Over the River and through the woods.......

Tuesday morning we jumped out of bed and headed for Orlando (thanks for the ride, Terry) and a 3:0 flight. The first lag of the journey (to Atlanta) went without a hitch. After we boarded the flight to Syracuse, we were alerted that the luggage handlers had run into the luggage door with the loader and put a hole in the plane. After boarding another plane we were off for our trip to Grindstone.

Here we are with the van loaded, ready to head back to Florida.

Even though it was a cold visit, it was very successful and we had a great time with the family. Emma got to open her presents from Poppy and Grandma while we were there, which actually worked out well since we don't get to see her open them on Christmas.

Emma stayed with us at Possum Lodge (owned by Urch and Harry Slate). We didn't want to bother to open our house up for just a few days.

Betty had a pot of chili and corn bread ready for us when we arrived.....Yum!

She also did all the cooking and cleaning up on Thanksgiving day. What a treat that was.

I couldn't help but smile when I looked in on Emma and saw her hugging her "Pokemon" cards that Aunt Urch bought for her on the way to the airport to pick us up.

I chuckled when Betty was ready to put the Turkey on the platter. This is the platter my brother Tom gave me for Christmas when he was 12 years old. It has become a family favorite!!!

We managed to get everything packed and loaded in two days. Emma worked with me on wrapping and boxing all the small stuff. Frank helped Salt load the heavy furniture. We were on the barge and ready to leave by 4:00 on Thanksgiving day. We arrived back in Umatilla (1,300 miles) on Saturday afternoon. Salt and the boys had everything in storage by Sunday morning and now we are just waiting for the closing on the house..... :)