Mom has come home for the month of December to go to the knee doctor, maybe do some physical therapy, celebrate Christmas with us, and have a little break from her mission (not that she really wants one).
Mikayla and I went to collect her, but all did not go as planned. We had intended to fly, but our flight was cancelled two weeks in advance. Why, might you ask? Who knows. We were given no real explanation. So what to do? We looked at other flights we might take, but none of them worked, so in the end, we decided to rent a car and drive. It wasn't ideal because what was going to take about three hours total ended up being almost twelve hours.
We left on Wednesday after work so that I wouldn't have to miss more than two days. We drove to Vegas, talking and laughing as we went. We had made no reservations to stay overnight, and looking at places to stay was somewhat deceptive. Rooms at casinos were very reasonably priced online, so we booked a room. When we arrived, however, we were charged a resort fee which was not included in the online price and which essentially doubled the cost. How is that right? Didn't matter. We were tired and needed to sleep, so we stayed. When we stepped off the elevator to go to our room, there was a couple sleeping on a small couch in the hallway. Mikayla and I wondered if we could have just gone up to a floor and stayed for free.
We got up early and drove to Clay and Jill's. We were going to fly into John Wayne airport, which is close to Clay and Jill's, so somehow, we got it in our minds that that is where we were going, even though we were going to pick up Mom in Los Angeles. After we collected her and had started home, we had a whole discussion about why we did it the way we did it. Oh well.
We had lunch at Sancho's, a favorite restaurant in San Clemente, then headed off to beach in Clay and Jill's convertible. It was cold, but we sat in the sand, watched the water and the birds and surfers, and put our feet in the chilly water. I do love the beach. We played games with Jill, had Chinese food for dinner, and watched a goofy Hallmark-ish movie which I largely slept through. When it was over, Mikayla and I retired to the bunkhouse, Clay and Jill's fifth wheel that sits in their backyard.
Friday, we met Mom between Santa Monica and San Clemente at a Home Depot. We transferred the few things we brought to her car and started home. We did more talking and laughing, getting the scoop on how Mom's mission is going, and talking about the status of things at home. We thought we might stay overnight in St. George, but we got an earlier start than we had anticipated, so we just drove all the way home.
It will be so nice to have Mom home for the month. We have really missed her at family gatherings, and at Christmas, we are so glad she'll be with us.
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