The Journey

My day started rudely early again. Those fools next door were raging again at five in the morning. Luckily I’m leaving town for a spell and hopefully they’ve got it out of their system by the time I return. I tried to get back to sleep for a bit but eventually gave in and got myself ready. I descended to the kitchen and prepared breakfast and drinks for my guests. When the food was consumed and the dishes done I started packing. I had a good haul of stuff but felt I was missing something. This resulted in some aimless wandering in the house trying to discern what it was. I guess I’ll find out. Included in my items was the new plant I bought this week, too week to survive alone I figured I’d better bring it. The fact that it fit in the cup holder was added gold.

We got away at half past eight as planned and fuelled up our vehicles as we left with some more reasonably priced southern fuel. I took the lead on the highway and we zipped across to the big smoke. Once we got to the express lanes things started to be the opposite of express. It turned into stop and go and then just stop. Apparently there had been an accident the previous night that required an investigation and they closed half the highway. People respond poorly to that kind of thing. I found myself yelling at some fools. It was brutal right to our turn-off. Then it got extra crazy due to the setup in the collectors (Siri made me go there). You can see below a very slight glimpse of the tomfoolery that transpired.

The remainder of the drive was less eventful. There were a couple traffic snarls in expected areas. There was so much yelling at these spots that I was starting to lose my voice. I kept working on my licorice snack. I was jamming to my iPod from 2007 that I’d resurrected. The others went to Weber’s for burgers, something on their to-do list whilst visiting. My plan was to meet Booj in the Bay but he had to bail so I decided to fuel up one tank there and empty another instead. I got to have a long chat with a corn breeder on the phone for part of the journey but mostly focused on the tunes. It was like opening a musical time capsule. Without stops I got home ahead of the others, I won the race they didn’t know they were in. I had a quick meal and then headed to the field to see what they were up to. Apparently they were taking off the field of two row malt barley. I popped in for a second and the combine was overheating, not good. We had to head to town so Big T let Jacko take over and we headed in packed into one vehicle.

As much of an early start as we got off to, naturally someone else was faster. It helps when you have a harvest fleet. These operators had four combines in the field with a buggy, some trucks and a lot of wagons. They took off a large field completely in a couple hours. Very neat to see.

Dinner was a special treat. The last time I was up, I missed the famous pizzas by the Mayor. I would not make that mistake again. He made nine pies, it was likely one too many. My Sudbury Sister and the Irish Gal showed up just in time for the second wave. He made a variety as well. I think my favourite was prosciutto. The Beth-erita was the most intriguing and complex. It was nice to sit and chat with aunts and uncles I grew up around but haven’t seen often anymore. Another batch showed up as well with some cousins. That meant that the Big T got to dine with his three sisters. I dined with my two. We were there until fairly late before returning home.

By the time we got back I was feeling the early morning and long drive. I hung in for a few minutes but it was long after ten when I shut it down and made for bed. I get to sleep in a brand new Queen bed my parents bought this past week. Partly because I whined about the footboard on the old one and partly because I bought a nicer bed for them when they visit. Even though they didn’t use it last time. For taking such a journey like this on Friday the thirteenth I’d say things went pretty okay. It was a decent day, even if it was a long one.