Archive through January 19, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 January: Road Trips (ARCHIVE): Archive through January 19, 2003

Meme9

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:26 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
WhoooHooo!!! Sounds like you had nice long visit with each! I'm glad you made it home safe.

Goddessatlaw

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
We really missed you, Meme - but you would have had a nightmare trip home, so maybe for the best. We'll see you next time, I hope.

Meme9

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I thought about you guys all day. Then I started to worry because it's been snowing here for some time now. The roads would have been very bad...I would have only been on the interstate about an hour on the returning trip home. The State roads aren't very good at least around here because of it being so cold. Thanks for missing me though

Grooch

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow! I think this is a TVCH first. Two members finding out that they may be related. That is sooooooooo cool!

Glad you made it hope safe, GAL, and I hope Marm and the Units do also.

Webkitty, we had no sun at all today. :(

Fruitbat

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:46 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
How nifty.

Webkitty

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sending blue skys to Grooch

Gal, how special for you and Marm. Hope half and unit will check in with us when they get home safe and sound.

Zeno39

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 03:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
It has been cold up here in the northwest part of Florida, but at least we have our sugar white beaches to look at. When my sister came to visit me for the first time, she took some of the white sand back home with her, so her friends could see it. We just went down to the beach and filled up a bottle with it.

Webkitty

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 04:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Zeno, I've never been up that way, but I've talked to people that have. (and seen pictures) The beaches are like sugar!
(come to Key Largo, I would love to meet you)

Fruitbat

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 04:09 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Zeno! Another one! Come to Key Largo for Survivor. :)

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 04:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for checking in, Goddessatlaw. Believe it or not, I have thought of y'all's reunion several times today. Hey! I am from the same area of Illinois, and some of us have the same birthday, so maybe we are all related. Ack!

Wishing safe travels home for Unit and Halfunit and Schoolmarm and the drunk kids.

Fruitbat

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 04:39 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm from Michigan and it touches Illinois. Mama? is that you?

Car54

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 04:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Bat, I am one of the Central Ill. bunch, and my aunt moved to Michigan, so you must be my cousin.

Ddr1135

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 05:20 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Zeno, we love to go the beach in your area every summer. We usually stay in the Destin or Navarre Beach area. I prefer Navarre, Destin has become a nightmare for traffic. The last time we were in Navarre, we (4 people)rented a three story house. We each had a bedroom and bath plus our own porch overlooking the beach. It was decorated with Pottery Barn, Pier One, and Crate and Barrell. And the beaches aren't crowded at all out there, it's not been over developed. We were in heaven!

Zeno39

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 07:11 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You are so right about Destin being too crowded! It has developed too much for us locals. I don't go that way in the summer if I can help it. Too congested. Navarre is much better! My youngest daughter and my son-in-law have to make that drive every day to Destin and back to work. Also Sandestin. They hate it in the summer time. Navarre is building up somewhat, but not like Destin. I would really like to go to the Keys, but it is kinda hard on me since I am on oxygen now for my asthma, and my spine pushing on one lung. I am afraid to get too far from home and my doctors. It is really a hindrance.

Halfunit

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 09:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
This is real quick, just to say I got home about a half hour ago. More to follow.

Halfunit

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 09:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I need your help! (GAL & Marm are exempt!)

OK.. After being awake 19 hours, and driving 762.5 miles today, I am a bit tired, lol. I thought I'd do something a little different until I have time to type up my post meeting report.

Here is the pictoral of my day today. I thought it would be funny to post these pics to give you a sense of what happened, and you can post your guesses. I promise to have a full report within 12 hours, lol.

Halfunit's Day

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Marm, I-70 was horrible when I came home. I hope you got home ok!

Schoolmarm

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 11:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm HOOOoooommmmme! FINALLY!

What weather! And we were in one of those rented 15 passenger vans that like to tip over. (We didn't)

It was such a WONDERFUL two days. My students DID have a good time. It was an 8 hour drive on Friday starting at 6am. Checked into the HUGE rooms and headed downtown for a late lunch. Unfortuneately, I wanted to eat at Nicks, which is classified as a bar and I had two students who were under 21, so we couldn't even get in. We ate Greek food at the Trojan Horse and walked around the downtown and went shopping a little.

Then there was an evensong honoring my church music professor. I saw so many old friends and the music was wonderful. We then toured the music school...its size and equipment blew my students away. Then off to the church where I used to work for an organ concert by the retired organist from the Crystal Cathedral. I was lucky enough to see some of my old choir members.

Then to the grocery store for getting snacks for supper. Surprisingly my students bought champagne and some funky "ICE" liquor. HAHAHA the last time I took students on a trip, they bought ZIMA....go figure. Actually, they didn't have very much alcohol per student. I slept really well, and they weren't too noisy.

On Saturday morning we loaded up the van again and headed over by campus to go music/book shopping. We all found "treasures" and bargains. Then to the back room of Mother Bear's Pizza. We got two really big tables by their fireplace.

Goddess REALLY is a Goddess (and is REALLY "at Law" LOL). She is beautiful, witty, and charming. She has GREAT hair! Showed me a pic of MM, and I agree, his nickname IS appropriate. I ate a little pizza while we gabbed and waited for Half and Unit. They called the restaurant to tell us that they would be late. Goddess...I'll look up the geneology tomorrow (or Monday).

Half and Unit are a GREAT couple, and very cute together. He does look kind of like Drew Carey. They both have great laughs. I think that we all have great senses of humor! Uh....Half....didn't you say that you were going to S T R E T C H that photo so we look taller? (AND less wide?) I really wish that I could have stayed longer. I only missed the first performer, and made the next concert just in time to hear the world premiere of a piece played by one of my best friends.

