Well, it was a long morning and a short one all at once. We slept late, then had to spend the rest of the morning finishing packing and getting all those myriad trip prep stuff.

I'd taken yesterday afternoon off hoping to do some of it then, but the most we got done was to start the packing and I washed some clothes.  I did go out to return my library books, get milk and fill the car with gasoline, and stop at Publix to get a few things. Had goat cheese for lunch with some great garlic and chive crackers from Aldi. When James came home, we ate supper and then went to get me some cash, which I forgot to do at Publix, but I was racing the rain home.

We had a real gullywasher of a rain  last night, which I hope will get the pine pollen out of the air. The car looks like it has a  horrible disease, since it got rained on enough to turn pine pollen powder into pine powder blotches. Twi needs a good vetting anyway, a tune-up and a vist to the car wash, and his A/C inspected; it runs fine when the car is moving, but tends to warm up at idle.

So back to today: finally it was time to leave and we stuffed first the dog crate and the bird's tray in the car, then the suitcase and the C-PAP machine and the animals' bag, and then the wedding gift and Mom's belated birthday gift, then got Schuyler's cage belted in, and finally put Willow in the car. We dropped off the check for the $15 we owe the state into the mail--holy cow, where did that rotary on West Street come from--and got on the road. Wil whined a bit, but Schuyler sang for a while, especially after I put the phone on. I played "The Reunion--Doctor Who," which aired on BBC Radio 4 last weekend. William Russell (Ian), Carol Ann Ford (Susan), and Peter Purves (Steven) were interviewed along with the actor who played the first Who villain and one of the directors. It was a lovely piece; my favorite bit of dialog was them talking about how old and small the studio was in those days: "The cameras were bigger than the Daleks!" Too funny. Also part one of "The Nazad Conspiracy," the first episode in the Scarifyers radio series with Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier onWho.

We arrived at the La Quinta in Macon a little after three. There is a dog show in the area and lots of dogs at the hotel. We are upstairs, but, alas, unlike the Staybridge, the windows don't open. We got the animals set up, then brought in the luggage, and then went in search of "tea" to tied us over to dinner. We drove down to Warner Robins and had a bowl of soup at Panera, then went to his mom's house, but no one was home, so we hung around at Books-a-Million for a while--I found the new Doctor Who FAQ book there! We also stopped next door at Michaels to get a little potted plant for James' dad's grave.

We had supper with Anne and Clay at Longhorn, sharing a Chocolate Stampede among the four of us for dessert, talking of work, conventions, books, etc. It was a blast. Then we stopped briefly back at Mom's house to say hi to everyone before heading back to the La Quinta to take Wil out for her walk and talk to Schuyler. She was singing so when James was sitting next to her! Willow knows the crate covered in the big soft towel is hers and she is lying in there half asleep, with her head pillowed on one of James' old shirts, on top of a fleece and another towel.

Tomorrow we will bum around Macon some and then come back to the hotel to iron our clothes and get dressed for the wedding. James' youngest sister is getting married tomorrow!

Labels: birds, books, dogs, family, friends, pets, radio, travel

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