Elevate, Obliterate
I took Wednesday off for two reasons. I wanted to get time to prep for my trip to PA and I wanted to have some time to hang with Gladys during the day. One of those two things happened (Gladys got busy during the day) however I did go to Gladys’s home Wednesday evening where I got treated to a family dinner which was really great. They truly made me feel like one of their family and I appreciated it.
My flight out Thursday was not until almost 10:30 so I didn’t have to get up stupid early. I was flying Spirit airline to Philly and then renting a car to get to the Lancaster area. The flight was fine although I do find myself annoyed with Spirit’s everything is ala carte business model. The rental car experience was less fun.
I rented from Thrifty. When I stepped in the office I was third in line. 45 minutes later I was still third in line. Some computer issue that none of the staff was able to explain very well had brought things to a standstill. Finally things started working but my patience had long been consumed by then.
When I got to Troy’s house he was not home yet but his fiance Jess was. We walked to a nearby bar and grabbed drinks and some food. When Troy got home he had not eaten yet so we went out again. This time I consumed an entire medium sized pizza by myself, a deliberate act of gluttony. I have been trying to put my eating back to a priority to get my body weight back into the 180s. I also downed a decent amount of alcohol the first night there.
Troy lives in a 100 year old plus row home. I was sleeping on the top floor. The house reminds me of the house I grew up in many years ago. To ensure I slept I doubled up my unisom. It seemed to work except it made me extra groggy in the morning.
Afterward I went to Todd’s place where I met up with him before going to eat lunch with him, Mindy, Caroline and my dad who met us there. After a decent lunch we all headed back to Todd’s place. I got to spend time with Oakley and Bailey, Todd’s two huge Alaskan Malamutes. Oakley, who weighs close to 185 pounds almost knocked me off my feet when he jumped up to put his paws on my shoulders. I appreciated they still remember me. Todd and I took them for a walk later which the dogs appreciated.
I told Todd Troy and I were planning to go to the Grantville casino that night. He said Mindy and he could meet us there so we agreed to do so. I drove back to Lancaster to meet up with Troy and told Todd we would meet them there. On the way to the casino we stopped to grab dinner at an italian place that had GREAT food. I really enjoyed it.
The trip to the casino was interesting. The place is also a horse track. I actually did no gambling whatsoever outside of giving Jess 20 bucks to play in a slot machine. We also caught the last two live horse races of the night. The conditions were miserable with a persistent cold rain. The track conditions were listed as “sloppy”, what an understatement. I felt bad for the horses, of course.
The casino had a live cover band that was entertaining. They weren’t as entertaining as “granny” however, an older woman whom danced with her husband the ENTIRE time. No joke, this woman did not stop, it was crazy.
Troy and Jess had seen her there before as well as a few other interesting characters. I kept the Miller Lite flowing most of the night. Friday night wound up stretching into Saturday morning. By the time I fell asleep it was pushing up against 3AM. I can not tell you the last time I was up so late.
On Saturday we had a day that was slower paced as we all were a bit wiped from the night before. We did go out to grab breakfast at another nice place that was again within walking distance. Early in the afternoon I sat in on Troy’s end of year fantasy football podcast along with one of the other owner’s, Mike.
I had sat in on the podcast last November as well when I was visiting. We had a lot of fun talking about both real and fantasy football for close to 90 minutes. I was drinking the entire time and found myself very drunk by the end of it.
For the rest of the day and into the evening we mostly watched the NFL playoffs however later in the evening Troy wanted to go to a nearby bar. The place definitely had dive bar vibes which is fine. What wasn’t fine was the group of drunk college kids who quickly annoyed the living F out of me. I found myself working to control the urge to choke more than one of them. I was happy to head home afterwards.
The first thing I did Sunday was take a shower. Somehow on Saturday I never got around to taking one which made me feel gross. I always shower daily and during the work week wind up taking two of them. Jess made us a nice little breakfast as Troy and I just hung out and talked. Despite all of the drinking and craziness the few days contained what really was valuable to me, just talking, to both Jess and Troy. They are recently engaged and by being around them I could sense the love that keeps them pulled together. I admired it and hoped I could find myself in that place someday.
I pulled out of Lancaster before 10:30 after thanking them for their hospitality which I really did appreciate. The trip was last minute and out of nowhere yet they were happy to accommodate me, sensing how I could use some time away.
On the drive to Philly I got some unexpected snow. At times it was genuine snow squall conditions although it was not really sticking to the road which I was thankful for. The drive was uneventful and returning the vehicle was much less annoying than picking it up. The flight home followed the same pattern with little bubbles and no troubles.
I went straight to Ali’s to grab Elsa. As usual Elsa was not thrilled for me to take her away from Ali and Shugs but she warmed up once I got her home. My MLK day, which is a government holiday has been busy between doing post trip duties, going to the gym, playing pickleball and getting groceries. I am now settling in to watch the Eagles game, hoping they can finally find a way to wake up from the month and half of shitty play tonight.
The trip accomplished what I hoped. It helped me push the events of the last few months further into the background, allowing me to refocus on all of the possibilities ahead of me. I am even able to sleep through the night using only one Unisom, the first time that has happened in close to three weeks. Thank you to my family, Troy and Jess for showing me the love and support I needed.