Road Trip Again

Last week I went on another road trip with my mom. This was not a fun one. My great aunt had passed away last week. When I saw my mom she told me that my great aunt was not doing well and when the time came could I take her to California. I told mom that I didn't see a problem with it. I just had visions that this would occur when we were in Ireland.

It was the next day when I got the phone call from Mom that she had passed. I thought I would have a bit of time. After mom got all the information on the arrangements, I got things situated at work. I am so thankful that I have a very understanding boss.

Monday after work I hurriedly packed my bag and headed to Meeteetse. Mom and I left early Tuesday morning. We drove all the way to Elko Nevada. We decided to stay at a casino because we wanted to have a bit of fun. I did gamble a bit and cashed out with $50. I actually won $30 as I played $20. I did put some of my winnings in the machines again and promptly lost it. I think I walked away about $10 to the good.

The next morning we thought we were leaving early. I was using my cell phone for our clock and I forgot that my phone automatically changes time when I am in a different time zone. I kept thinking that I was still on mountain time. We left an hour later than I had originally thought. Oh well we still made good time. We ate a late lunch or early supper in Truckee CA. That is a real neat little town, one that we will have to explore on another date. We arrived in Napa about 7:00 pm pdt.

We stayed at my great aunts house. Mom and I were both tired so we just relaxed and checked out on how much work we would have. My great uncle has a huge train set up in their attic. This takes up the whole attice, we took photos of it and wondered how on earth this is ever going to be moved out of the house.

On Thursday morning we met with the neighbor and promptly got to work. We cleaned out the two bedroom closets full of clothes and the neighbor donated them to Goodwill. Then we sorted through the books. The library will take them and sell them as a fund raiser. The important looking stuff we put aside to go through later. My mom's cousin from San Diego and his wife was flying up and would meet us in the afternoon. The neighbor also took us through the garage and that is a chore that I don't even want to think of. There is so much stuff that we don't know where to begin.

The Payne's arrived and took us out to lunch. After lunch we all went back to the house and started packing up dishes and going through dresser drawers. We worked well into the evening, when Bob decided that we had done enough for the day and went out for supper. This is where we had the perfect margaritas. They were very good, will have to see if Billings make those.

Friday morning came and we all did more packing, then we got ready for the lunch reception and services. The reception was held at my great aunt's favorite restaurant and we all had her favorite meal with ice cream for dessert. My cousin Susan made all the arrangements for this. Susan was the one who spent quite a bit of time with our great aunt over the years and she was very close to her.

After everything was over, back to the house and more packing. I loaded up my car with as much stuff as I could get into it. I think that if Bob had his way, I would have taken the whole house. I had to keep reminding him that I still need to get luggage in the car and that I need to be able to see out of my windows. I brought home alot of stuff. Some came to Meeteetse and some in Hardin.

Saturday morning, Mom and I left Napa. We did leave a little earlier than normal. We made it all the way to West Wendover NV. We wanted to spend our last night having fun. We both gambled and lost. We didn't cash out or anything, then for a nightcap we had a margarita. These were just normal ones, no perfect. We got home Sunday evening. Dropped off the stuff in Meeteetse, then the Gma's fed me and I made the last 180 miles on my own.