No Giant Tortoises in Gallipolis

After drinking about 4 pints, I still had the wherewithal to pop a few Advil before heading to bed. That was very wise. And as I often do, I woke near 530am happy that it wasn’t a work day. At the time I didn’t feel anywhere close to fully rested. I quickly fell back asleep waking again and for good around 745am. I felt a whole lot better, but still could’ve used more sleep. However, if we wanted to leave for Gallipolis by 1030am, I needed to get moving.

Mindy remained sleeping having told me before we fell asleep to wake her near 9am. I headed downstairs and started coffee. The morning sky was absolutely stunning, with just the right mix of sun and clouds. As the sun made its initial ascent, it looked like it was on fire

While the coffee brewed, I spent a little time tidying up the kitchen. However, having cleaned up most of the mess the night before, it didn’t take too long to get things squared away. The coffee was ready by the time I finished clean-up. Enjoyed a cup of coffee while playing at the PC, but not for too long. It was mostly clear and close to 50 degrees. I took Mindy some coffee early, and just before Lindsey dropped the boys. It was close to 830am when they showed up. Lindsey asked if we would leave some laundry money for her at Chrissy’s. Once the boys were settled, I dressed and left for a run. It was near 850am.

I ran the usual weekend three miles without incident and was back at the house just after 920am. Inside, I asked if anyone had walked Eiknarf. Yep, Mindy had already taken care of it. I then asked Mindy if she planned to shower. She did, but not before packing everybody a lunch. While Mindy made lunches, I made egg sandwiches for the two of us.  No one else wanted eggs.

It was near 10am when I headed up for a shower. It didn’t’ take me long. I was ready by 1015am. Mindy was already busy loading our gear into the Pilot. She mentioned being stressed after having trouble getting the directions to print and then remembering that we  needed to stop for gas. I suggested that we simply use our GPS. I programmed the destination into my Droid well ahead of time to make sure it was recognized. It was.

Bella walked the boys down to the neighbors. Jacob, meanwhile, made a last minute plea to stay at Chrissy’s too. But Mindy would have none of it. Mindy feels strongly that we all need to be there to support Bella. I agreed, but also know how boring the all-day gymnastics event can be. That has to be torture for an 11 year old. Last second, we remembered to send money to Chrissy for Lindsey.

It was 1035am when we backed out the drive. And after a quick stop at the Circle K for gas, we were on the road for Gallipolis. It was 1040am. Not far into our drive, Lindsey texted Mindy asking that we leave another $50 with Chrissy to cover her cell phone bill, which she hadn’t before mentioned. Wasn’t even in the budget. Mindy texted her back that we were already on the road and that we’d talk about it later. Of course that prompted a call within the next hour. Mindy shielded me from the call sharing that we’d talk about it later.

We took I-70 east to I-71 south to I-270 east to route 23 south. We took route 23 south all the way to Chillicothe where we picked up route 35 east. I’ve taken route 35 two times past, both times in route to my mom’s place in Hamden. The first was the day of her wedding to Ronald, and the 2^nd was Xmas day 1995 or 96. Like the route 23 leg, the route 35 leg was about 55 miles. It’s almost all rural with only one gas station between route 23 and our destination. It’s a very lovely drive, though. Lots of beautiful rural scenery.

Bella was supposed to be there by 1pm, or 30 minutes before her first event. We arrived about ten minutes early – 1250pm, but not before struggling to find the gym and having to make a big loop around the small river town. Turned out the street name the GPS asked us to turn on had been renamed. Who knew?

Our previous two gymnastics meets were hosted in local high schools. This one was hosted in a private gym by the local participating team. Nice facility but lacking stand type seating. Instead, seating amounted to folding funeral chairs and all at ground level. It was a good 45 minutes before Bella’s first performance. Lots of sitting and waiting. After almost 2.5 hours of driving, and then sitting idly, I started to get sleepy. I waited for Bella to finish her first competition and then pulled my sun glasses down over my eyes and took a brief but fulfilling nap. I’m guessing that I slept for about 20 minutes. I missed the medal presentation. She took 3^rd place in the event.

