Hey There!
Well, DW and I are back from our whirlwind trip to see Son1 and his family working in their community theatre production. We drove out Friday, saw the show, got up Saturday and had brunch with his family and his mother-in-law, sat for a bit and chatted about the show at his house, gave his wife her birthday presents and the two of them their anniversary present, and then drove back home in enough time to have light for the entire drive. We managed to get KFC Crispy Chicken sandwiches for dinner, and then sort of mildly crashed out until bedtime. I spent my time going down the rabbit hole of EDC and solar equipment on YouTube. I did not think I had the psychological energy necessary to watch the last episode of Star Trek:Strange New Worlds, although that might be something we do tonight (if my baseball game is a day game).
I have to say the show was better than I thought it was going to be. My DIL was not bad at all. When not on stage she speaks with a slight stutter, but onstage there was no sign of that. She was energetic and giving it her all, which given the nature of the play was great. There were some moments of amateur stops, forgetting of lines, and bad timing, but overall it was fun, and I found myself not regretting going and having a good time. The production values were also quite good. Apparently, according to Son1, the two guys who produced the show have Broadway ties, and they know how to produce a show. Admission was free, and they paid expenses out of their own pockets. The costumes were hand-made (!), and all the props were inventive and worked well. The wigs were crazy funny. And the PowerPoint backgrounds and two videos were great technical touches that they clearly had to do outside of the usual rehearsal time. A LOT OF WORK went into this production, which I was absolutely not expecting!
It used to be that such a trip would pose no problems, but both of us have realized that driving for long periods of time can be daunting. DW had back pain for most of the trip. The heated seats actually worked like a heating pad on the way home for her, but the pain in her hip seems to be unrelenting despite massages and PT. And while I can drive such a distance, I do notice much more of a fatigue response in my body more than when I was younger. I drove about 4.5 hours yesterday straight through with no stops for gas or bathroom or food, and by the time I got home, I felt worn out. This does not bode well for our journey to AZ come January, and we may have to figure out in the future some other method of getting out there. Or, of course, just not go. Perhaps in the future I can just hire someone to clear the driveway, which at this point is the major impediment to spending winters here. But we enjoy the lack of snow and the ability to get out while in AZ (not to mention the temperature and sunshine), so we need a plan whereby we can fly there and somehow have enough stuff available to live part time. A tall order, and no doubt expensive.
There's nothing on the calendar today other than picking up a few pies from our local pie shop. There's a special pie made this time of year, and we usually get a few and send one out to Daughter in Olympia. She wants one for her boss as well, so three pies are on order. Other than that, today is a day for recovery and rest from the trip.
'Til We Meet Again!