Welp, this has taken me entirely too long to get to. I was actually a little embarrassed when I checked the site the other day to see when my last posts had been (quite a while back) and I’ve had a busy last month or so. As a consequence, I have much to write about. I promise not to get too wordy here though.
Kinda…
I’ve got Tom Petty blaring at me whilst I work on this, it’s a holiday weekend Saturday morning, and life, on the whole, is pretty good. Let’s get started.
I drove back to Illinois for an extended visit last month. And I’ve already got to back up a wee bit; my travel weekend started with a trip about three hours southwest of me to Greenville, SC for a concert. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit with Richard Thompson as the opener. Great. Concert. My hotel was literally across the street from the venue, which was kinda sweet in and of itself, but the show was just stellar. I’ve been a Thompson fan for over thirty years and he’s an amazing musician. If you’re not familiar, I highly recommend checking out his music.
The morning after the concert I headed north, and, as I’d intimated earlier, I split the trip into two days. Pretty unremarkable journey home. That’s a good thing, btw. Especially if you’ve read any of my previous travel foibles. You have, right?
My time in Illinois was spent with family, splitting my time between the homes of the Oldest One and the Quiet Child, but I spent time with all the kids and littles and it was delightful. A lot of baseball games and softball games were watched and, by and large, thoroughly enjoyed. I even got the see the Heir To The Throne hit his first high school home run, which was cool AF.
In addition to hanging with friends and family around home, I went to Springfield with nine other members of Local 3234 (our largest contingent ever!) for the state Legislative Conference. So I got to hang with firefighter friends/union activists from across Illinois. Spent a little quality time with some of the elected officials there, including a couple of after-hours gatherings in local watering holes.
Sorry, no stories will come from those escapades…
I got to hang out with the guys in the high-rise district for breakfast one Sunday (one of the best experiences of firehouse life), saw several friends and relatives for coffee (not all at once), I also swung by the cemetery to “chat” with Diane and Caitlin. To be sure, there were several people (you know who you are) I had intended to get together with, that, for one reason or another was unable to, but there will be other trips home and I’m hopeful scheduling will be a little smoother.
The visit wrapped up with the 11th birthday of the Reigning Princess, which is where this pic was taken. I can’t believe how big these guys are getting. 
Pretty handsome group, no? Speaking of time flying, when did I turn into an old man? That’s a rhetorical question, btw, no comments necessary.
Just sayin’
I hit the road before 5:00 AM last Monday to head back to central North Carolina. I guess karma was in my corner after the whole Memphis excursion, as this was also a really smooth trip. The only time I used my favorite twelve letter word was to thank a fellow motorist, one with Wyoming plates on his car, for moving out of my way, allowing me to pass him easily. I threw out the Bruce Willis line from Die Hard, you know the one. I felt like it was appropriate given where he was from, you know, cowboys and all. One of the high points was a lunch stop at the Bob (don’t hate, I like it) Evans restaurant in Chillicothe, OH.
Considering the rest of the clientele, I’m guessing the median age to have been 83. #83Nation. There was also a bonus sighting of what I believe may have been the love child of auto huckster Bob Rohrman and novelist Steven King. Yikes. To make my lunchtime people watching even more interesting, I’m fairly certain there was a carny convention or something in town. Again, Yikes. But the blueberry pancakes were just the thing to get me to my next stop, one I plan for every trip between IL and NC, Beckley, WV. I’ve never gone through the town itself, but I think it’s similar to Asheville, NC in that it is filled with artisans and has a kind of hippy vibe to it. The rest stop/tourist center is filled with all kinds of locally made craft-y type stuff. Blown glass, pottery, sculptures in both wood and metal and actually really good food. If you’re ever traveling through West Virgina on either I-64 or I-77 you must stop and check it out. Trust me.
Finally, from the “out of the mouths of babes” file, I’d like to quote the grandchild formerly known as Beatle Baby (he’s 6 years old already, I guess I’ve got to come up with a new nom de plume for him) “Grandpa Joe, you live far away.”
Yes, yes I do. Smooth trip or not, it’s a long day on the road and I was glad to be home. Let’s see what kind of nonsense comes my way so I can share it with you here. But in the meantime, I’m going to head out to the shed and see what I can accomplish…
Peace
PS- what with the holiday weekend and all, I want to leave you with a PSA of sorts. No, not my usual entreaty to not drink and drive, although, obvs. Instead I’d like to ask you to take a minute to remember why this holiday exists. Quite literally, thousands have given their lives to allow us the freedoms we take for granted today. Let’s do our part to honor their memories and, to quote Labor Activist Mother Jones “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
Again, Peace