Erik's Week-end Visit

Enough! This cold weather is really getting old. I know...we’re not shoveling snow. BUT, it’s supposed to be warm down here. OK, enough whining.

Friday poured down rain all afternoon as I went shopping, running through the wind and water. Fortunately, the rain stopped before we headed to Tampa shortly after 5 to pick up Erik and his friend, Jamie, whose flight was due in at 7. Forty miles from Tampa, we were stopped on the Interstate due to an accident. After we’d been sitting for almost 50 minutes, Erik sent a text that they had just landed. We still weren’t moving. Finally, an hour and 15 minutes after stopping, we started to move. On the way home, we saw the moving van which had gone off the road and caught fire. We saw cars backed up for miles and miles and miles. I later read that one person had been trapped inside and died and that traffic was backed up for eleven miles.

After that rocky start, the week-end was delightful. The sun was out although the wind brought down the temperature on Saturday. We gave the kids a tour of The Villages, had a nice dinner at home and watched the Olympics.

Sunday after church, we drove over to Al and Donna Smith’s home in Harbor Hills, hoping to see some gators. No luck. We came back to Arnold Palmer Legends for lunch. Then a trip to Fresh Market where we picked up filet mignon and twice-baked potatoes for dinner. Oh yeah, Arne picked out a decadent chocolate cake for dessert. We got home around 4. Erik and Jamie went for a ride in the Corvette. They went over to Lake Sumter Landing and spent some time sitting on the boardwalk by the lake.
Monday, it was time to make another trip to Tampa for their 2 PM flight back to New Mexico. We were doing well until 18 miles from the airport and we ran into another accident. Thanks to a digital warning that an accident was ahead and Arne’s awareness of the stopped traffic, we got off the Interstate, programmed the navigator to minimize freeways and got to the airport 25 minutes later than planned. Our detour took us past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers field and George Steinbrenner field where the Yankees play their spring training games. Erik and Jamie made their flight, which was 20 minutes late taking off, but they nearly missed their connection in Dallas and their baggage did miss it. Fortunately, there was another flight in less than two hours so they had dinner while waiting for their bags to arrive in Albuquerque. I hope they got a refund of their baggage fee.

I was surprised today by the ladies to whom I teach English. At the end of class, they brought out a big cake with white frosting and red writing “Happy Valentine’s Day.” I didn’t realize it was in my honor until one of the ladies handed me a knife with which to cut and serve. It was 11:45 and I didn’t really want cake before lunch but I had to be polite. :-)