Back in the Sac (home away from home)

We fought through the smoke and landed back at Sandy and Arny’s house at 2:30.  They don’t live that far from the Interstate, so when we got off the freeway, I rolled down the windows and watched the sleeping dogs go from sleep, to sniff, to sniffing a lot, to coming up onto Marcia’s lap all within a minute’s time.  As soon as we drive into the cul de sac, they go wild…more Bubba than Skruffy.  By 3 pm everything is hooked up, I am sitting down catching my breath, and mom comes through the back door.  From there until after 8 it is all family time.

   

After Arny’s BBQ of Tri-Tip sandwiches, it is time to break out all the goodies we brought back.  Sandy got her pick of three of the four Moose Munch we brought.  Arny got three different Grilling Sauces, including the Raspberry Chipotle that he seemed the most pleased with.  Mom and Dad got matching coffee/soup mugs which say, “Mom” and the other says “Dad”.  Also got mom a selection of dipping sauces and the Pretzel Sticks to dip with.  Told her that she was bound to get some visitors over the next few weeks and she needed something to offer them.  Patti, who showed up after dinner, got two bags of Cashews.

Arny’s mom loves Ice Cream, and we bought some Tillamook Hazel Nut & Salted Carmel Ice Cream for her…remember, this is the same place we got the box of “Lemonilla Tillabars” that Marcia liked so much…and we KNEW sister Sandy would die for them too.  So as I was going out to the RV to get Arny’s mom Euleda’s gift all I said was, “Your gift is from Tillamook and it is real cold.”, which perked Sandy’s ears up for sure.  I come in with the Ice Cream behind my back and say, “Here you go…”, and it was Ice Cream…and I think my sister’s heart dropped just a little.  Sand asked Euleda if she was going to share her Ice Cream, and Euleda quickly and promptly said, “NOPE!”  Not bad for 90 years old.   “Oh yeah”, I say, “We need to get you that empty box of “Lemonilla Tillabars” so you can ask the local grocery store to stock them.”  And I go back out…and get a box of “Lemonilla Tillabars” in a bag and hand the bag to my sister….her eyes pop out, a big smile comes over her face…”There are BARS in this BOX!”   Yep, we sure pulled one over on her in a good way.  I KNOW she won’t be sharing her bars, that is for certain.

Our four week, 1,800 motorhome mile, 1,000 HHR mile, three State and one Canadian Province road trip has come to an end.  Did we like it?  WE HAD A BALL!!!!  Although we did not make it to Alaska this year, everything we did on this trip was also part of the Alaska trip…so that felt good.  The Motorhome did very well, with only two minor problems which will be addressed over the next few weeks.  Since one of these problems, a portion of an outside mirror coming off TODAY, within 100 miles of the end of the trip, we certainly feel good about our motorhome’s performance.  Thank goodness I saw that the mirror was loose, and pulled it off before it flew off and broke…so it will be an easy fix.   For now, it will continue to be family time leading up to, and after mom’s breast cancer surgery.  Also, if all goes as planned, my three kids will be in the area for Labor Day week…and I am hoping to get to take them all to dinner while they are together. 

If this happens, it will be the first time we all got together since May 2013 when Ryan graduated from the University of Arkansas.  I have seen each of them a few times each since then…but not all together…I hope everything works out so this happens.  With Ryan flying into Salt Lake City, and Stephanie and he driving to California, they will be able to stop and say hi to Mom and Dad too, which will be real special for them….especially since it should happen just two days after the surgery.