That's A Wrap

I sat in my camp chair watching the fire for a couple of hours before I decided to call it a night. I dumped some water on the logs to put out the flames, but left the hot coals to smolder. I was pretty sure they would be ok.

I slept well the entire night, even if it was in the van. I could have set up the tent, but it really takes two people and I was not in the mood to fight it. Ergo, I slept in the van. I think I only woke up once and that was at 4:00 AM.

The alarm went off at 6:00 AM, and I took a few minutes to wake up before I grabbed my bible and read the verses for that day. It did not take long and once done, I realized I needed to go hit the bath house for a shower as well as the other duties that go along with a trip to the bath room.

Once finished I broke down camp and at a quick light breakfast (yogurt, fruit, muffins, milk), brushed my teeth and hit the road. I checked the tire that had a leak in it but it looked okay, so I just drove until I needed gas, which was in Arkadelphia, AR several hours later. The tire was still looking good so I drove some more until I got hungry and needed to make a rest stop. I ate a little, used the bathroom, and then tried to access the wireless system that TX has at its rest stops. It would connect but the speed was slow, so I gave up and kept driving until I got back home. The trip went well but I made a wrong turn that cost me 20 minutes. Not too bad really. I have not done that in a while.

I unloaded and unpacked and acclimated myself back to home life. My wife filled me in on the fiasco with my truck and I just shook my head (I think that deserves its own post). We ate some sandwiches (I had not had a sandwich in over two weeks and it actually tasted good) and then we watched some TV and chatted. I was exhausted so we hit the hay a little earlier than normal, but we knew we needed the sleep.

I got up Sunday and took both dogs (SURPRISE!) for a walk. When I returned I did my normal routine and went to Sunday School. On the way out, I noticed the van tire (the one with the leak) was almost flat. I considered it a blessing that it was flat at home and not on the road. I decided I would come back after SS and pick up my wife for church.

I attended SS and came home and was pleasantly surprised that my wife was ready early. I told her why I came back and that I also forgot my wallet. We collected what we needed and returned to church.

After church we stopped to get lunch at Joe's Italian Bistro. A few of our newer church friends were there, but we did not sit with them since we had errands to run. We explained and they understood.

I dropped off my wife at home and I took the van (driving on a very low tire) to Goodyear to get it fixed. When I got there, I noticed they were closed (they used to be open on Sundays until 5:00 PM) and the tire was looking pretty bad, so I put the spare "donut" tire on while I drove it to Sam's where we bought them (my wife called and told me they were open and they fix flats). When I go there, I was told it would be a 1.5 hour wait, so I just browsed the store until it was ready. While I am not a fan of Sam's tires, at least the repairs are free.

I got back home and decided I needed to do something so I began mowing the yards (ours and our neighbors) while my wife prepped dinner. When I finally finished mowing and cleaning up, our meal was done and we ate (once I got cleaned up). After dinner and the shower, I helped with the dinner dishes and then walked the dogs. I finished up the night with a little TV and then we got some sleep.

I woke up feeling good...no pain and alert. I had the nagging feeling that I had overslept, but that was not the case. I performed my morning routine and went to work as usual. I got to work and got set up, checking the weeks worth of e-mail and was surprised to see that my colleague was not completely overwhelmed with work. He was busy, but not to the point of being stressed out. We made small talk while he finalized a few things he was working on and he gave me a rundown of his week. I told him about my trip and he thought it sounded like a good time, especially the geocaching.