driving but not where i want

There are always a lot of possibilities on my list of things to do on a Sunday, but driving to Wendover, eating at the Mandalay Bay buffet, and then driving back home are not on that list.  All kinds of messed up is what that is.

See, Wendover has become to me a ten-minute bathroom stop and gas tank fill-up on the way to see the Californians, or perhaps the last stop on the way home from visiting with them.  It is definitely not a destination place.

But on Sunday last, the phone rang and it was my mom, calling to tell me she was disgusted with herself for forgetting to bring her purse with her on their trip to California.

Mom turned 80 this year and seems to have decided that she needs to do all of the things she can while she still can.  She is doing stuff she's always done--like yardwork in the dark and shopping and storing away lots of stuff and remodeling the house in whatever ways she still can, but the past few months have included a whole bunch of new things she wants to do, like hiking up part of Mt. Olympus and skipping the family reunion to go to Lagoon.  There is no stopping her now, so she and dad are on their way, driving the nearly 800 miles to northern California for Leo's first birthday this Saturday.

They left at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night and she called me from Wendover at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday to ask if I'd mind bringing her purse and a few other things out to her.  Jack, Jr and I picked up the purse and the half a dozen other things she'd forgotten and headed to Wendover.  Mom said she was starving when we got there so off we went to the buffet at one of the local casinos, and after a couple of hours, headed back east to home.

Fingers crossed that they'll be safe and have a good time together.  I know dad will be delighted to see the Californians and mom will have enjoyed the drive and getting out of the valley. 

But it was so hard to go to Wendover and then turn back for home.  Just sayin'.