We had another 70 - 80 minutes before the next event. Jacob was bored out of his mind. I was bored too, but did some people watching to help pass time. And believe me, there were lots of people worthy of a look and a listen. After all, we were in Gallipolis, and just across the river from West Virginia. Holy smoke! Is that brother Charles?

 Then there was this young girl. She couldn’t have been but 4 years old. She was an amazing tumbler. She had a floor routine with two or three consecutive back flips, a routine that rivaled that of the much older advanced tumblers. Very impressive.

Bella’s second event, double-mini, took place at 330pm. She placed 3^rd in that one too. I was thrilled that they sped things up to finish. They called Bella for her 3^rd and final event at 350pm, or almost 40 minutes early. They grouped three different levels all together for the trampoline competition. Wrapped up at 415pm. And Bella took 1^st place in the 9 year old beginner category.  She was stoked! And what a way to finish.

We hurried to get out of there and hit the road for home. We were back on the highway a few minutes later. Bella was excited and called her mawmaw as well as Jodie and Larry to share her good news. She fell asleep minutes later and slept until we exited the freeway for home. We were fortunate and remained under daylight for the entire route 35 drive. I was happy about that.

Earlier, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t be home until 8pm. Imagine then how good it felt when we arrived near 630pm. I suggested we head to Barley’s for dinner. Both kids nixed the idea sometime during the long drive home, but then warmed to it by the time we arrived home. 

We quickly walked the dog then freshened up before heading back out to Barleys.  I grabbed an empty growler just before heading out the door. It was still before 7pm when arrived at Barleys. The lot was near capacity, but we found a recently vacated spot close to the door. Mindy requested a booth or a table in main dining area. Sarah was our server. Chatted briefly with Zach who shared that they hadn’t found a pink Nintendo DS (Mindy phoned them earlier asking them to check).  I ordered one of there Double Dog IPAs. I don't think they've had that on tap for more than a year. Mindy went with water after sampling their new porter. The kids both ordered Dr Pepper.

We ordered a basket of fries to share while we perused the menu for our main course. Mindy suggested we order quickly, pretty much scraping my drink one beer first rule of thumb. Mindy ordered their Saturday brisket special while Bella ordered a corn dog. And just as he often does, Jacob ordered buffalo chicken tenders with a side of Gates. I ordered the Pile-it-on Texas burger.

My burger was extra good, but I couldn’t eat it all. I asked for a take-home box for the last 1/3. Mindy boxed her leftovers too. I’ll bet we weren’t at Barley’s for more than 40-45 minutes. I know it wasn’t even 8pm when we headed for home.

Mindy talked about being overtly tired all evening long. And once we arrived home she quickly readied for bed. In fact, I think she was in bed by 830pm. Jacob, Bella and I stayed up watching football. Jacob surprised me and begged off to watch the rest of the big ten championship game from his own bed around 9pm. Bella headed to her room to watch some other TV programming. She bounced back and forth between her room and downstairs a couple of times. In fact, at one point she crept up behind me putting a play millipede in my hair. It startled me, which made her laugh.

The inaugural Big Ten championship game between Michigan State and Wisconsin was a good one – high scoring and lots of big plays. Wisconsin took an early lead but Michigan State came roaring back and suddenly looked like they might run away with it. They were ahead when I fell asleep, up by 8 or 9 points. I woke on the sofa around 1120pm and saw that their lead was whittled to 4.  I turned off the TV and headed for bed stopping to check on the kids first. Jacob was still awake watching the game, and Bella still watching TV in her own room I made Bella turn off her TV and go to sleep. She gave me just a little push back but ultimately acquiesced.

It was a clear night. I could see the moon from the half-moon window as I slipped into bed. Good night moon!