Thanksgiving trip: IN to FL, via TN – whew!!

On the big tractor with Grandpa. (Sorry about the sideways photo…)

Enjoying the mild, cool weather with a pumpkin backrest.

As part of the return trip, we spent one night in IN at my parents’ house. We were all able to be together for one big steak dinner – grilled outside by yours truly. Yummy. Mom made all the rest of the good stuff – I just stood by the grill. The temperatures were pretty mild. We only wanted jackets during the day, or even just a sweater if we were running around. Grandpa just had to get the tractor out to show Aurelia. Actually, both tractors. That little one has been well-loved by my brothers, and she thought it was pretty cool, too.

Aunt Tabitha and Uncle Steve watch Aurie swinging with Grandpa.

When we drove back to Nashville the next afternoon, I had some great girl-talk time in the car with my sis and sis-in-law, because the guys went back earlier together. Marcus got to go to a Predators game with Steve, so they drove on ahead and took poor Sam home to do homework :(. Anyway, it was wonderful to have 3 1/2 hours of gab time to connect with my sisters. I probably tripled my Heidi-knowledge on that drive! The downside to these moments is that it makes me just that much more sick of being so far away when I get back home to sunny FL. I miss the cold and I miss my family even more!

The following day (Sunday), we set out on the loooooong trek back to FL. Little did we know that I-75 south of Atlanta was at a crawl due to the overload of traffic. We got to really use the new GPS when we decided to get off of the interstate and travel by highway until we got down around Valdosta. Closer to the FL state line, traffic eased up a bit and we were able to make decent time. With all of the hold-ups and a long lunch stop, it took us 11 hours to get home rather than the usual 9 to 10. Whew!

Now I’ve been in hyperdrive this week, working evenings as well as all day to get some lab work finished up and 3 chapters sent off to my professor in the 3 weeks between the Thanksgiving trip return and Christmas. Life around here is pretty nuts, and the apartment and any shopping will just have to wait!!