Today will be the last full day I have in WV before I start my trek back to Texas. The week has flown by and I am saddened some by this. It has been an odd trip for me. I have been in bed by 11 PM every night but one and home every evening by 10 PM. I have only seen my good friends Heath, Bobby, and Linda only once each and have not seen my sister or her husband at all. Very strange trip. Good, but strange.
Mr Coffee woke me up as usual and I had a Pop Tart, a cereal bar and yogurt breakfast to go with my 2 cups of coffee. I tried calling my wife but the cellular service was very sporadic and I was not able to get in touch with her for a couple hours. I eventually did, but my wife said the service was acting weird with her as well. Stupid Cingular :-) .
I needed to wash a load of clothes since 90% of mine were dirty/smelly and I wanted fresh clothes for my drive back. Mom has her washer and dryer in the basement and the doorway at the bottom of the stairs is shorter than normal so I banged my head VERY hard on it when I came back upstairs. It drew blood, but not much. It hurt like crazy and was tender all day.
My mom's close friend Betty and her husband came by to return some of my mom's books and to borrow some more. We all chatted for a while (they are very nice people) and then they went on their way. I watched some TV, did a puzzle and talked with mom while my clothes washed. I tossed them in the dryer around lunch time and then went back up stairs to eat some leftover pizza. I missed the buzzer when the clothes finished so I had to fluff them some so they would not wrinkle too badly. Once I let them tumble for 10 minutes or so, they were ready to be put away.
It was very cool (40 or so) most of the day but at least it was not raining. I knew that in abut 24 hours I would be at a camp site in TN, sleeping in my wife's van. While it was not the most comfortable place to sleep, $11.00 a night was cheaper than $40-50 for a hotel.
Holmes called to inform me that Knightmare and his wife "Tiffany" as well as Holmes' girlfriend would be joining us for dinner. That sounded like a great idea so I asked where and when we would be meeting. He said that he and Knightmare decided on El Rincon Mexican Restaurant and to meet them at 6 PM. El Rincon was right next to where the old "Electronic Playground" gameroom used to be. We were regulars there "back in the day". I sure do miss the air hockey.
5:30 rolled around and I hopped in the wife's van (I really would have liked to have driven my truck but I could not sleep in it) and headed up Bridgeport Hill to El Rincon. I was early so I walked around a bit. The wind and air temperature reminded me of a Texas Winter. Not cold but uncomfortable. About 6:05 or so, Knightmare sees me and calls out, "Holmes here yet?" I turn to greet him and his wife and tell him that I have not seen him.
We make small talk for a couple of minutes and we see Holmes walk up the other sidewalk. He no sooner gets up and we begin talking when a well dressed woman comes up from the other side. Funny that I am meeting 4 people and they all come from different directions. Ok, maybe not "funny", but interesting to a rube like me.
The introductions are made and we go in to the Mexican eatery. They do not have a table quite ready for the 5 of us so we wait near the door until they call us. The wait is not long but it is uncomfortable due to the fact there is no real area to wait in. The door is in the middle of a hallway and you are in someone's way no matter where you go or which way you turn.
After a brief wait, we are shown to our table. Our waiter gets our drink order and we chit chat until he returned with drinks (mostly tea, diet Pepsi, and water). Most everyone orders traditional fare, but I am not traditional, so I go for shrimp quesadilla's. I am glad I did for a couple of reasons that I will explain later.
Our food arrived and we began to eat and tell stories. I am sure that Holmes' girlfriend had heard all of them before, we did not mind sharing them again. "Tiffany" asked where my wife was and I explained that my wife was not a huge fan of my mother and if she came, then the dogs came and that meant a pet friendly hotel. My little $300 trip would have ballooned into a $1000 and we just could not afford it. She said she understood and we moved on to other topics.
Knightmare had a plate that had something edible (I hope) covered with a lake of queso. Had he eaten all that cheese, he would have been locked up tight for a week. Holmes devoured 2 bowls of chips but no salsa (wuss) and it looked like he and his girlfriend enjoyed the food. My shrimp was great. Very tasty and fresh. I was glad that I ordered it, even though it was one of the most expensive things on the menu. Not that I minded...Knightmare paid for my dinner. I thanked him for his kindness. He seemed so humble about it. I hope I can reciprocate sometime. Maybe if he makes it to Dallas, I can treat him to dinner.
We took about 2 hours to eat dinner and then another 40 minutes or so outside chatting. Holmes and his girlfriend had to go, so I wished them well and told them good bye. I explained to Knightmare and his wife that I had to leave the next day and they looked a bit disappointed that they would not get to see me again on this trip. Either that or the Mexican food was doing a number on them...I am not sure.
It was a great mini reunion with a couple of guys I have known for a long time. Holmes and I met when he was about 16 or so and I have known Knightmare since about third grade. Both work for the county and have done well for themselves. I admire them for getting as far in life as they have.
As we (Knightmare, Tiffany and I) were saying good bye, Knightmare told me he had been reading my blog on a semi-regular basis. I told him that I saw two sets of IP addresses and asked Holmes if he had been reading it. Holmes told me that he has read it once or twice, so I just figured it was Knightmare and maybe someone else we knew hitting my blog page. When I told Knightmare this, he just laughed and said "Don't let Holmes fool you. Your blog is like crack to him. He cannot wait until you update it. I know he reads it more than I do because he told me he knew you were coming in because it was in your blog." I just laughed.
Knightmare also said that reading my blog helped him feel like we have kept in touch, when in reality we have not chatted all that much over the years. I told him he needed a blog and his wife chimed in to tell me that he would not stay committed to it. She may be right...it can be time consuming.
I left my friends and drove back to my mom's house. I was not tired, so we chatted until 11:00 PM and then I went to bed. Tomorrow I would be heading home to Texas.
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