I found out that I'm on the "short list" (this is where they weed the job applicants down to about 10 or fewer) at a major university in a major metropolitan area. They are calling my references, and that is how I know. WHOO HOOO!

The trip back was harrowing when I was awake. I realized that one of my boys driving just kind of likes to tailgate, so I just reclined the seat and went to sleep.

Got back at 1:15am....a fantastic weekend. If you ever get a chance to meet Goddess or Half, do it. They are great! I really missed Meme, but I know that our paths will cross some day!

More later after I've unpacked!

Kady

Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 11:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
WOW!! Sounds like everyone had a good time. Great pics Half. It is true pictures do say a thousand words.

<kady is a little disappointed she didn't get to see Unit's backside though>

Ddr1135

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 06:29 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Glad to hear everyone made it home safely! Half, your pictorial is great!!!!! Were you able to get out of the speeding ticket? That pizza looks good too.

Zeno, you are so right about congestion in Destin, lol. But we do like to rent party barges to go into the bay and play. I think what saves Navarre is a large percentage of it is off limits to development. Let's hope it stays that way!

Juju2bigdog

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 06:32 am EditMoveDeleteIP
So glad to see these posts this morning. I did go to bed hoping everybody made it home safely.

Half, your pictorial says it all. I will admit the only person I can identify from the official butt shot photo is Marm, but only because she said she would be wearing a khaki business suit. I have not spent enough time in the Hair thread to be able to identify the others.

Webkitty

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 07:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Halfunit! Love your pictorial Thanks for posting that.
I'm glad everyone made it home safe and sound.

Squaredsc

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 07:25 am EditMoveDeleteIP
as kady said, wow. sounds like you all had a great time. im so glad that everyone made it there and back in one piece. great pictoral 1/2. i wish we all could have been there.

Halfunit

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 08:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
As promised...

The trip started out well enough. Unit and I were about an hour into the trip when it dawned on me that Bloomington was a little further than I first thought. I had to drive faster!

Before we reached Columbus, Unit said, "Be careful. This spot is notorious for speed traps." I noted his comment and kept my eyes open.

A little further down the road, we saw 3 troopers from the OHP, all busy writing tickets, in what looked like a tag team effort. I said, "Aha! That's probably all the troopers they have on the road right now and they're busy!", and I resumed my quick pace.

Just over the next hill, a trooper exits his car, which was parked on the berm, walks into the slow lane of traffic, points at me, and directs me to pull over. Unit - "He got you! He got you!" The trooper later told me I was observed exceeding the speed limit (81/65)from overhead aircraft!! "Very sneaky", I thought.

Long story short: "Have a nice day." No ticket.

Onward!

At noon, I was still a ways away due to a slight miscalculation in distance, so I called the pizza joint and talked to Marm. I told her I'd see her in an hour and that I was racing to get there!!

Long story short: I overshot the correct exit and traveled another 20 miles south. Turned around, found the exit. The problem with this exit is that it was the same street, just from the opposite direction. Needless to say, Marm's directions were completely reversed now, and after driving around Bloomington for another half an hour, I somehow ended up making my way back on the highway, driving away from Bloomington.

Now, it is known that I am the ultimate planner and navigator. 99% of the time, I have no difficulty whatsoever in reading maps, following directions and arriving at my destinations EARLY.

Right about now is where Halfunit has her breakdown. Hysterically sobbing that she and Unit are going to forget this whole trip and just go home. I'm already an hour and a half late, and Marm has to leave in 30 minutes, and no one will be there when we get there, and this just wasn't meant to be... <SLAP>

Unit calms me down, tells me just to regroup, and the worse case scenario is no one is there and we have a pizza. GAME ON!!


After a couple of more wrong turns in the right area of Bloomington, we finally find the place, and the big Marm van is still there!. (I made Unit check to see if it had PA plates.)

As we make our way into the building, there is Marm, standing at the doorway!!! What a bubbly person! She was a sight for sore eyes, and quickly ushered us inside.

A minute later, GAL appeared and my quest was complete! The four of us made our introductions, and exchanged some initial chit-chat. Marm couldn't stay (although I think she was trying to figure out how she could), and we tried to rush a whole bunch of words into 10 minutes. I got to see some of her pictures, which was great. We quickly posed for our butt shot and before I knew it, Marm had to go. She is warm, funny, and just downright adorable! I regret that my tardiness prevented me from talking to her more, but we threw something out about meeting in Youngstown in the future. I hope we can do that!!

After Marm left, Unit and I settled into the booth with GAL, who had refrained from eating until we got there. She is beauty and brains, all rolled into one! We ordered pizza, and the three of us sat there and talked non-stop. Two hours flew by before I knew it.

As we looked out the door, the snow was coming down at a pretty good pace. It was time to adjourn the Bloomington Rendezvous and make our trips home.

The ride home was, as Marm said, harrowing. Where the heck did all of that snow come from? It was one of those situations where you trust your driving, but everyone else on the roads were driving like idiots.

A quick stop in Columbus, and we were on the final leg of our day trip.

Meeting Goddess and Marm was SO worth the troubles I had earlier in the day. They are both wonderful people, and I encourage those who can meet them to do so!!!

Once again, the Bloomington Buttshot:

BB

Zachsmom

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 10:35 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I'll guess!!! Marm, GAL, Halfnuti!!!

Weinermr

Sunday, January 19, 2003 - 10:39 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I agree with Zmom.