Friday, February 10, 2006

On the road again

I've gotta borrow from good ol' Willie Nelson for my title this morning cuz we're close to his diggings here in Texas. Haven't looked out the window, but all indications of the scientific nature tell us we're going to see some rain here. We don't care, though, cuz we've got enough on tap to keep us occupied without having to talk about the weather.

We can talk about the nice flights on Frontier Airlines to Denver and on to Houston. Good service, nice planes, and some fun folks to chat with while waiting for flights. Saw Bonnie Miller and her hubby at Spokane Airport as well as Bill's colleague Don Lyon, his wife and my classmate Sharon Clark Bayless. Turns out Sharon was on our flight; she was headed to Omaha to see her daughter. We met some people from Canada at the Denver Airport. They were going on a cruise out of Houston. They'd come from Spokane yesterday morning but had shopped at Sandpoint's Wal Mart at 2 a.m. on their all-night drive from their home near Fernie, B.C.

I'm sitting here in the Houston Airport Marriott, which is a crazy place because of an inefficient elevator system. Most folks we met last night had spent up to 15 minutes waiting and an additional several minutes going up and down, up and down, up and down. Nobody ever figured out what the problem was or how to solve it, but a bunch of us got to know each other really well. We weren't quite on first-name bases but close.

When we hit the road today, we'll be going in style. Annie got us a new beautiful deep blue PT cruiser convertible. Only one downside---two doors---but we figure we'll handle it. It brings back a few memories for Mother who had her own convertible days back in the '30s when she was a well-to-do college girl, in the Depression, no less.

My brother Mike will be happy to know that we dined on $22 and a few extra pennies last night at a Mexican eatery called Carlos' Restaurant off Hwy 59 South. Mother loved her taco salad; my nachos were good and whatever Annie had (can't remember the name) satisfied her. As we walked out the door, we maintained respect from the Louisiana crowd by topping off the dinner with a Texas praline. Not quite as good as Aunt Sally's from the French Quarter, though.

Mother's happy as a clam. She's been riding in those airport golf carts and thinking that's pretty cool, and she'd never ridden a tram before. So, she thought the tram that wound its way along some pretty sharp curves on the tracks from the airport to the hotel was downright impressive. She also counted the pillows between our two rooms---15 in all! Mother just got out of bed and said she could stay here forever. I reminded her we'd be traveling today and that when she gets to San Antone (as Aunt Fanny used to call it), she can take it real easy and stay in that bed all day if she wants.

Tonight we'll meet Brendan and Stephanie and maybe another cousin Eric for the first time. We're looking forward to some good talk about all the Chicago connections, and, of course, I'm hoping to pick up some literary vibes from Brendan. He's a very accomplished writer who's had his works published in a number of literary journals, so my mouth will be hanging open with awe and my ears will be on overdrive to have some writing wisdom rub off on me.

All is well in Texas. We're having a good time and looking forward to a fun day on the road. Maybe we'll even find some yellow roses. "Just can't wait to get . . . "

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

sunny and 71-rmt

Anonymous said...

Sounds as if you're traveling in style - both vehicles and hotels. Three generations! Rare! Enjoy!!