Well, not bad. James thinks the pillow that we got with the mattress (we got one each, but I chose to pillowcase my two new feather pillows and happily used them instead) is still a bit too thin. We'll work on it. We had the head raised at the same angle as our old wedgies. Pretty nice.

And then we finished up packing and drove to Helen.

Well, there were divers steps in between. :-) We had to load the animals into the car and take them to the vet to board, and to get their checkups. The kennel lady came to get Willow so quickly that she didn't even have time to panic. She gave me a goodbye sniff and trotted off. Schuyler looked a bit perturbed about being taken away.

We had breakfast from Dunkin Donuts. Mnnn...wheat bagel and cream cheese with milk and a chocolate-frosted doughnut chaser. We didn't stop anywhere, just drove up listening to a BBC program about the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight and then all five parts of Hollywood History of the World, which was a lot of fun. It was narrated by George McDonald Fraser, who writes the "Flashman" books.

When we had to postpone this year's Atomicon to the first weekend in May because of construction at Unicoi, James and I were dismayed because in May it is usually in the 80s. Well, we are happy—sorta—because "the Three Chilly Sisters" appear to be here this weekend. It's going to get no warmer than in the 60s. The bad side of this is that it's going to rain all day tomorrow. Up to four inches in some places, we hear. This precludes the hikers from having a good walk (although I'd wager the more gung-ho of them will garb themselves in raincoats and go anyway). Anyway, it's cloudy today, with a brisk wind, and I don't think it's gotten out of the 50s. Nice for us.

Oh, we did stop at Nora Mill to get more buckwheat pancake mix and a little bag of Pioneer Porridge. We have some, but James has the idea of cooking it in the rice cooker. Otherwise we stayed in the meeting room Nancy had arranged for us, talking with everyone.

We are at a different hotel this year because of the construction at Unicoi, the Country Inn and Suites, within walking distance of downtown. Of course by the time we got there, it had started to rain. That was okay because everyone was already gathering at the conference room we have reserved for the weekend, and we've ended up just staying in to talk to everyone. This was different from the lodge where we usually have the entire building and thus the common area attached, but also nicer in a way. It was a large, long room which was set up with a television/theatre arrangement, and then long tables and chairs around them. This came in handing for having a snack, or using a computer/tablet, or pulling out a game. The far wall already had a microwave and a small fridge and a sink, and more tables were set up with utensils and a toaster oven. Pretty cool.

Labels: food, friends, pets, travel, weather

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