take to the Friends of the Library. For lunch we went to Kiwanis. They had a very interesting speaker on the veterinary program at the U of F. After lunch we drove to Tallahassee to spend Thanksgiving with Mike and Sharon. Sharon had friends for dinner. She loves to cook, and as usual, I pigged out while we were there. Patricia was not able to come home for Thanksgiving, so we were able to sleep in her room instead of a hotel. She has a beautiful room, with a ladder up to a loft.
On Wednesday, Mike Hartman (too many Mikes) got up early to go duck hunting. He did this on 3 of the 4 days we were there, and was very happy because he shot his limit every day. We had appetizers of duck wrapped in bacon. Sharon had scheduled Jack to have an interview for the Library of Congress World War II remembrance project. I thought it was very interesting, although I didn't hear too much that was new. In the late afternoon, we went to Edwin's (Emory's dad) farm for dinner. Dorothy, Emory, Travis, Ivey, and Jon Emory were there. Edwin looked very good, although Dorothy tells me he has cancer with a poor prognosis. He is just a few months younger than Jack. It was really nice to get a chance to see the cousins. We got back around 10. The whole house was dark. Mike and Sharon must have been exhausted, so it was good to give them a little breather.
On Thanksgiving morning we had a late pancake breakfast, and then started cooking. Around lunchtime we went to Bradley's country store and had sausage for lunch. Mmmm! There was a huge swarm of herons and woodstorks out on the lake, so we spent a lot of the day watching them while cooking.
Friday we helped Sharon change to her Christmas china, and then went through the boxes we had brought from Jack's storage. Most of the things were sent to Goodwill, but she did find Patricia's favorite creche, which she had been looking for.
Saturday we drove back to Gainesville and started going through some of the boxes we had gotten out of storage. We found an ancient photo album that was very interesting. Jack let me bring it home so I can scan it.
Sunday we went to church. I had wanted to go so I could see what the new church looked like.
Monday we went back to the storage unit, and looked at all the limited edition prints. I called a dealer about selling them, but he does not seem like he wants them. I'm not sure what we will do with them. We also got Jack to sort through the books and took them to Friends of the Library. They have a HUGE facility -- their book sale is the second biggest in the country.
Wednesday I flew back. The flight was uneventful, although there had been bad weather the night before. Michael stayed 2 more days and loaded the car, then drove back on Friday. He got back about 3:30 today.
Jack wanted us to help him clean out his storage units this year, so we drove down. Despite having the Garmin, the trip down was somewhat annoying. We got about 20 miles, and then I couldn't remember if we had locked the front door, so we went back to check. It was locked. Next we got in the wrong lane at a toll booth. It said "Correct change only". We had correct change -- a dollar bill -- but the machine only accepted coins. We just had to drive through. At lunch time, Michael broke a tooth. Immediately after lunch we got into a traffic jam, which lasted an hour. Next Michael had a nose bleed -- a serious annoyance when you are trying to keep from getting blood all over when you are driving at 65 MPH. Luckily we came to a rest stop soon. Finally we got to Washington DC. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a huge traffic jam on NY St. It took us an hour to go a mile to the next freeway entrance. Finally we got through Washington and spent the night in Fredericksburg, VA. It had taken us 2.5 hours longer than it should have, so we didn't get far enough the first day. The second day was light traffic and uneventful, but it took us until 9 PM to get to Gainesville. (We stopped for dinner in Brunswick, GA.)
Monday morning we started right away on the storage bins. Jack is SO organized. He had a list of all the boxes in the storage area and what they contained. Michael organized the list into categories, and we started trying to decide what to do with the various things. There were old files and records which could be thrown away after 10 years -- and they had been in storage for 12 years. So we brought those home and either threw them away or got them shredded. There were a few boxes from Ina, so we took as many as we could fit to Sharon to go through. There were a lot of old photos, which we brought home to scan. And a bunch of Edith's things - vases, coral, dishes, etc. We managed to get 2/3 of the boxes out of the unit. In the other storage unit were limited edition prints. We brought them all home and closed the unit.
Tuesday morning Jack went to Tai Chi, and we put all the books in the bedrooms into boxes to take to the Friends of the Library. For lunch we went to Kiwanis. They had a very interesting speaker on the veterinary program at the U of F. After lunch we drove to Tallahassee to spend Thanksgiving with Mike and Sharon. Sharon had friends for dinner. She loves to cook, and as usual, I pigged out while we were there. Patricia was not able to come home for Thanksgiving, so we were able to sleep in her room instead of a hotel. She has a beautiful room, with a ladder up to a loft.
On Wednesday, Mike Hartman (too many Mikes) got up early to go duck hunting. He did this on 3 of the 4 days we were there, and was very happy because he shot his limit every day. We had appetizers of duck wrapped in bacon. Sharon had scheduled Jack to have an interview for the Library of Congress World War II remembrance project. I thought it was very interesting, although I didn't hear too much that was new. In the late afternoon, we went to Edwin's (Emory's dad) farm for dinner. Dorothy, Emory, Travis, Ivey, and Jon Emory were there. Edwin looked very good, although Dorothy tells me he has cancer with a poor prognosis. He is just a few months younger than Jack. It was really nice to get a chance to see the cousins. We got back around 10. The whole house was dark. Mike and Sharon must have been exhausted, so it was good to give them a little breather.
On Thanksgiving morning we had a late pancake breakfast, and then started cooking. Around lunchtime we went to Bradley's country store and had sausage for lunch. Mmmm! There was a huge swarm of herons and woodstorks out on the lake, so we spent a lot of the day watching them while cooking.
Friday we helped Sharon change to her Christmas china, and then went through the boxes we had brought from Jack's storage. Most of the things were sent to Goodwill, but she did find Patricia's favorite creche, which she had been looking for.
Saturday we drove back to Gainesville and started going through some of the boxes we had gotten out of storage. We found an ancient photo album that was very interesting. Jack let me bring it home so I can scan it.
Sunday we went to church. I had wanted to go so I could see what the new church looked like.
Monday we went back to the storage unit, and looked at all the limited edition prints. I called a dealer about selling them, but he does not seem like he wants them. I'm not sure what we will do with them. We also got Jack to sort through the books and took them to Friends of the Library. They have a HUGE facility -- their book sale is the second biggest in the country.
Wednesday I flew back. The flight was uneventful, although there had been bad weather the night before. Michael stayed 2 more days and loaded the car, then drove back on Friday. He got back about 3:30 today.